What disqualifies you from being a police officer?

In most cases, a felony conviction will disqualify you from being a police officer. Police officers are expected to work hard to preserve peace and safety in the community. To that end, they are expected to be upstanding, trustworthy citizens who value safety.

To help ensure that police officers are only hiring the best of the best, all candidates will have to submit to a police background check that is strict and thorough. This background check will gather information from criminal records, employment history, and education history. They will also have to submit references that will be checked.

In most cases, a felony conviction on a candidate's criminal record will result in an automatic disqualification. A guilty plea to a felony will also greatly reduce your chances of becoming a police officer.

In some jurisdictions, becoming a police officer with a misdemeanor is still possible. In general, misdemeanors are less severe than felonies, but a few will stop a candidate from being accepted to the police force.

The definition of a serious misdemeanor isn't as precise as a felony and will vary from agency to agency. In general, whether a misdemeanor or felony, the following convictions will disqualify you as a candidate for the police force:

• Assault

• Perjury

• Domestic violence

• Theft

• Recklessness

Unreported past crimes, meaning a crime was committed, but there was no arrest or conviction, can still show up on a law enforcement background check. Agencies often take undetected or unreported crimes as seriously as actual convictions. To that end, disclosing any crimes or issues is of the utmost importance.

Domestic violence is a crime taken very seriously by the police department and will be an immediate disqualification regardless of the level of the crime. If an officer has a history of domestic violence, the public cannot trust them to protect victims of that same crime.

Some police agencies have become more forgiving regarding the use of minor drugs in the past. However, there are still usually hard rules regarding more severe substances like cocaine and hallucinogens. A history of recreational drug use or dependency will be taken into account on a case-by-case basis.

Military service and law enforcement are relatively similar paths, so they have many of the same standards. For this reason, police agencies will consider a dishonorable discharge from the United States military as an automatic disqualification.

It is possible to become a police officer with a DUI. In most cases, this will depend on the particular circumstances of the arrest and the outcome in court. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, having a felony DUI would be an automatic disqualifier for becoming a police officer.

DUIs are taken very seriously by police forces. The agency will be viewed badly if an officer is caught driving under the influence. To that end, different factors will be taken into consideration, such as:

• Was it drug or alcohol related?

• Was it your first DUI?

• Did it result in damage to property, injury, or death?

• Was your car insured?

If it is alcohol-related and your first DUI, you are more likely to receive leniency from the police agency than if it is drug-related or if you are a habitual offender. If the DUI resulted in serious harm or occurred while the officer was on duty, the sanctions are likely to be much harsher.

It is important to remember that law enforcement occupations typically have a huge candidate pool, and many are applying for these police posts. For that reason, the hiring boards have the luxury of being selective about who they hire, and a DUI can be a large deterrent.