Juvenile Record and Becoming a Police Officer in Michigan

[Launchpad]

My question involves a background check in the State of: Michigan

When I was 14, I was charged with felony domestic violence. It was determined that an anxiety medication that my parents gave me negatively altered my behavior, and the charges were later dropped.

When I was 16, I got into a fight with my dad, not a fistfight but wrestling around. The police were called and because he saw us fighting he had to make an arrest. I later plead "no contest" to a misdemeanor domestic violence charge and served some probation.

These are the only things on my criminal record including traffic violations.

I've found that my record does not prohibit me from carrying a firearm because 1) I plead no contest 2) My offense was technically an adjudication and not a conviction and 3) The offense was not committed against a girlfriend or spouse.

However, I'm worried about whether or not departments will consider my application given my record.

By the time I apply for a police job I will have a bachelors degree in CJ and more than six years since the incident occurred. I would be willing to work for a bigger city (Detroit, LAPD, etc) to get my foot in the door. I'm a dedicated volunteer and I have a passion for serving my community, which is one of the reasons I want to be a police officer.

Will any departments be able to overlook my troubled childhood as see me as the upstanding citizen I am today?

[Mr. Knowitall]

Are they capable of looking past your record? Yes, they have that capacity. Will they in fact do so? That, I can't promise.

[Launchpad]

Do you believe there might be any departments with less stringent standards that would be more likely to forgive this? Like I said, I am willing to work for a bigger department (Detroit and Chicago are the closest) to get my foot in the door.

[ESteele]

It would appear certainly possible. You should research the web sites for all of the departments you would consider. If the department will not consider applicants with “no contest,” “nolo contendere” or other “less than guitly” juvenile convictions entries on their records, you should probably avoid applying to them. Of course, some departments may only concern themselves with adult criminal records. And, yet others may not consider particularly old entries on the record. This research should give you some insight into the various requirements.

As you suggested, you may need to go to work with a department with less stringent requirements immediately after you graduate from college. After you have added years of good experience as a police officer (coupled with an impressive criminal justice bachelor’s degreee), you may then be able to apply successfully to the departments with more stringent requirements.

This definitely falls in the category of “nothing beats a failure but a try.” Smooth sailing to you.

[Launchpad]

Thanks for the helpful answer. I'll try calling recruiting at Detroit PD and maybe Chicago sometime over the next few days and see what they have to say. Worst case scenario, everyone says I have no chance in hell and I have to change my major to pursue a different career path.