Will a Misdemeanor Citation With No Arrest Show Up in a Background Investigation

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California

Last night I attempted to break up a fist fight between a friend and a group of other individuals. In the process, I was hit in the head, received a small cut, and threw my attacker to the ground. Police ran up and I put my hands in the air to show that I was backing off. Police handcuffed everyone and asked what was going on. In the end, my attacker was carted off to jail. I was given a citation for 415pc fighting in public and released at the scene. The officer told me that because I was involved and had a cut on my head, I was going to be cited. He said technically, this was an arrest but that the DA would likely not file charges.

Will this charge or any record of last night show up on a background investigation? I am currently in the background investigation process to be a correctional officer for California Dept. of Corrections.

The citation IS the arrest.

If you are convicted of this it will be on your criminal record.
The state can very well see even the fact you were cited. If it asks about such, hopefully you didn't lie. Lying is a bigger issue than being arrested or possibly even convicted.

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Quoting nev0622

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My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: California

Last night I attempted to break up a fist fight between a friend and a group of other individuals. In the process, I was hit in the head, received a small cut, and threw my attacker to the ground. Police ran up and I put my hands in the air to show that I was backing off. Police handcuffed everyone and asked what was going on. In the end, my attacker was carted off to jail. I was given a citation for 415pc fighting in public and released at the scene. The officer told me that because I was involved and had a cut on my head, I was going to be cited. He said technically, this was an arrest but that the DA would likely not file charges.

Will this charge or any record of last night show up on a background investigation? I am currently in the background investigation process to be a correctional officer for California Dept. of Corrections.

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As part of the background process for CDCR they will contact local law enforcement agencies where you have lived and worked and ask for a record of any contacts (which will include cites and arrests even if no charges were filed). IF they have already made these contacts, then there is the possibility that they will miss it. But, you might also have a duty to let them know of contacts with law enforcement made while you are in the process. It could be quite embarrassing for you to have to explain why you are asking for time off in a few months to address a criminal allegation that they were unaware of.

You might consider being straight up with your background investigator and letting him know about the incident. If he has to find it out himself, he may decide you were being less that truthful.

I'm going to wager a guess that the fight occurred after some significant alcohol consumption ... a bar or a large social gathering. One of the greatest pitfalls of peace officers be they corrections or otherwise is alcohol. Candidates that spend significant time in places where alcohol is consumed, or spend their off time consuming mass quantities of it, are not going to be good candidates as historically they come with big problems and liability. If you spend your time off frequenting night spots drinking or with friends that are drinking, it might be time to develop a new hobby in order to protect this career.

Yes, I have a duty to report this and I have, so I'll await to see what comes of it this week, I suppose. And yes, it took place outside of a bar that I had went to to pick up said friends needing a ride home. I guess I should have called them taxi rather than put myself in the equation. I'm hoping for the best, but I am fairly certain this will lead to me being dropped from the process.

Al flyingron said, you were arrested. However, rather than being taken to jail you were released on your written promise to appear in court. Somewhere on your citation is a box that says "Booking Required". if it is checked, it will require that you be fingerprinted and photographed as part of the process.

You will not be able to conceal this event from your background investigator for several reasons. First, the state of California operates what's called the SmartJustice system. It is an information sharing web portal that pulls together county and state information about criminal defendents into one interface. The California Department of Justice and the Office of the Attorney General designed, developed and implemented SmartJustice, whose key functionality is like Google for law enforcement personnel when searching for someone's formal criminal record.

Next, as part of your background investigation with CDCR you will fill out a Personal History Questionnaire that will ask you to list all law enforcement contacts of any nature. You must include this contact. If you are caught failing to do so not only will you be disqualified for dishonesty, but you can count on being disqualified during the background on any future law enforcement positions you apply for. Finally, as part of the background, most applicants for state peace officer positions in California undergo a voice stress analyses. During that interview you will be asked if you lied, falsified or withheld any material information during your background or on your Personal History Questionnaire. If you withheld the 415 cite, you will spike during the test and after further investigation most likely wind up a DQ.

Whether or not this event results is your being disqualified on the background will literally depend on what witnesses say happened and what is in the police report. If it appears you did nothing more than innocently try to break up a fight then you might not have a problem. OTOH, if it appears you were a participant, or associate with people who seem to get into altercations and your judgment is so poor that you are drawn into them as well, then it may appear you lack one or more of the traits of sobriety, dependability, good judgment, courtesy, or the ability to work cooperatively with others, any of which is a disqualifier for a position in California state service.

Yes, the officer asked me if I was trying to break up the fight and I informed him that I was. Witnesses corroborated my statement as there were others walking by. The officer told me that he had to cite me because although I was trying to diffuse the altercation, I was still involved and I had a cut on my scalp. This should (I'm hoping) be in the report. Either way, my investigator has been notified.

The investigator will probably seek a copy of the police report from the reporting agency as part of their investigation. This may not be the kiss of death for you in the process, but it may put you on the back burner until they see how it plays out.

Any idea how soon I should contact the DA? The officer told me that the DA would likely not pursue action and that I should contact the DA before showing up in court to see if anything ever came of it.

How soon can I get a copy of the report? CDCR requires you to submit any requested documents within 15 calendar days or be dropped from the process.

You may not be able to get a copy of the police report at all. The agency does not have to release it to you. However, the CDCR can likely obtain a copy of it if they choose.

As for the DA, the DA has one year to file and they may not deal with the issue right away. Some smaller counties are deferring misdmeanor offenses if they can due to staffing shortages and court calendars being backed up. So, you can check with the DA's office during the week to see if they have it, but they may not pursue anything.

Thanks for the info!

In regards to peace officer applicants, have you seen/dealt with similar situations such as mine? How did they turn out?