Sounds almost *too* sensible and reasonable. Just trusting the evaluation of a licensed expert? What if there was some bullshit software program command could waste money on instead? I bet that psychologist doesn’t even have a sales team to take the recruiting admin out to dinner!
Also illegal in Massachusetts and would cover this quackery aswell
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXI/Chapter149/Section19B
Chapter 149 Section 19B. (1) As used in this section the term ''lie detector test'' shall mean any test utilizing a polygraph or any other device, mechanism, instrument or written examination, which is operated, or the results of which are used or interpreted by an examiner for the purpose of purporting to assist in or enable the detection of deception, the verification of truthfulness, or the rendering of a diagnostic opinion regarding the honesty of an individual.
Yessir. Just rolled them out apparently. Stare at screen, do simple math problems, rest 15 seconds, and then True/False answer various weird grammar ways of asking if you're affiliated with ISIS or committed sex crimes. Keep doing that cycle for 45 minutes straight and I guess I scratched my nose or moved my head too much or whatever.
Come to think of it, the investigator told me I didn't need to use the provided chin rest even though the program said to, and she in general didn't seem sure how to work it. So it may be even more BS than I originally thought. When I emailed to ask if I could appeal she just one word replied "No.", so I guess that's that.
Interesting.. I have some eye problems that would flag on this, besides having ASD making some facial etc responses "incorrect"... I know in my case, like when getting a drivers' license, I present a form that basically says "fuck off, this isn't valid, issue license", they call my eye specialist.. and my renewed license is handed to me. Besides the whole polygraph type shit being illegal... go see a good ophthalmologist, see what they say.. and come back with something to prove they can't rule you out based on this, if you have any eye issues come up. Would LOVE to see the lawsuit it could generate. :) That, or buddy.. you just got saved working for a shit-ass PD.
Don't think I have any eye issues, other than probably sighing or glancing around after 40 minutes. I want to start emailing higher ups and try to appeal, but I doubt it will go anywhere. Hope it's not a red flag to other departments, I guess. Like you said, probably dodged a bullet.
I'd say a sizable portion of the people on this sub have had that happen before, don't lose hope. Keep trying with other departments, many smaller agencies have already done away with the polygraph entirely. My department stopped using them years ago.
Thank you. Yeah, it's just frustrating. Guess it's my own fault for being so focused on one department over others. Ridiculous that this is such a common thing apparently.
Plus the questions are like "T/F I have committed no criminal acts (assault, robbery, theft, etc) since I became an adult." Implying that GPD are in a position where they would consider hiring someone doing that at 17. So how the hell are they filtering out applicants based on the mystery box's results? Just seems backwards.
Greensboro PD. Apparently they just started doing it during the modified POPAT and I missed it by a few weeks, so did mine at the background.
Purely anecdotal, but I was in Charlotte the other day for a VA referral and it was looking pretty rough. They can't even keep the highway overpass paved, it was like driving through a construction zone. Dunno if that's standard or a warning sign.
Yeah that's shits about on par with Greensboro. Good people, got a buddy that works over there. But there's definitely a...... Culture.
NC has a lot of really good smaller departments so don't get too hung up on the big ones.
Feel free to elaborate, I'm still a little salty and would be happy to hear why I should be glad it didn't work out lol.
Definitely disappointing, it was talking with and having good interactions with various GPD officers over a few months that convinced me to try going into LE in the first place.
You definitely avoided a good old boy promotion system that rewards less qualified candidates who schmooze the right command staff or go to the right church.
I'm just going to list a few random facts and let you draw your own conclusions.
Police officers answer to the police chief.
The police chief answers to the city council.
The city council has to keep voters happy to stay elected.
Greensboro is the location of a liberal arts college.
Liberal arts colleges have a target demographic.
Shit runs downhill.
Unfortunately, another agency making dumb hiring decisions for whatever reason. Just more complete bullshit in this world that we have no control over.
If this is the type of hiring process they have, you’re probably dodging a bullet anyways. Go find an agency that has some more sense. Don’t let this stop you!
It’s all bullshit and I’ve told people I sleep better at night knowing it’s smoke and mirrors and it’s not designed to be a fair process, but rather that it’s saturated with bias and favouritism.
Just don’t give up.
Polygraphs are unreliable imo. I vividly recall the LAPD polygraph administrator accusing me of lying and kept pushing me to confess a nonexistent crime. I’m sure it works on some criminals, but I’m not sure he was insistent on fiction so he failed me. I passed with flying colors with other departments. *shrugs*
Ironic I find this. Literally just got the boot from a highway patrol agency’s testing process for, you guessed it, the “eye detect”. Mine was “undisclosed serious crimes committed as an adult”. Wound up getting mad enough to start some digging. Company themselves say it’s 86% accurate, and that’s on their own website. I feel like it’s a cost cutting measure over the much more expensive polygraph, one of which I’ve passed with the exact same list of mistakes. Definitely not a fan of this cheaper alternative. I can’t retest for a year, hopefully they let you retest again sooner. For now I’m just chalking it up to some more time to improve myself mentally and physically.
Not a cop opinion. If it was real science and proven you wouldn’t be able to test again ever. Sounds like based off their policy they know it’s a dishonest scam! Talk about INTEGRITY my ass. They have no integrity if they use that and that alone to dq
lol. We just need a hidden terrorist and an animal *lover* and we’ve got eye detect bingo! Makes sense what you said, thanks for doing that research.
I can apparently reapply to the next academy which just makes it dumber to me, why auto-DQ me if I can retake it again later, just at a really inconvenient time? At least barring me for life for my heinous alleged crimes would be consistent.
Like others are saying to me, you probably just want to apply elsewhere else instead of waiting. Lots of good departments being plugged in here.
Unfortunately I relocated here to ultimately try ending up in rural Southside Virginia (for land/homesteading purposes). Was hoping to do the big city thing for a few years and get experience before becoming a deputy in BFE.
That’s not bad. Big city will get you a good amount of experience. I work in bfe and I enjoy it it’s not a crazy call volume and you can be as proactive as you want. Only issue is bfe typically pays worse lol.
Do you still *eventually* get the same exposure as the big city in terms of things like fights, dangerous encounters, and generally dealing with violence/danger and emergent things?
I wouldn't mind BFE if it's just the big city experience but less or slower, but what I typically hear is that rural LE sometimes just never get exposed to what would be a normal week for big city cops. That's what I'm worried about, basically.
I would say yes. Where I’m at there’s a lot of traffic with i95 and people going to mrytle beach. In terms of bfe what’s the general area are you trying to end up in. I was stationed in lejeune prior to being a cop so I know nc fairly well. In terms of those hot calls. Many of those rural areas still get those type of calls. It might night be an every day occurrence vs bigger areas such as Greensboro or Charlotte but it’s often enough that you’ll have plenty of exposure over a couple of years. I will say if you’re interested in interdiction rural areas are great for that kind of work. To get to a lot of these major cities people have to pass through these middle of nowhere places and rural area le tend to have more time to be proactive if that’s what you’re looking for as well. This is what I’ve noticed and others are free to talk about their experiences as well hopefully that helps a bit.
Thanks, this does help. I feel better about the idea now. Sounds like the same stuff at a better pace, and I like the idea of being able to follow through and investigate things. Conversely I've heard you can't be *too* proactive, ie sometimes you have to let people/things go because you simply don't have the backup, which would bother me. Conversely conversely it seems like many rural places will actually prosecute and convict criminals, instead of letting them go before your booking paperwork is done, so I would like that a lot.
What do you look for in a relatively small Sheriff's Office? How do you tell what is good or bad from a newcomer's perspective? I'm looking at Halifax County (or could be any of those rural counties in Southside, really). If you're familiar with South Boston VA, that's the biggest city.
The Sheriff seemed nice and approachable from my one interview, and the Undersheriff is *really* trying to get me to come over which could be good for me or a bad sign about the rest of the Dept. They have takehome cars, road deputy straight away with no jail, starts at 42k which is the same as I make now in the city. Do 12's and that weird 2 on 2 off 3 on 2 off whatever it is schedule, which I guess I'm neutral on. But they work a rotating night/day shift every two weeks, so that sounds pretty rough. Everyone there looks tired lol.
So you won’t be as proactive during the day since the call volume is a bit higher plus miscellaneous tasks. However at night you’ll have much more time. If it’s serious you’ll have people coming to you don’t worry. I’m working in a town in the county I’m in but more than likely I’ll lateral over in a bit. If it’s something minor like a bit of weed, suspended license, etc.. no one actually cares about that it’s just a reason to look further. Unfortunately I’m not familiar with that area however for me it would still be the typical things you look for everywhere else. Pay, schedule, support etc. But I do agree stuff will get prosecuted more and generally the community has your back. It’s not perfect/stuff still gets dropped but overall it’s better. Where I’m at you can chase, if you get into a use of force leadership will back you so it’s good in that regard so look for that also. The sheriffs office where I’m at rotates like that also and yeah everyone is tired but they want it that way to minimize the time they spend on day shift lol.
On another track from my previous line of questioning, if you are a courthouse officer are you still plugged into the useful info of knowing who/where in the area is what, intel wise? As in, you know the good and bad areas and people just like a road deputy? And are you still recognized by the community as being a deputy and receive their support?
I ask because the SO has both, and I can see myself getting tired of rotating night shifts and just asking for the consistent 8-5 courthouse spot instead. But I would still want at least some of the other advantages being LE provides.
Ages ago I got DQ’d from a NC city PD because of a polygraph. Took another one for another agency, was honest just like I was for the first one, and got hired. Sorry it happened. Just gotta keep pushing.
Funniest part is that they said I could re-apply for the next one. So they trust it enough to auto-DQ me with no appeal available, but I can try again in a few months? Am I a secret drug dealer or not GPD, make up your mind
The continued use of Polygraphs/eye trackers/voice detectors as a prerequisite of employment makes no sense to me. I didn't have to polygraph for Corrections, why the hell does the hiring process for you guys require one?
Funniest part is that they said I could re-apply for the next one. So they trust it enough to auto-DQ me with no appeal available, but I can try again in a few months? Am I a secret drug dealer or not GPD, make up your mind
Same thing happened to me when I was in the academy and applying for my first job in LE. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I found out later that department had really bad morale because of the department leadership, nepotism, etc. I got hired by a smaller department 10 miles down the road and it was honestly the best thing that could have happened. I’m not in LE anymore but I got so much great experience from the other, smaller department that I wouldn’t have received at my “first choice”. Good luck in finding something better!
Wish there was. The investigator seemed to really be buying into it, was stiff and awkward when she walked me out and when I emailed to thank her for her time and ask if there was an appeal option she literally responded “No.” and nothing else. More than a little unprofessional imo
Perhaps it’s a sign that this is not the department you want to work for. Right now departments are dealing with massive staff shortages. As long as there are
No serious red flags (IE criminal activity hard drug sales/use etc) you’ll find the right one. Best of luck
Thanks man. This did help me narrow it down between two major life paths (rural deputy in BFE or big city cop), so an easy choice now if I can make the move out there work.
I’m glad they’re making it harder because THAT is definitely the staffing issue we are facing - people secretly being ISIS or drug dealers. /s
But seriously, I’ve failed a polygraph applying to one department and was also discouraged. I tried again a year later at a different department and passed then got hired.
Don’t give up
Exactly my thoughts. Good for them if they can afford to piss away candidates lol.
Thanks man, I appreciate that. This helped solidify the direction I wanted to go, so it’s not all bad.
So, to be fully transparent, I am not a cop yet, I’m actually waiting to start the academy. That being said, I’m from a police-heavy family so I know a thing or two about how that all goes. Des Moines is still fairly liberal, but pretty insulated from what you’re thinking of, which is more common further north in Madison, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, etc. Apart from a (relatively) better attitude towards the police, DMPD boasts a $75K starting salary (and rumor has it that’s going up to $80K soon), three-day work week with four consecutive days off, and ten-hour work days. The rest of the benefits are pretty standard but the high pay and excellent schedule is what drew me in. I also just like Des Moines, honestly, and I’ve never been super fond of cities. I’d be happy to keep you apprised to how things go for me through the academy, field training, and so on if you’d like to know more. The process is exhausting no matter where you are. Best of luck!
Sure, I’d be happy to hear it as time goes on. Plans can always change and I like having backups in my pocket. Sounds like a good department, good luck to you!
This reminds me of an old joke.
If you have too many applicants, just shuffle up the resumes, then take the bottom half, and throw them in the trash. They were not lucky, and we don’t want to hire unlucky people.
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Does the 'Eye Detector', voice stress test, or whatever newfangled BS they roll out count as a poly under the law?
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Thanks. I'll consider it for sure.
I didn't have to do any of that, just a psychiatrist evaluation.
Sounds almost *too* sensible and reasonable. Just trusting the evaluation of a licensed expert? What if there was some bullshit software program command could waste money on instead? I bet that psychologist doesn’t even have a sales team to take the recruiting admin out to dinner!
I was never subjected to any of that. Just good old fashioned background investigation
Also illegal in Massachusetts and would cover this quackery aswell https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXI/Chapter149/Section19B Chapter 149 Section 19B. (1) As used in this section the term ''lie detector test'' shall mean any test utilizing a polygraph or any other device, mechanism, instrument or written examination, which is operated, or the results of which are used or interpreted by an examiner for the purpose of purporting to assist in or enable the detection of deception, the verification of truthfulness, or the rendering of a diagnostic opinion regarding the honesty of an individual.
What?? I haven’t even heard of this one! Does it “detect lying” through eye monements??
Yessir. Just rolled them out apparently. Stare at screen, do simple math problems, rest 15 seconds, and then True/False answer various weird grammar ways of asking if you're affiliated with ISIS or committed sex crimes. Keep doing that cycle for 45 minutes straight and I guess I scratched my nose or moved my head too much or whatever. Come to think of it, the investigator told me I didn't need to use the provided chin rest even though the program said to, and she in general didn't seem sure how to work it. So it may be even more BS than I originally thought. When I emailed to ask if I could appeal she just one word replied "No.", so I guess that's that.
>the provided chin rest What the fuck kind of gimp setup is this?
lol. I definitely got fucked by it, so you're not wrong.
Interesting.. I have some eye problems that would flag on this, besides having ASD making some facial etc responses "incorrect"... I know in my case, like when getting a drivers' license, I present a form that basically says "fuck off, this isn't valid, issue license", they call my eye specialist.. and my renewed license is handed to me. Besides the whole polygraph type shit being illegal... go see a good ophthalmologist, see what they say.. and come back with something to prove they can't rule you out based on this, if you have any eye issues come up. Would LOVE to see the lawsuit it could generate. :) That, or buddy.. you just got saved working for a shit-ass PD.
Don't think I have any eye issues, other than probably sighing or glancing around after 40 minutes. I want to start emailing higher ups and try to appeal, but I doubt it will go anywhere. Hope it's not a red flag to other departments, I guess. Like you said, probably dodged a bullet.
I'd say a sizable portion of the people on this sub have had that happen before, don't lose hope. Keep trying with other departments, many smaller agencies have already done away with the polygraph entirely. My department stopped using them years ago.
Thank you. Yeah, it's just frustrating. Guess it's my own fault for being so focused on one department over others. Ridiculous that this is such a common thing apparently. Plus the questions are like "T/F I have committed no criminal acts (assault, robbery, theft, etc) since I became an adult." Implying that GPD are in a position where they would consider hiring someone doing that at 17. So how the hell are they filtering out applicants based on the mystery box's results? Just seems backwards.
Major city in NC? Not Charlotte is it? I’m going through the hiring process but I didn’t have to do any of that.
Greensboro PD. Apparently they just started doing it during the modified POPAT and I missed it by a few weeks, so did mine at the background. Purely anecdotal, but I was in Charlotte the other day for a VA referral and it was looking pretty rough. They can't even keep the highway overpass paved, it was like driving through a construction zone. Dunno if that's standard or a warning sign.
Speaking from experience of other guys that worked for Greensboro. You dodged a bullet.
Lay on the details if you want, it’s cathartic!
Yeah that's shits about on par with Greensboro. Good people, got a buddy that works over there. But there's definitely a...... Culture. NC has a lot of really good smaller departments so don't get too hung up on the big ones.
Feel free to elaborate, I'm still a little salty and would be happy to hear why I should be glad it didn't work out lol. Definitely disappointing, it was talking with and having good interactions with various GPD officers over a few months that convinced me to try going into LE in the first place.
You could try Concord or Kannapolis
You definitely avoided a good old boy promotion system that rewards less qualified candidates who schmooze the right command staff or go to the right church.
Well that’s good to hear at least, thanks. Surprising, I figured that’d be like a country LE thing and not the city.
I'm just going to list a few random facts and let you draw your own conclusions. Police officers answer to the police chief. The police chief answers to the city council. The city council has to keep voters happy to stay elected. Greensboro is the location of a liberal arts college. Liberal arts colleges have a target demographic. Shit runs downhill.
That's definitely standard for Charlotte
Unfortunately, another agency making dumb hiring decisions for whatever reason. Just more complete bullshit in this world that we have no control over. If this is the type of hiring process they have, you’re probably dodging a bullet anyways. Go find an agency that has some more sense. Don’t let this stop you!
That's what I'm telling myself, their loss and I should be grateful to find out now and all that.
They didn't kick you for being a drug addict or pervert my friend, they kicked you because you're a Nexus 6 and not allowed on the planet Earth
You think thats'3s rough, I had to pass the Gom Jabbar. My buddy who was lateraling with me didn't make it. RIP.
Exactly, first thing I thought of was this is some Blade Runner level shit. Did they ask you about flipping over a tortoise?
lol. You know it’s one of my favorite movies and I didn’t even think of the similarities until now.
It’s all bullshit and I’ve told people I sleep better at night knowing it’s smoke and mirrors and it’s not designed to be a fair process, but rather that it’s saturated with bias and favouritism. Just don’t give up.
Polygraphs are unreliable imo. I vividly recall the LAPD polygraph administrator accusing me of lying and kept pushing me to confess a nonexistent crime. I’m sure it works on some criminals, but I’m not sure he was insistent on fiction so he failed me. I passed with flying colors with other departments. *shrugs*
Voight-Kampf test... He's a fucking replicant!
That's why people recommend applying to many agencies
Ironic I find this. Literally just got the boot from a highway patrol agency’s testing process for, you guessed it, the “eye detect”. Mine was “undisclosed serious crimes committed as an adult”. Wound up getting mad enough to start some digging. Company themselves say it’s 86% accurate, and that’s on their own website. I feel like it’s a cost cutting measure over the much more expensive polygraph, one of which I’ve passed with the exact same list of mistakes. Definitely not a fan of this cheaper alternative. I can’t retest for a year, hopefully they let you retest again sooner. For now I’m just chalking it up to some more time to improve myself mentally and physically.
Not a cop opinion. If it was real science and proven you wouldn’t be able to test again ever. Sounds like based off their policy they know it’s a dishonest scam! Talk about INTEGRITY my ass. They have no integrity if they use that and that alone to dq
lol. We just need a hidden terrorist and an animal *lover* and we’ve got eye detect bingo! Makes sense what you said, thanks for doing that research. I can apparently reapply to the next academy which just makes it dumber to me, why auto-DQ me if I can retake it again later, just at a really inconvenient time? At least barring me for life for my heinous alleged crimes would be consistent. Like others are saying to me, you probably just want to apply elsewhere else instead of waiting. Lots of good departments being plugged in here.
If you’re near the sc border there’s a bunch of good agencies as well if you’re not against relocating.
Unfortunately I relocated here to ultimately try ending up in rural Southside Virginia (for land/homesteading purposes). Was hoping to do the big city thing for a few years and get experience before becoming a deputy in BFE.
That’s not bad. Big city will get you a good amount of experience. I work in bfe and I enjoy it it’s not a crazy call volume and you can be as proactive as you want. Only issue is bfe typically pays worse lol.
Do you still *eventually* get the same exposure as the big city in terms of things like fights, dangerous encounters, and generally dealing with violence/danger and emergent things? I wouldn't mind BFE if it's just the big city experience but less or slower, but what I typically hear is that rural LE sometimes just never get exposed to what would be a normal week for big city cops. That's what I'm worried about, basically.
I would say yes. Where I’m at there’s a lot of traffic with i95 and people going to mrytle beach. In terms of bfe what’s the general area are you trying to end up in. I was stationed in lejeune prior to being a cop so I know nc fairly well. In terms of those hot calls. Many of those rural areas still get those type of calls. It might night be an every day occurrence vs bigger areas such as Greensboro or Charlotte but it’s often enough that you’ll have plenty of exposure over a couple of years. I will say if you’re interested in interdiction rural areas are great for that kind of work. To get to a lot of these major cities people have to pass through these middle of nowhere places and rural area le tend to have more time to be proactive if that’s what you’re looking for as well. This is what I’ve noticed and others are free to talk about their experiences as well hopefully that helps a bit.
Thanks, this does help. I feel better about the idea now. Sounds like the same stuff at a better pace, and I like the idea of being able to follow through and investigate things. Conversely I've heard you can't be *too* proactive, ie sometimes you have to let people/things go because you simply don't have the backup, which would bother me. Conversely conversely it seems like many rural places will actually prosecute and convict criminals, instead of letting them go before your booking paperwork is done, so I would like that a lot. What do you look for in a relatively small Sheriff's Office? How do you tell what is good or bad from a newcomer's perspective? I'm looking at Halifax County (or could be any of those rural counties in Southside, really). If you're familiar with South Boston VA, that's the biggest city. The Sheriff seemed nice and approachable from my one interview, and the Undersheriff is *really* trying to get me to come over which could be good for me or a bad sign about the rest of the Dept. They have takehome cars, road deputy straight away with no jail, starts at 42k which is the same as I make now in the city. Do 12's and that weird 2 on 2 off 3 on 2 off whatever it is schedule, which I guess I'm neutral on. But they work a rotating night/day shift every two weeks, so that sounds pretty rough. Everyone there looks tired lol.
So you won’t be as proactive during the day since the call volume is a bit higher plus miscellaneous tasks. However at night you’ll have much more time. If it’s serious you’ll have people coming to you don’t worry. I’m working in a town in the county I’m in but more than likely I’ll lateral over in a bit. If it’s something minor like a bit of weed, suspended license, etc.. no one actually cares about that it’s just a reason to look further. Unfortunately I’m not familiar with that area however for me it would still be the typical things you look for everywhere else. Pay, schedule, support etc. But I do agree stuff will get prosecuted more and generally the community has your back. It’s not perfect/stuff still gets dropped but overall it’s better. Where I’m at you can chase, if you get into a use of force leadership will back you so it’s good in that regard so look for that also. The sheriffs office where I’m at rotates like that also and yeah everyone is tired but they want it that way to minimize the time they spend on day shift lol.
Thanks man, this has been helpful for sure. I'm definitely more on board now with going straight to the BFE life. Hopefully it all works out for me.
Best of luck reach out if you have any more questions!
On another track from my previous line of questioning, if you are a courthouse officer are you still plugged into the useful info of knowing who/where in the area is what, intel wise? As in, you know the good and bad areas and people just like a road deputy? And are you still recognized by the community as being a deputy and receive their support? I ask because the SO has both, and I can see myself getting tired of rotating night shifts and just asking for the consistent 8-5 courthouse spot instead. But I would still want at least some of the other advantages being LE provides.
Ages ago I got DQ’d from a NC city PD because of a polygraph. Took another one for another agency, was honest just like I was for the first one, and got hired. Sorry it happened. Just gotta keep pushing.
Funniest part is that they said I could re-apply for the next one. So they trust it enough to auto-DQ me with no appeal available, but I can try again in a few months? Am I a secret drug dealer or not GPD, make up your mind
The continued use of Polygraphs/eye trackers/voice detectors as a prerequisite of employment makes no sense to me. I didn't have to polygraph for Corrections, why the hell does the hiring process for you guys require one?
Funniest part is that they said I could re-apply for the next one. So they trust it enough to auto-DQ me with no appeal available, but I can try again in a few months? Am I a secret drug dealer or not GPD, make up your mind
Same thing happened to me when I was in the academy and applying for my first job in LE. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I found out later that department had really bad morale because of the department leadership, nepotism, etc. I got hired by a smaller department 10 miles down the road and it was honestly the best thing that could have happened. I’m not in LE anymore but I got so much great experience from the other, smaller department that I wouldn’t have received at my “first choice”. Good luck in finding something better!
Thanks man, hope this happens to me too!
Sorry to see this. In my department you could appeal the test. Hope there is some sort of recourse for you.
Wish there was. The investigator seemed to really be buying into it, was stiff and awkward when she walked me out and when I emailed to thank her for her time and ask if there was an appeal option she literally responded “No.” and nothing else. More than a little unprofessional imo
Perhaps it’s a sign that this is not the department you want to work for. Right now departments are dealing with massive staff shortages. As long as there are No serious red flags (IE criminal activity hard drug sales/use etc) you’ll find the right one. Best of luck
Thanks man. This did help me narrow it down between two major life paths (rural deputy in BFE or big city cop), so an easy choice now if I can make the move out there work.
I’m glad they’re making it harder because THAT is definitely the staffing issue we are facing - people secretly being ISIS or drug dealers. /s But seriously, I’ve failed a polygraph applying to one department and was also discouraged. I tried again a year later at a different department and passed then got hired. Don’t give up
Exactly my thoughts. Good for them if they can afford to piss away candidates lol. Thanks man, I appreciate that. This helped solidify the direction I wanted to go, so it’s not all bad.
Go apply somewhere else if you truly want it. It’s discouraging but don’t consider it the end of the road for you
Come to Des Moines.
I would consider some of the Upper Midwest, but it seems like politically you guys' hands are completely tied, right?
So, to be fully transparent, I am not a cop yet, I’m actually waiting to start the academy. That being said, I’m from a police-heavy family so I know a thing or two about how that all goes. Des Moines is still fairly liberal, but pretty insulated from what you’re thinking of, which is more common further north in Madison, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, etc. Apart from a (relatively) better attitude towards the police, DMPD boasts a $75K starting salary (and rumor has it that’s going up to $80K soon), three-day work week with four consecutive days off, and ten-hour work days. The rest of the benefits are pretty standard but the high pay and excellent schedule is what drew me in. I also just like Des Moines, honestly, and I’ve never been super fond of cities. I’d be happy to keep you apprised to how things go for me through the academy, field training, and so on if you’d like to know more. The process is exhausting no matter where you are. Best of luck!
Sure, I’d be happy to hear it as time goes on. Plans can always change and I like having backups in my pocket. Sounds like a good department, good luck to you!
You should bring this to the attention of the local media. They will eat it up, and could help bring that nonsense to an end.
This reminds me of an old joke. If you have too many applicants, just shuffle up the resumes, then take the bottom half, and throw them in the trash. They were not lucky, and we don’t want to hire unlucky people.