Lie detector/background check for police officer

Question

I just applied for the police officer test in New York City. I'm worried about the lie detector/background check part of the hiring process. I use to do drugs (marijuana, cocaine, exstacy, acid) my senior year of high school but then quit when I enrolled in college. I did them mostly for experimentation not because I was addicted. It's been about 5 years since then so would it still matter? Another thing they might find is the time I jumped the subway turnstile when I was drunk one time in the city. My one day fun pass wasn't working and I got fed up and jumped it. That happened about a year ago but I paid the ticket immediately. Are these things going to disqualify me? Please let me know to save me a trip to the testing site. Thanks.

Answer 1

Your drug use will disqualify you in most US departments.

Answer 2

they shouldn't hurt your chances i would guess. if you havent done drugs in 5 years you wont test positive. just be honest for the lie detector test. the turnstile thing shouldnt be bad either.

Answer 3

Depending on the policy of drug use it is possible to be disqualified for use certain drugs, no matter how long ago you used them and even if you tried them once. As far as the turnstile thing probably not. If you are just now applying and haven't done anything yet, you will have to pass a few things before you even get to the polygraph examination. They will give you a background questionnaire to complete, this will include the chance to reveal all of the things you have mentioned above. My suggestion is if you really really want this then you need to be honest. There is nothing wrong with calling the department and speaking to a recruiter and asking these questions to. You can also do a little more research on their website to see what can disqualify you. Honesty is the key, they are looking for integrity and if yo can be honest about the not so good things in your life then they know you have integrity and will be an honest officer. We all make bad decisions at some point in our life, it is how we learn from those mistakes that makes the difference. I wish you lots of luck on your endeavor.

Answer 4

You will make a great cop on the bunko squad.

A Bunko squad is a team of well endowed honest peace officers. However there has not been an honest cop since Serpico.