Trying to be a cop/state police/dea...little bit of a rocky background

Question

im 24, have a 4 yr degree in criminal justice with a 150 hour completed internship in evidence management with the NJ state police, and currently work as store detective at macys...heres my background though...not bad but a little rocky...tried marijuana freshman year of college once...had DUI arrest on 10/2004 (illegal turn) but below the limit at .049 but underage cause i was 20...im from NJ and this happened in Pa where i was at school at the time...Pa has a program for 1st time offenders which i completed and charges dropped and expunged blah blah...driving record has remained clean except with one minor traffic violation from 2004 ( no points); pulled over for speeding but got a break with a no point ticket....so wut do u think ?

Answer 1

I think you are fine for local or state police.  DEA may be a little tricky.  A friend of mine is detached from our dept to the DEA and they did an additional background because they want to make sure you are squeaky clean.  I would call the DEA and ask them about their requirements.  The thing that would concern me would be the DUI, because they will still know about it.

Answer 2

You have no felonies so your OK, Just legally change your last name to Sanchez or Martinez and your in like flint!!!!

Answer 3

Your background investigation will bring up these past issues, but as long as you haven't had anything since then,  they shouldn't be too troublesome.  It will also depend on the length of time between the drug usage and DUI and the time you apply.  Some departments have a "no drug use, ever" policy, while others require only 4 years of no drug usage.  Contacting the departments you are considering applying with and discussing the issue with them will serve you much better than asking on here.  Honesty will also save you and the departments a lot of trouble, particularly if there is the chance for a polygraph examination in the hiring process.

Answer 4

I don't think there's anything there that's going to be a big problem. Essentially, you have no criminal history.