Can I become a police officer still?

[Kimble]

I believe under some circumstances I watched some porn, not sure if the girl was necessarily underaged, but she may have been. Out of ignorance I did this, not knowing about the damage that it would cause me, (not only as a someone who wants to become a police officer, but I am very strongly a anti-under-the-age-of-18 sex supporter.) Now, under the ignorance of the subject, could I also call this encounter an "accident"?

I understand that watching pornography is extremely bad, but please give me some good news!

Watching pornography, in and of itself, is perfectly legal. Child pornography (i.e. participants in sex acts below the age of 18), however, is a federal felony offense.

I'll be perfectly blunt, if I was working your background investigation I would have several follow-up questions about this. I work in the same office as our regional Sex Crimes/Special Victims Unit that investigates child porn cases, so I'm very familiar with the fact you can't go to google.com and search for "porn" or "lesbians" and come back with pics and videos of child pornography, doesn't work that way. At the very least I would have some candid questions about the specifics of how you came into viewing this possible child pornography.

[Citrus]

Watching pornography, in and of itself, is perfectly legal. Child pornography (i.e. participants in sex acts below the age of 18), however, is a federal felony offense.

I'll be perfectly blunt, if I was working your background investigation I would have several follow-up questions about this. I work in the same office as our regional Sex Crimes/Special Victims Unit that investigates child porn cases, so I'm very familiar with the fact you can't go to google.com and search for "porn" or "lesbians" and come back with pics and videos of child pornography, doesn't work that way. At the very least I would have some candid questions about the specifics of how you came into viewing this possible child pornography.

Of course, but I must defend myself and say that the internet is a place full of links to strange things.

You google "Ebony" porn, and next thing you know you have horses, cartoons, and for my experience, had some kiddie porn show up.

But when I searched for the stuff, I didn't just settle with one of the first few links, I had gone into one of the higher numbered pages.

From my experience, it happened, I'd also be happy to tell the officer interviewing me that I did indeed come in contact with it, but I'm 100% sure that I did not search for that type of pornography myself.

[jmur5074]

You google "Ebony" porn, and next thing you know you have horses, cartoons, and for my experience, had some kiddie porn show up.

Stop googling.

[lewisipso]

Stop looking for it and you won't find it. As I understood it you googled and found this site. Perhaps I have misread?

How did you hear about the site?

1) I have found the website by google.

It seems now that your googling and searching specific terms, higher numbered pages and finding possible kiddie porn led you where you shouldn't have been.

You google "Ebony" porn, and next thing you know...

But when I searched for the stuff, I didn't just settle with one of the first few links, I had gone into one of the higher numbered pages.

Sounds like you need to reel it in some. You are still young. Take your time and get your priorities straight first. Lay off the porn sites and more on the police sites. Listen and don't run your chops. Ask pertinent questions and listen to the advice given. Do not lie if asked. Tell the truth and explain later. Good luck.

[Five-0]

Stop looking for it and you won't find it. As I understood it you googled and found this site. Perhaps I have misread?


It seems now that your googling and searching specific terms, higher numbered pages and finding possible kiddie porn led you where you shouldn't have been.



Sounds like you need to reel it in some. You are still young. Take your time and get your priorities straight first. Lay off the porn sites and more on the police sites. Listen and don't run your chops. Ask pertinent questions and listen to the advice given. Do not lie if asked. Tell the truth and explain later. Good luck.

And eat your vegetables.

[MacLean]

I'm sorry, I still smell something.

I'm being nice, but I am being direct.

You don't find child porn on accident.

[Pudge]

And eat your vegetables.

"Don't be a fool, stay in School"

[Wolven]

I'm sorry, I still smell something.

I'm being nice, but I am being direct.

You don't find child porn on accident.

I'm with you on this one Maclean...

[sgtbear111]

Sorry as well, but:

I see minimizing, blame transference-projection, vague, incomplete, occurring more than once, excuses of "not sure, tricked, ignorance, accidental"....and small stack of bibles.
Admits a crime "then"... not consistent with his prevous defensive remarks.

Yep get that same sense things are not quite complete. A lot hinges on the "report" and report to whom. Whether this person went back to peek after reporting, and at what pont it became a crime in his own mind, and if the conduct continued...like further searches...?

Inconsistencies.........

[lewisipso]

And eat your vegetables.

Damn! I knew I forgot one.

[Jks9199]

I'm sorry, I still smell something.

I'm being nice, but I am being direct.

You don't find child porn on accident.

I agree.

You can find lots of porn by accident. Lots of gross porn by accident. Even some adults dressing like kids or the like by accident.

But you do kind of have to hunt for child porn.

And I see some inconsistencies here... First post, it was a link someone sent him. Then he found it by googling...

What I'm smelling here is like the guy who comes along and says "I tried drugs and got in a little trouble with the law; can I be a cop?" and as you dig into it "tried" means used pot regularly for years, coke less frequently, and LSD "a couple" of times. And a "little trouble with the law" becomes multiple felony convictions...

Might be that I'm wrong. Might just be a kid not communicating real well. If so -- he's gotten good advice above.

[Xiphos]

You are 16 now. Nobody will put you through an academy until you will be 21 before graduation at minimum. Most cops are 22-25 by the time they get on the street. In other words you have lots of time to prepare for this.

One of the biggest issues in law enforcement is honesty and integrity. Often people lose their freedom and spend years and decades in prisons because of the testimony of a cop. If you aren't considered credible you can't be a cop. I know Hollywood likes to portray cops as either corrupt or incompetent but that stuff is crap. There's a judge in my court who loves me. If I told her the sky was pink and sun was purple she would take judicial notice of it. That's because of my reputation and credibility in her court.

If a cop is considered to be a liar or untrustworthy he can't do his job. Not only are his reports suspect but he will be unbelievable in any investigation he conducts and will never get a conviction in court. If you can't convict people of crimes in court, what good are you as a cop?

Therefore a great deal of the hiring process to be a cop is centered around ensuring the candidate is credible and honest.

Nobody is perfect. None of us on this board were angels when we were 15 and 16 years old. Some didn't figure it out until their 20's. When we were in the hiring process we were completely, and thoroughly honest about all our transgressions. We put it down on the paper, we answered questions about it in the background investigation, and we accepted full and complete responsibility for our acts. We were able to fully demonstrate that we knew we made a mistake and we were committed to not repeating that mistake by years and years of living life on the straight and narrow.

Police officers are held to a much higher standard of behavior than citizens. When was the last time you saw a front page news story about some tax accountant getting arrested for DWI? You can bet it'll be front page news if a cop is arrested for DWI. The only way a department has to determine whether a candidate can live up to that standard is years of living it before hiring you.

Stay away from the drugs from here on out. All drugs, including marijuana. Don't take prescription drugs unless they were prescribed to you as well.

There's lots of good reasons to stay away from porn, especially while you are young. I know a lot of websites advertise "teens" but they claim in the fine print the women are 18 but look young. That's not child porn. But stay away from it all and you won't have to worry. You're already having to face explaining what you've done up to now, don't compound it over the next few years. In your Google preferences put Safe Search on and your likelihood of accidentally surfing porn will be minuscule.

Do you want to write your own ticket in law enforcement? When you graduate from high school go into the military. It doesn't matter what branch and it doesn't matter what your job is. Serve active duty honorably for your obligation. When you get out, use whatever GI Bill money you can get your hands on and get a college degree. It doesn't matter what you study (criminal justice is not necessary.) Just get your four year degree.

I guarantee you will be competitive for getting hired unless you have credibility issues or some weird personality problem like arrogance or cockiness.

Don't go straight to the small departments. Often they have much smaller budgets and can't afford to train you. They will expect you to pay your own way through regional academies and they may not pay you while you are in training. They may only hire once every few years as openings happen and the positions will be very competitive. If you go to the larger metro departments you'll find they often hire more candidates and put on their own academies several times a year. Even my 250 cop department has our own academy. These agencies often will pay your salary and benefits while you are training.

These agencies will also offer lots of experience very quickly. Officers here get the best training in this area of the state at our academy. Five years working the streets here is about 15 years worth of experience in the surrounding small towns and rural counties. We have an attrition problem because guys work a few years and then discover that other nearby agencies will bend over backwards to hire them. One of my good friends just went to a nearby county and got a pay raise, a take home car, and better equipment. The sheriff hired him on a handshake based upon his training, experience, and reputation. No testing at all for him. It's a great move for him where the smaller call load will allow him to be proactive in interdiction on the several major roads through that jurisdiction.

You go to a big department like Charlotte (I know there are many good ones in NC) and work a few years. After three or four years you can begin putting applications out at the smaller agencies, you'll probably find that they will love to have an officer with your training and experience.

Similarly you'll find that federal agencies like the ATF, US Marshals, DEA, ICE will love to hire you as well. We lost a guy a couple years ago to the Marshals and another one a month ago. Another officer is going to them in a couple weeks. We just lost a guy to NCIS and another to ICE.

With military, a college degree, and the training and experience of a cop in a busy city, you will be able to write your own ticket in this profession. The key is to remember you must have integrity, honesty, and credibility. Along with the ability to live to the higher standard expected of law enforcement.

[Citrus]

You are 16 now. Nobody will put you through an academy until you will be 21 before graduation at minimum. Most cops are 22-25 by the time they get on the street. In other words you have lots of time to prepare for this.

One of the biggest issues in law enforcement is honesty and integrity. Often people lose their freedom and spend years and decades in prisons because of the testimony of a cop. If you aren't considered credible you can't be a cop. I know Hollywood likes to portray cops as either corrupt or incompetent but that stuff is crap. There's a judge in my court who loves me. If I told her the sky was pink and sun was purple she would take judicial notice of it. That's because of my reputation and credibility in her court.

If a cop is considered to be a liar or untrustworthy he can't do his job. Not only are his reports suspect but he will be unbelievable in any investigation he conducts and will never get a conviction in court. If you can't convict people of crimes in court, what good are you as a cop?

Therefore a great deal of the hiring process to be a cop is centered around ensuring the candidate is credible and honest.

Nobody is perfect. None of us on this board were angels when we were 15 and 16 years old. Some didn't figure it out until their 20's. When we were in the hiring process we were completely, and thoroughly honest about all our transgressions. We put it down on the paper, we answered questions about it in the background investigation, and we accepted full and complete responsibility for our acts. We were able to fully demonstrate that we knew we made a mistake and we were committed to not repeating that mistake by years and years of living life on the straight and narrow.

Police officers are held to a much higher standard of behavior than citizens. When was the last time you saw a front page news story about some tax accountant getting arrested for DWI? You can bet it'll be front page news if a cop is arrested for DWI. The only way a department has to determine whether a candidate can live up to that standard is years of living it before hiring you.

Stay away from the drugs from here on out. All drugs, including marijuana. Don't take prescription drugs unless they were prescribed to you as well.

There's lots of good reasons to stay away from porn, especially while you are young. I know a lot of websites advertise "teens" but they claim in the fine print the women are 18 but look young. That's not child porn. But stay away from it all and you won't have to worry. You're already having to face explaining what you've done up to now, don't compound it over the next few years. In your Google preferences put Safe Search on and your likelihood of accidentally surfing porn will be minuscule.

Do you want to write your own ticket in law enforcement? When you graduate from high school go into the military. It doesn't matter what branch and it doesn't matter what your job is. Serve active duty honorably for your obligation. When you get out, use whatever GI Bill money you can get your hands on and get a college degree. It doesn't matter what you study (criminal justice is not necessary.) Just get your four year degree.

I guarantee you will be competitive for getting hired unless you have credibility issues or some weird personality problem like arrogance or cockiness.

Don't go straight to the small departments. Often they have much smaller budgets and can't afford to train you. They will expect you to pay your own way through regional academies and they may not pay you while you are in training. They may only hire once every few years as openings happen and the positions will be very competitive. If you go to the larger metro departments you'll find they often hire more candidates and put on their own academies several times a year. Even my 250 cop department has our own academy. These agencies often will pay your salary and benefits while you are training.

These agencies will also offer lots of experience very quickly. Officers here get the best training in this area of the state at our academy. Five years working the streets here is about 15 years worth of experience in the surrounding small towns and rural counties. We have an attrition problem because guys work a few years and then discover that other nearby agencies will bend over backwards to hire them. One of my good friends just went to a nearby county and got a pay raise, a take home car, and better equipment. The sheriff hired him on a handshake based upon his training, experience, and reputation. No testing at all for him. It's a great move for him where the smaller call load will allow him to be proactive in interdiction on the several major roads through that jurisdiction.

You go to a big department like Charlotte (I know there are many good ones in NC) and work a few years. After three or four years you can begin putting applications out at the smaller agencies, you'll probably find that they will love to have an officer with your training and experience.

Similarly you'll find that federal agencies like the ATF, US Marshals, DEA, ICE will love to hire you as well. We lost a guy a couple years ago to the Marshals and another one a month ago. Another officer is going to them in a couple weeks. We just lost a guy to NCIS and another to ICE.

With military, a college degree, and the training and experience of a cop in a busy city, you will be able to write your own ticket in this profession. The key is to remember you must have integrity, honesty, and credibility. Along with the ability to live to the higher standard expected of law enforcement.

Thank you, this was very helpful.

I'll stay super clean from here on out and also talk to my schools resource officer for help.

[tapout]

Stop googling.

best...line...ever

[jmur5074]

best...line...ever

I try.