demystifying background check

8/16/2019 Demystifying Background Check

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Demystifying theBackgroundInvestigation Process:What You Can Expect

When Appying for a!a" Enforcement #o$

By Charles Russo, professor of criminal justice at AmericanMilitary University

For fve years, I served as the background investigator at a countysheri’s department. !ter that, I "as hired by a municipal policedepartment and "as immediately assigned as their backgroundinvestigator !or the ne#t three years be!ore fnally escaping theo$ce to return to road patrol.Fre%uently, &ob seekers "ould ask me the same %uestions timeand again and it became apparent to me that no one had reallytaken the time to e#plain the background investigation process to

individuals applying !or &obs in la" en!orcement and corrections.'hile each department may conduct the backgroundinvestigation a bit dierently, there are many commonalities thatapply to all criminal &ustice agencies.

%tep &: 'he Appication ProcessFirst you must decide to submit an application !or a s"orn position

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"ith an agency. I! your application is incomplete, you may receivea letter saying so, along "ith another application packet tocomplete. (o"ever, in some agencies, the application is loggedas incomplete and you "ill never hear !rom that agency again.

I! the application is complete "hen it comes into the o$ce, it is!re%uently logged into a background investigation spreadsheetand the background investigator starts a !older !or yourapplication.

%tep (: Background Investigator Initia %creening Process )he background investigator no" gets to "ork. (e or she "illbegin by frst pulling all your records. I! the agency is only hiringpersonnel "ho have already enrolled in or completed the la"en!orcement academy !or part*time+!ull*time positions and !or

those "ithout the academy civilian o$cer positions tra$c controlspecialists-, the background investigator "ill go into the state’sla" en!orcement+corrections record management system e.g.Florida’s utomated )raining anagement /ystem, )/-.Investigators "ill use these databases to check your agencyemployment history and your state certifcation.

)hese records sho" the background investigator all the agenciesyou have "orked !or in the state, i! any, and the reason !orseparation voluntary separation, terminated, under

investigation-. I! your record sho"s 0terminated1 or 0underinvestigation1 the background investigator "ill o!ten contact theagency to determine the cause o! separation.I! you are a male, the background investigator "ill check to see i!you have registered !or the /elective /ervice. )he backgroundinvestigator "ill then run your name through the 2ational CrimeIn!ormation Center 2CIC- as "ell as the state database e.g. FCICin Florida- to see i! you have any criminal history.

)he investigator "ill also pull your driver license history to see"hat violations you have collected. I! you have a staple in yourdriver license history3meaning there’s more than one page3thatis not good as it o!ten indicates a 45I, suspension, or insuranceproblems.

)he background investigator may also pull a backgroundin!ormation report on you that includes everything !rom propertyo"nership to relatives to places you lived "hen you "ere a kid,



and compare this in!ormation to your application.I! you "ere prior military, the investigator "ill send !or yourrecords. t this point, i! you are not certifed as an o$cer or "ereterminated !or cause or about to be terminated !or cause, i! you

are not registered !or /elective /ervice and should be, i! you havea criminal history, have issues "ith your driver license history, oryour report does not match "ith your application, generally thebackground investigator "ill stop processing your application andissue you a 0thanks, but no thanks1 letter.

%tep ): In*Person Intervie"s "ith Department +,cersI! you pass the previous phase, you "ill move on i! the agency hasan opening. )he background investigator may start this phase"ith an oral intervie". )ypically the background investigator does

not participate in the oral intervie", but may escort you into theintervie" and remain in the room during the intervie".

6ou "ill be asked a series o! %uestions and the agency "ill gaugeyour responses. 0)he agency1 may consist o! a line employeeo$cer+deputy-, a supervisor corporal+sergeant-, a managerlieutenant+captain-, or some variation o! these ranks+individuals.

)hose in the intervie" "ill issue a score and a 0yes1 or 0no1response. 0no1 means you get a 0thanks, but no thanks letter.1 score

and 0yes1 means the background investigator has more "ork todo and thus he or she begins the ne#t phase o! the investigationprocess.

%tep -: Checking Your .eferences )he backgroundinvestigator "ill start the process by contacting your re!erences,checking your places o! employment, and contacting yourneighbors. )heir goal at this phase is to confrm the in!ormationyou have sel!*reported and fnd out more about you.(e+she "ill contact the la" en!orcement agencies "here youlive+have lived and ask them to check their records !or anycontacts "ith you. )he background investigator "ill contact allagencies you have "orked !or either by phone or in person andpull your employment &acket.

)his stage re%uires a lot o! "ork and takes time to complete. )hebackground investigator plays a lot o! phone tag "ith people3



leaving messages back and !orth3and does a bit o! driving in some cases. 4uring this phase, thebackground investigator may also drop by and see you "ithout"arning to veri!y ho" you live.

(e+she may also contact academy instructors and even your!ormer pro!essors. I! he+she discovers any dierences bet"eenyour application and reality3such as poor employment history3or i! the investigator is unable to contact any o! your re!erences,then he+she "ill likely send you a 0thanks, but no thanks1 letter./ometimes he+she may 0kno"1 something isn’t right, but has notbeen able to turn up any evidence. 'hen this occurs, he+she "illdig deeper and deeper until "hat is giving him+her that uneasy!eeling is discovered or discounted.

%tep /: 0edica1 Poygraph and Psychoogica ExamsI! youhave made it this !ar, consider yoursel! in really good shape asthe vast ma&ority o! applicants do not get to this phase. 2o"begins the ne#t phase o! the process7 your medical screening,drug screening, polygraph and psychological e#am.

6our psychological e#am may be a paper and pencil 89:;%uestion test and an interpretation session "ith a doctor, "hich"ill generate a report to the agency. )he in!ormation in the reportmay vary !rom a matri# that ranks you in one o! three categories

lo" risk, medium risk, and high risk- to a paragraph that statesthe individual is deemed 0ft1 or 0unft1 !or the duties andresponsibilities o! the position.gencies "ant lo" risk, they don’t "ant high risk, and they "illo!ten take a good look at medium risk scores. (igh*risk individualshave a probability o! fnding themselves on the !ront page o! thene"spaper and not !or good reasons. edium*risk individuals mayget on that !ront page, "hile lo"*risk individuals have aprobability o! being on the !ront page, but !or the good reasons.

)he medical and drug screen are pretty cut and dry<no drugs inyour system and you "ill not drop dead tomorro". )he %uestion tobe ans"ered is7 0re you able to physically per!orm the tasksassociated "ith being a s"orn o$cer=1

)he polygraph consists o! an e#tensive intervie" !ollo"ed by theattachment o! sensors to the body. )he intervie"er asks a serieso! %uestions and observes the results on the polygraph. I! no



deception is reported and no ne" in!ormation emerges !rom thisprocess, you are good to be hired !or a position. I! the agency hasmore success!ul applicants than openings, they then make adecision on "ho to hire !ull*time and "ho may receive oers !or

reserve+part*time positions.

Concusion>oing through the application process !or a la" en!orcementposition is a rigorous and time*consuming process. 'hile eachagency does things a bit dierently, the process is generally thesame. ?very time a background investigator picks up or handlesyour application, you run the risk o! getting a 0thanks, but nothanks1 letter. It is very easy to get one o! those letters<mucheasier than it is to success!ully make it through the process.

demystifying background check

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