Police Lie Detector!!? DEA/FBI???!!!?

Question

I am pursuing a career in law enforcement and am in college. My goal would be to one day be in the FBI or DEA, but I want a job as a police officer first. I know i have to take lie detector test and that worries me. In high school I used to steal (more than 1 or 2 things), smoke pot (more than 1 or 2 times), do criminal damage (more than 1 or 2 times) and drink underage. I stopped the stealing and smoking around 11th grade, but the underage drinking continued until i was 21. I also never had a great work history. I've straightened my life out alot since high school. I have always had good grades, leadship, sports, etc. my whole life, though. I just did some stupid **** on the side for a while. Will these things cost me a job in most police depts and eventually the FBI/DEA, or will they take into consideration that I was young and everybod does stupid **** in high school?

Answer 1

Take a look at the FBI's drug policy:
Under the FBI's current Employment Drug Policy, an applicant will be found unsuitable for employment if they:

Have used any illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991), other than marijuana, within the past ten years, or engaged in more than minimal experimentation in their lifetime. In making the determination about an applicant’s suitability for FBI employment, all relevant facts, including the frequency of use, will be evaluated.
Have used marijuana/cannabis within the past three years, or have extensively used marijuana/cannabis or over a substantial period of time. In making the determination about an applicant’s suitability for FBI employment, all relevant facts, including the recency and frequency of use, will be evaluated.
You can easily determine whether you meet the FBI's illegal drug policy by answering the following questions:

Have you used marijuana at all within the last three years?
Have you used any other illegal drug (including anabolic steroids after February 27, 1991) at all in the past 10 years?
Have you ever sold any illegal drug for profit?
Have you ever used an illegal drug (no matter how many times or how long ago) while in a law enforcement or prosecutorial position, or in a position which carries with it a high level of responsibility or public trust?

If you answered Yes to any of these questions, you are not eligible for employment with the FBI.

Be honest, tell the truth. Lieing to the FBI is a felony and then you would have NO job in law enforcement.

Answer 2

Ya, this will cause some issues. Pot can be gotten around, probably not easily, and maybe not with the DEA. They don't want anyone on trial to have drug histories on their past. The theft would probably be the biggest kicker. They are not going to want anybody with moral character issues. The thing that sucks about this is that a lot of those in law enforcement have some serious issues themselves that somehow are overlooked. There is such a huge double standard in law enforcement that it would make your head spin.

Answer 3

The best thing for you to do is be HONEST. Then let the dept. decide if they want to hire you based on you being dumb in the past. Depending on how long ago that was some will look past all that.

As far as FBI/DEA....once/if you get into a dept. work hard at becoming the best at what you do and stay there a while and do different things (dog handler, SRO, drug team, SWAT, detectives...etc) to build up your resume....

Good luck.

Answer 4

Take the test and DON'T lie.