If I have a dui in another country, can I become a cop?
The short answer is YES. You can still get a job as an officer in The States. Ultimately it will depend on which municipality you apply to. They will all have different guidelines. Things like DUI, minor in possession (MIP) and even misdemeanor drug possession (if you got busted with a joint when you where a kid for example) can be over looked depending on which department is doing the hiring. Often times they are more lenient then you'd think possible. Some will be far more critical than you'd think. The bottom line is, there is no perfect answer for your query. If one DUI is your only bad mark a respected degree should more than make up for your prior indiscretion. If you get turned down by one municipality, keep looking and applying at others. Just be forthright from the start. Trying to cover it up will no doubt lead to bigger problems in the future.
What can police departments do to police themselves and make sure officers are not killing and brutalizing citizens or using unnecessary force in making arrests?
They can't police themselves. And that's not even anything against the police, in particular. No organization can be expected to effectively and neutrally provide oversight of itself, because humans will naturally develop biases, whether that's bias in favor of the "good guys" or a bias against the "troublemakers" in the organization. Oversight must be from the outside. That's why we have standards like independent audits. That's not to say there shouldn't be any internal controls, but it is to say that those should never be the only controls. An outside body, with membership half or less being police or former police, should be the final control. And that body should have genuine and effective oversight powers, including the final and irreversible authority to impose discipline or other corrective action, as well as the ability to reverse such if being used to target a "troublemaker" rather than address a real issue.The first issue to address should be lying. Yes, outright brutality and excessive force is bad, but a far more common occurrence is for an officer to lie or embellish in court or on an official report. This can have severe repercussions, including people being convicted of crimes they may not have committed. The first thing we need is a rule that if an officer gets caught lying in court testimony or on an official sworn statement, even once, they're done working in law enforcement for good, and depending on severity and repercussions, may face perjury charges. We need the baseline expectation that they will tell the truth, each and every time, even when that truth is tough, inconvenient, or contradicts their narrative. (This does not apply to lying during interrogations, which officers are legally and ethically permitted to do, only on official reports and in court testimony.)
Do police officers choose their own partners?
Yes there are trainging techniques that you can use, lucky for you, i am a dog trainer. Learn here https://tr.im/dupnI Have you ever heard of the "leave it" command. It is veryimportant your dog learns this. To teach it to your dog, start with something you use as a treat. Put it on the floor infront of your dog. When your dog lunges for it, but your hand over it and say "leave it" really strenly, so your dog gets the message. Do this a few times until your dog gets the idea. When your dog has performed this well, gove him the OK and let him have the treat with you okey dokey command, which could be anything to tell him he canhave the treat. Then move up a level. Put the treat in your hand and hold it near your dogs nose, finger pointing up. If your dog tries to snatch it, say "leave it" When your dog's nose points in another direction ither than the treat, you've been succesful. Now take it to the next and final level.... the dinner table. sit at the table and enjoy a meal. When your dog begins to beg, enforce the leave it command. if your dog doesn't leave, tell your dog to lay down somewhere in the room far away. I understand if you like having your dogs with you while you eat so the location of you dog while training is essential. Keep you dog as far away as possible. If you see your dog sneaking over to your table, make eyecontact and enforce the leave it command. If your dog gets up, it isn't obeying, now you need to stand up and make eyecontact. This tells your dog you're ready to do whatever it takes to keep him away from YOUR food. ALWAYS make eyecontact while your eating and your dog is laying down. Make frequent eye contact so your dog can't sneak up to the table with out you knowing. I've done this with many people, and it works even for the worst of beggars. This training may take time, but have perserverence ok? And NEVER feed the dog at the table. It encourages begging.
How are police background investigations conducted? Actuall police background investigators answers only?
A background investigator is looking for people to verify your character and honesty in your application. When I do checks, if an applicant has other departments that he has applied for, I will contact those departments and find out why they didn't hire the applicant. This can save me time, if as they may have found something in their check. I will also email other detectives (we have a private group that we post info on) to see it their department has ever had contact with the applicant, either as a applicant or some other type of contact. I will also find my own character references. When you put somebody down as a reference, they will more than likely say nice things about you. I will ask them, who else knows____, and then I will go and talk to them, and so on. I will check past jobs, to see if there are any inconsistancies with the applicants employment record, for instance, maybe you worked at a place but you never put it on your application, but it may show up on an old one. I will also check with fellow employees etc. This is getting harder to do, because in our sue happy country, most employers will say, "yeah, they worked here from this date to that date" and wont give you much else, even with a signed release. Anyway, after I do that, I'll check your credit, education (yes I will go to your schools), old neighbors, and other misc things. I then write a report about what I found, what people said etc, and forward that to the Chief's office. I only report information, Passing a background is something that the chief determines. As far as the polygraph, we use that as part of the psychological testing and a private business does that. The biggest thing what I see in people not passing, is being dishonset. We all made mistakes in the past, the ones who dont pass normally try to hide these, instead of being honest. I hope that helped
If I become a police officer in one state, then decide I would like to move, is it an easy transfer?
None of the answers you received so far are correct. Each state has its own requirements to certify police officers. In order to go from one state to another, you must meet the training requirements of the new state, which at a MINIMUM includes many class room hours of training in that states criminal and motor vehicle laws. In some states, experienced and certified Police officers from other maybe hired, and only have to attend the training mentioned above. In other states, they require that even certified police officers from out of state must complete the ENTIRE course of study in the new state's police academy. Because of that, very, very few Police departments accept 'lateral transfers" from out of state. Most big city police departments require that all new hires be trained in their own academy, even if they are already certified police offciers in the same state. Also, to be hired by another department, either in your own state, or in another state, requires that you go through the entire testing process (except maybe for some very small departments, whihc might hire someone off the street without any testing). The testing procedure almost always includes written and oral tests, background and credit checks, physical agility tests and medical/psychological testing. I was a certifed police officer in one state, and left to take a job in another state (having gone all through the testing process) and then had to go all through the police academy a second time. There are some police departments in some states that do accept "lateral transfers" and they expedite the cerification process. However, that is pretty rare. Reference your Boston example: If you were a Philadelphia Police Officer, you would have to quit your job and move to Boston for one year, go through the testing procedure, and if hired, go through the Boston Police Academy and start at the salary of a probationary police officer.
Do police officers have partners anymore?
It would depend on the agency. Both agencies I worked for were big on single officer patrol, they figured it saved them money of putting another cop in the car, I guess. There were times though when we rode two to a unit, other than filed training. That was New Year's Eve and Fourth of July as our citizens tended to shoot all sorts of things on both. Standing orders from operations command was not to dispatch officers to shots fired calls unless there was a confirmed injury five minutes before New Years until five minutes after to give time for most of the rounds fired up in the air to land.other deptarments LAPD, most commonly ride two to a car, with Sgts and I believe Lts being solo, they bought onto to the concept of having two automatically gives you backup when you hit the scene, at her than either the officer calling for it, and then waiting, or dispatch thinking, 'we might want two units there.'I didn't mind riding solo, not that I was super cop, but just I tend to be able to speak to people and handle situations, the few times I called for another unit (that is one that wasn't already dispatched to the call) I tended to get a great response time, because it was so uncommon, the rest of my shift figured it had to be bad.
Do the police have to give you a call once your arrested?
As some have already stated, it depends on a number of factors. In my facility (in Texas) an incoming inmate is due 2 completed phone calls within 4 hours of book-in process. AGAIN that depends on his cooperation. Act up or try to be a smart*** and you are not processed until you do cooperate. That may be awhile if we are busy. One thing not mentioned so far is that many people believe the person is due a "FREE" phone call. Not so. If you come to our facility you have a phone available to you that makes collect calls only. It doesn't connect to cell phones and many have home phones which are "collect call restricted." This cause problems, but it not illegal. the law in Texas simply says we must make a phone available to you. The post about the phones being turned off is another common problem. We turn off phones from 10pm until 8 am. One last thing I see alot is when the person is arrested the night prior to TDC chain going out. (Prisoners leaving for State Jail or State Prison time). If there are inmates leaving to do time we do not allow phones to be on until they have left to avoid other inmates tipping off someone on the outside who may try to interfere with the transport of the prisoners. This is also common practice when I transport Federal inmates to prison. As for the "Tell em you want your lawyer and they will leave you alone" thing... Once you are arrested your lawyer sees you in court or has to come see you in jail. We don't question you and neither do the police. You can fill out a writ and ask for a speedy appearance with the Judge and we get you there as soon as the Judges coordinator lines it up. We personally don't care who you call.
I always wondered why state police didn't position themselves outside bars and watch for patrons staggering out. What am I missing?
Well, they do. Cops know the last call time in their jurisdiction better than they know the time of birth of their own children. The three busiest times of day for a police officer, essentially one for each shift, are morning rush, evening rush, and last call.However, public intoxication, while illegal, is not as big a concern as DWI. Cops in the U.S. will prioritize the obviously drunk person staggering to their car with keys in hand over someone leaning a bit too heavily on a bus stop pole.Also, public intoxication often requires more than simply being in a public place and over the limit. It usually boils down to some variation of being "drunk and disorderly". In Texas, TPC Section 49.02 (the "public intoxication" statute) says that the person must be intoxicated "to the degree that they endanger themselves or another person". So, walking out of a bar, minding your own business, maybe not maintaining a straight line down the sidewalk but not in any danger of staggering out into traffic, is not illegal behavior, and it would be an unlawful arrest to throw someone into the drunk tank just for blowing a .09 after stepping out of a bar. You either have to attempt to operate a motor vehicle, be belligerent while drunk, or be so blind drunk you don't know what you're doing, in order for the police to take an interest in your behavior and consider giving you a ride themselves. Even in that situation, many cops would rather take you home and tell you to stay there than go through the hassle of booking you (though that kind of free pass isn't a guarantee).