Before hiring new officers, most police agencies do rigorous background checks. The investigation’s goal is to find any illegal or unacceptable conduct issues. They also want to see if the applicants have strong work characteristics. A person’s driving and accident records, criminal activity, drug or alcohol use, honesty, employment record, interpersonal interactions with neighbors or coworkers, and money management are all checked. Some departments administer a polygraph exam to find any previously unreported facts and ensure that the candidate did not mislead during the application process. The polygraph exam frequently results in the applicant making significant confessions. A department’s job is to do everything possible to ensure that individuals with psychiatric issues who may harm a citizen are not selected as officers.
Therefore, people can see that the process of becoming a police officer has evolved into a comprehensive and complicated one. It is vital to keep in mind that this lengthy procedure arose from neglect when there were few if any, standards for becoming a police officer. The next stage is to establish a thorough training program after verifying that the recruits have the fundamental character and talents to take on a police officer’s duty. Finally, recruits should be rejected because of their illegal actions, such as drug-using, conviction, or felony.