Question about becoming a cop

[dragonboy221]

Can one still become a cop (LA country sheriff department or highway patrol) if they have bad credit but the debt is less than $10k

And they have a clean background, not even a parking ticket.

Will it still be possible to get a job?

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

Credit can be looked at as equivalent to trustworthiness. If you're smart, you'll clear all that up before you apply.

[WyattandDoc]

Bad credit is one of the most common reasons for DQ. Clean it up 1st

[dragonboy221]

will i get a chance to explain to them why i have bad credit?

[1971]

dragon... 80% of the people who make it to the stage of even seeing a background investigator get dq'd by lasd... as bad as the job market is now, you're not going to clear backgrounds with anything derogative on your credit... pay the 10K off before you even apply...

[joefrank64k]

Yeah, and if you're hard-up for money you might be tempted into taking bribes. Or so goes the theory. It also can reflect poorly on your maturity and basic decision making.

As others have said, you need to clean that up first and have a solid period of time with clean credit, before you apply. You might get a chance to explain, but unless the situation was 100% out of your control (and they rarely are!) it won't do you any good.

Good luck OP!

[CaptMike]

For my department it is reviewed on a case by case basis. Having debt of 10k may not necessarily dq you. the problem is if you are delinquent on your payments. If you are keeping up with your payments then my department may not have an issue with having that debt. If you do have late payments or defaulted on the debt, once again, they will look at it. For example, with the way the economy has functioned, many folks have lost their jobs and could not keep up with payments. during that out of work period, we may understand falling behind. but once you had a job, we also want to see you start making on time payments and show a good track record of keeping up with them. So depending on what your credit history looks like and where you stand today, you may get hired by my department. If you are still behind on your payments and you have purchased new cars and have current charges on credit cards while still defauliting on other debt, you will not get hired. good luck.

[cacop]

If you are paying it off at a good rate and not adding to it you can get hired. Especially if your debt to income ratio isn't too bad. Of course being late or having repos is bad.

[tyrist]

It depends on what caused the bad credit. Debt from something like gambling is going to dq you. If your spouse got a serious illness and the debt is from hospital bills you would be alright.