January of 2008 - Application

I applied for my current department in January of 2008.

One of my best friends had an interview in this city for a firefighter position (sadly, he ended up not taking that job). He told me that the city was looking to hire some police officers and I said "what the heck, could you pick up an application for me when you're down town?" He did, and I took it home and filled it out.

The application was about 15 pages long. The first part consisted of the usual "name, date-of-birth, address, etc." The rest of the application was what is considered a "background packet." This consisted of anything you could possibly imagine. It asked for information such as previous names, references, all addresses, criminal history, past drug use, and even all contact with law enforcement.

I have come to learn from watching other individuals' misfortunes that it is ALWAYS best to list everything you can possibly think of on these things... because if you don't, they WILL find out about it when they do the background investigation on you.

Anyhow, it took quite some time to fill out, but it was worth it. I mailed it in about a week later and began waiting.