Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Background
Investigation Process:
What You Can Expect
When Applying for a
Law Enforcement Job
By Charles Russo, professor of criminal justice at American
Military University
For five years, I served as the background investigator at a county
sheriffs department. After that, I was hired by a municipal police
department and was immediately assigned as their background
investigator for the next three years before finally escaping the
office to return to road patrol.
Frequently, job seekers would ask me the same questions time
and again and it became apparent to me that no one had really
taken the time to explain the background investigation process to
individuals applying for jobs in law enforcement and corrections.
While each department may conduct the background
investigation a bit differently, there are many commonalities that
apply to all criminal justice agencies.
Step 1: The Application Process
First you must decide to submit an application for a sworn position