Joining The Police With A Criminal Record

So, you’ve finally taken the leap and have decided to start your career within the police force. 

However, there is one thing holding you back from submitting your application: Your criminal record. 

A rewarding and extremely fulfilling career, in order to be appointed as a police officer, every individual must pass the standard vetting process. 

The good news is that it is possible to join the forces with a criminal record. Depending on the nature of the crime, factors such as how much time has passed since the crime was committed and obvious patterns of repeated behaviour will all be taken into consideration.

Honesty is always the best policy and, no matter how big or small, declaring everything about your history is extremely important. And for good reason too! 

After all, your duty as a police officer will be to protect and serve the community. To ensure the protection of the public, the police force must only employ the utmost trusted individuals to carry out their duties to high standards and maintain both trust and confidence between both the public and the forces. 

Read on to discover what police vetting entails and how your criminal record may affect your ability to join the police. 

The Vetting Process

Police vetting is absolutely essential in ensuring that the force employs only trusted individuals to protect the community. Information such as personal details, financial information, criminal history, and information surrounding immediate family members are all of significant importance during the vetting process.  

So, what’s involved and is it an easy process?

Before the interviewing and assessment stages, you will be required to complete an application form outlining previous experience along with additional interview-style questions. 

On the application form you must declare any criminal convictions (and any tattoos). Full vetting checks come later: Police Scotland carries them out once you have successfully completed the application process, at the pre-appointment stage, although its Force Vetting Unit may occasionally make an early assessment on a case-by-case basis.

Those checks establish whether you can be appointed as a police officer, and everything you declared earlier is confirmed at that stage, so be accurate from the start.

It’s important to note that, whilst the vetting checks will provide the force with a risk analysis of employing you, they are not judging you as an individual from any past criminal records. Do not let this process sway your decision in joining the police as each case is handled individually. 

What’s checked in vetting?

Information such as background checks on both you and your family members, credit reference checks, Open Source checks, and other Government checks are all part of the vetting process. Let’s dive into what each check entails.

Background checks

A background check will include the following information:

• Personal information such as name, previous names, date of birth, current and previous addresses, and National Insurance number. 
• Criminal history, including all previous convictions and ongoing convictions.
• Motoring offences and other criminal cautions. 
• Information about your close relatives such as your children, spouse, parents, siblings, and grandparents. 
• Information on all co-residents.
• Associations to determine any conflicts of interest.

Credit reference checks

A credit reference check will determine an individual’s vulnerability risk to corruption by allowing the force to understand your financial behaviours. 

A typical credit check will include:

• Mortgages.
• Loans.
• Credit cards.
• Credit agreements such as car financing, arranged overdrafts, and store credit. 
• Bankruptcy, insolvency, and debt reconciliation schemes.

Social Media and Open Source checks

These types of checks will reveal personal content on the internet and, more specifically, content that could undermine public confidence.

The following information will be looked at:

• Public content from all available internet sources such as Facebook and Instagram. 

Government and Overseas Agency checks

The Government and Overseas Agency check includes:

• Any criminal convictions obtained overseas. 

Joining The Police With a Criminal record

If you have a criminal record, it is important to remain completely honest about your past. Not only will the vetting process reveal your personal, financial, and criminal history, but it will also determine your integrity. Be honest and be prepared to discuss your criminal record!

A criminal record doesn’t mean you will be automatically rejected from joining the police force. Each case is completely unique and will be treated like such.

Factors such as how old you were at the time of the offence, length of time since the offence was committed, and repeated patterns of behaviour will be taken into consideration. 

Depending on the nature of the offence, it is still possible to join the services. An offence such as a minor motoring conviction won’t necessarily hold you back. However, if you are a repeat offender, this will naturally cause alarm bells and may prevent you from joining the force. 

Being under investigation is not a waiting period either: Police Scotland states that if you are under investigation for any offence on its rejection list, your application will be rejected.

You may also be wondering why the police force requires information regarding your family and co-residents. 

To maintain trust and confidence from the public, the police are required to uncover any cautions, investigations, and convictions linked to your family members. Information such as the number and severity of their offences and the nature of your relationship with the offender will be taken into account.

It’s important to mention that, whilst this is an important part of the process, it won’t necessarily hinder your application.

Criminal offences which are automatically rejected

Serious criminal offences will not be taken into consideration when applying to become a police officer – and for good reason.

Police Scotland publishes the grounds that mean your application will be rejected. If you have been convicted of, or are under investigation for, any of the listed offences, you will be rejected. They include:

• any offence as an adult that resulted in a prison sentence;
• murder, culpable homicide, attempted murder, serious assault and other offences causing death or serious injury;
• rape, sexual assault, indecent images offences and other sexual offences;
• any offence of domestic violence, controlling or coercive behaviour, or stalking;
• serious or fraudulent dishonesty, such as armed robbery, burglary, theft by housebreaking, perverting the course of justice, perjury or corruption;
• firearms or explosives offences, kidnapping, abduction, human trafficking, treason and espionage;
• drink or drug driving, including failing to provide a specimen.

You will also be rejected if you:

• are a registered sex offender, or have a Sexual Offences Prevention Order or Sexual Harm Prevention Order;
• have more than 6 points on your driving licence;
• are currently in a Trust Deed, or less than 12 months have passed since discharge;
• have been sequestrated or declared bankrupt and less than 3 years have passed;
• have defaulted accounts totalling £1,000 or more.

Being on the Police Barred list, or having previously been dismissed from the police service, will also lead to rejection. Other history is judged case by case: crimes involving vulnerable people, hate or discrimination will most likely hinder your vetting clearance even where they are not on the published list.

Residency is an eligibility condition rather than a vetting judgement: you can only apply if you have lived in the UK for at least three years.

Will I be rejected from the police if I have a criminal record?

Now that we’ve uncovered the police vetting process, you will have a better understanding of what may hinder your chances of becoming a police officer. Whilst a criminal record may affect your application, your history will be looked at on an individual basis depending on the nature of the crime. 

Often a long and in-depth process, it is extremely important the police force hire those of whom they can trust to protect and serve the community – public confidence will always remain a number one priority.