Police officers are responsible for a wide range of public safety and investigative duties and are given broad powers to ensure these duties are carried out. While each police department has different standards it uses to determine who can become an officer, most, if not all, departments look at a person's credit history to evaluate the candidate.
Bad Credit
When you apply for a position as a police officer, agencies typically require that you agree to a credit inspection. The police department will then look at your credit report. Every consumer who uses credit of any kind has a credit report. The report contains your history as a credit user and includes information such as what kinds of loans you've applied for, whether you've ever declared bankruptcy and if you have trouble paying your bills on time.
Implication
While having bad credit in and of itself does not necessarily mean that you are unfit to be a police officer, police departments view trouble with credit as a negative for a number of reasons. A person with bad credit is generally unable to meet all their financial promises, which may indicate a lack of discipline. Also, people with money problems can face additional pressure to accept bribes or engage in corrupt activity, according to an article in the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal.
Bad Credit
Police departments look for any information in your credit report that might indicate you are not a good candidate as a police officer. In general, a good credit report means the candidate is a reliable and trustworthy user of credit, while a bad credit report means she is not. Police departments use this as a measure of a candidate's overall trustworthiness, a character trait vital to police work.
Repairing Credit
Having bad credit doesn't necessarily disqualify you from becoming a police officer, however, if your bad credit is a barrier to being hired, you can take steps to improve your credit starting immediately. You can engage in positive credit behavior -- paying your bills on time, not opening too many credit card accounts and not using too much of your available credit -- to improve your credit history and give you a better chance at becoming a police officer.
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