Introduction: The most important phase of your selection process is the background investigation. Because society demands exemplary conduct from its police, the scrutiny under which your past will be reviewed is highly intrusive and very comprehensive. A skilled police investigator will review many facets of your life in order to determine if you have what it takes to meet the standards of a California peace officer.

The background investigation involves looking at your life from these perspectives:

To obtain the best overall look at your background, your investigator will collect and review information you supply from many documents, and interview family, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. A polygraph will be administered to verify if you are being truthful in your disclosures. A psychological suitability exam will be administered to evaluate your behavioral suitability for public safety work. The focus of the investigation will be to determine whether or not you are able to meet the 15 Essential Job Dimensions of a Public Safety Officer as defined by California POST. Failure to suitably meet one or more of these job dimensions will usually result in your being disqualified from further consideration with our agency. Disqualification does not automatically mean you are not suitable for a law enforcement career, it simply means you were not able to meet the high standards to which we hold our officers.

How the Background Investigation is Conducted

Once an applicant moves forward to the background phase, s/he will be asked to complete and submit a Personal History Questionnaire (PHQ). This document asks questions related to the areas identified above and asks that you provide information covering the past 10 + years. Your thoroughness and attention to detail are crucial as this document is the foundation upon which you investigator will evaluate your ability to meet the job dimensions of communication skill, problem solving ability, credibility, integrity, and dependability.

You will meet with your investigator to review your PHQ responses and make changes as needed. You will also review your responses from your pre-psychological questionnaire and provide detailed explanations for serious and critical responses as needed. After assuring all the paperwork is accurate, you will provide a brief autobiography of your life up to the point where you decided to enter a public safety career.

You will be scheduled for a polygraph with a trained examiner and an interview with a licensed behavioral psychologist. From these two sessions your investigator will be given a fairly complete overview of your personality and any issues requiring further follow up will be explored.

Your investigator will contact your current employer to learn how you are doing in your job. Personnel files will be reviewed and interviews will be scheduled with supervisors and co-workers. Your investigator will also contact former employers to gain perspective on your employment performance over several years.

Friends, acquaintances, family and others who know you will be interviewed to see if your conduct is consistent with those required of a peace officer.

Your investigator will review all official documents to determine that you are legally entitled to live and work in this country, and to develop additional follow up leads as necessary. Your school transcripts will be reviewed to determine if you have the required educational background as well as to evaluate your academic aptitude and attendance dependability. Your credit report will be reviewed, and a criminal history check will be made through local, state, and federal records. Your driving history will also be examined to see if you are a safe and conscientious driver.

The key to successfully passing your background investigation is your ability to be totally honest in all aspects of the investigation. No one is perfect; all have made mistakes. Most mistakes, given sufficient time, or placed into proper perspective, can be overcome. The role of the background investigation is to measure your conduct as compared to the 15 essential job dimensions. However, if you elect to lie, to withhold pertinent information, to misrepresent the truth, or to filter information in an attempt to portray yourself better, no matter how insignificant the issue, you will be disqualified for not meeting the job dimension of integrity.