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Security Clearance and arrested in college
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Anonymous
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I'm applying for security clearance and had to answer a lot of questions, one of which was if I had ever been arrested. I was arrested in college for drunk in public and had to go in front of a judge, do community service, and then it was removed from my record (I was 18). It's now 20 years later and I have no other violations or other problems - is this going to be a problem? For some reason I'm really worried about this so I was hoping someone with experience could reassure me that this won't be a problem.
Thanks! |
Anonymous
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Depending on the type of clearance, the forms you complete may ask you to go back 7 or 10 years. So it may never be an issue.
However, if you are asked about your arrest record you should be completely honest. I think it really depends on the type of clearance and the agency, but I know people who've had this sort of thing on their records and still received a clearance. |
Anonymous
| I am not a clearance officer but have been through the process and I would say as long as you answer all the questions they ask honestly, that type of thing should be not be a problem. |
Anonymous
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I had to admit some amazing things on my clearance forms for the Justice Dept. The investigators didn't seem to care, but then this was pre-2001.
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Anonymous
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Complete the form accurately. If they ask "Have you ever ...." answer even if this was removed from your record.
If they ask "In the last 7 years ..." and you are past that window, no need to disclose. My husband was arrested for a felony offense while in college - of which all charges wound up being dropped. He still puts this on his clearance forms when asked ... have you ever..... if you are asked further along the process - why did you not put this, stories like - oh the charges were dropped OR it was removed from my record so I did not include it do not hold up well. The individual assigned to your investigation might wonder what else you are trying to hide. |
Anonymous
| If it's included in the scope of the questions, answer honestly. It will be no big deal. |
Anonymous
| Most youthful indiscretions can be forgiven, lying cannot. Don't lie, be 100% honest. And tell your kids not to get locked up or caught with marijuana or whatever when they're young... a moment's impulse isn't worth having to explain it over and over and over and be rejected from secure jobs. |
Anonymous
| They can only ask you about the past 7-10 years, but they can ask people you know about whether they know of anything in your past. When my husband got his clearance, they asked me if I knew if he had "ever" been arrested and I told them I did and he had (in high school). The officer wanted to know how I learned about it, whether my husband had told me himself or what. They are mostly concerned about blackmail, so anything that they think the person might be ashamed of or hiding (affairs, debt, weird hobbies, arrest records, prior drug use) is of concern. So, knowing that no one can come and threaten to "tell your wife xyz if you don't hand over abc", they usually don't care about what the particular indiscretions are/were. |
Anonymous
| My ex had to admit to doing a serious sh*tload of drugs in college and immediately afterward, but had no problem getting a high-level clearance for his job in military intelligence. It all happened a long time ago and there was no pattern after age 24 or so, so it wasn't an issue. He just told the truth about everything. I've seen a website that has all sorts of details about why security clearances were denied, and one big factor was financial issues - that seemed to be a red flag time after time, if a person had a pattern of financial irresponsibility. didn't notice "drunk in public in college" or similar stuff popping up much as a reason for denial. |
Anonymous
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It is NOT true that they can only ask you about the last 7-10 years. I recently passed a SSBI that asked a series of "did you ever" questions, particularly about crimes and drug use. The SF-86 or SF-85 may only ask about a specific timeframe, but the investigator can and will ask whatever the agency wants asked for the position. Just wanted to clear that up.
And to the OP, I admitted to a good deal of semi-recent drug use (8 years ago) and was cleared after I appealed an initial unsuitability determination. |
Anonymous
| I really doubt it will be an issue. |
Anonymous
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I already posted -- I told the DoJ investigators some spectacular stories -- and they seemed not to care about the drugs, arrests, etc. in the 1980s.
I agree with the PP who said what they DID care about, and what almost derailed my employment with DoJ, was a bad financial situation that was more recent. It made me look like an ongoing risk to the agency, maybe that I could be compromised? |
Anonymous
Yes. The core concern is that you will be motivated to sell the information you have access to, either because of actual financial need or out of fear of exposure for something. |
Anonymous
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Just be honest- disclose disclose disclose, and I doubt it will be an issue.
I know someone who got one with worse, and it worked out fine b/c they fully disclosed everything. |
Anonymous
| I told them I had virtually no drug use and they had a hard time believing me. |