Stop right there, criminal scum!

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I really want to be a police officer. Do you think my AS will hinder such a dream?

i've met cops who seemed very aspie to me.

It depends what your strengths and weaknesses are.

In another thread, there is a discussion about difficulty recognizing faces. If one had this trait - police work might be difficult.

On the other hand, there might be other traits that would be beneficial (e..g if someone had a good memory for details - the criminal code and policies/procedures would be easily learned and used accurately).

Also keep in mind, police work is mostly communication. Communication with stressed people who had crimes committed against them. Communication with mentally ill people. Communication with people who are committing/have committed crimes who are also under stress. As an aspie - do you have a good handle on the social skills needed for this job?

Notwithstanding this - there are careers in police and criminal justice which might suit as aspie just fine - forensics being one. It's not like what they show on CSI. It involves mostly lab work and often field work. If you are good with animals and can remain emotionally detached - you could train police dogs or handle cadaver dogs (this is a grim business - the dogs are trained to recovery human remains).

Take a look at careers in criminal justice online or speak to someone at a college/university that has a criminology program and see what careers are available.

Maybe police work is a good fit for you. Maybe another career within this field will be better.

I wish you the best regardless.

Thanks a lot for your advice. However, I really want to be out there in the field.

Perhaps there is a less sociable job that's front lines?

You won't pass the physical with an AS diagnosis, sadly.

Darn.

You can always be a PI. You'll have more freedom too.

You could see about the Sheriff's Department or Corrections; they'll most likely have easier medicals.

The police are quite an exclusive bunch (I'd call it snobbery personally).

+1

Police work (in just getting hired and keeping your job) is VERY POLITICAL in most places.

If you are female, you might be treated more preferably, but you have to watch your back when it comes to your coworkers.

Dealing with the public will require self-control and some decent social skills (which you can learn).

I wanted to be a detective. I even became a reserve officer. Those who actually worked with me felt I was a professional. Those who wanted nothing to do with me indeed never worked with me, and ultimately it is why I never got into the profession.

I can't just blame AS because there was another factor for their prejudice, but I can tell you that I've observed rather unfit candidates get hired and promoted because of WHO they were connected to and not their job performance or talents.

I think its should be possible for you to join the police force, there maybe the problem that you wash out on the psychological exam but if you be quite low on the spectrum there is a good chance that they dont notice it. Cause first many psychologist dont know much about AS and its defintively not what they are scanning(mental instabillity and overagressive behaivor) for in particulary. In my experience AS is obvios in day to day contact but not to psychologists if you dont have a strong body languages eye contact problem, look at peoples faces as they exspect and they mostly never know... ASperger gives you usually the appereance of intelligents and selfreflection qualitys classical psychology places a great emphasive on.

Not so. "Physical" is a basic agility test. AS isn't an automatic fail.

The psychological evaluation is more about sanity and stability. Having AS would not be an automatic fail. I always passed by psychological evaluations, but nobody knew about AS at the time. Given the ADA, the basis for failing you on the psychological evaluation for AS would have to document HOW your condition makes you unfit. For someone severely affected by AS, I could see this being an issue. For someone on the "mild" end of the spectrum, it should not prevent them from being able to do the job well.

Yeah, but you won't be able to be diagnosed on the "mild" end where it doesn't affect your functioning enough to be precluded.

You could be reassessed, and found to not have it anymore (residual autism), but for the majority of people diagnosed today, they won't function well enough to be a peace office (as per the DSM-IV-TR and the tentative release of -V).

It's a very social job that requires a lot of social and skilled interaction. Whilst they love the "serious" front in front of the cameras, away from them and it's...social hell.

I hear I can hide my (clean) medical records if I was diagnosed before 18.

Being a LEO requires a good ability to read other people and determine motive. For me, this would be a deal-breaker. I also have an overdeveloped sense of justice (which, by the sound of your thread title, you might also) and this could also cause problems.

Mixed issue. I can judge motives fine when observing others. When interacting, that's a different matter. Then again, look at how a lot of cops do their job...they're lousy with the public.

It's from the game Oblivion.

Why not aim for a more challenging job in law enforcement?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensics

Plus, the chicks are hot