If you are interested in a career in law enforcement, it will be necessary to pass a state police criminal background check to prove that you can be trusted in a position as important as a police officer.  The purpose of a police criminal background check is to ensure that the applicant has not been convicted of any crime that may make them a risk to have on the police force.  The police are responsible for the safety of the citizens of the state and should be able to be trusted by all members of the communities in which they operate.

The criminal background check for police department employment is a little more complicated than the background checks that company hiring departments use to screen applicants for their companies.  Where a company may restrict their search to certain types of crimes within a specified time period, a state police criminal background check will generally review all of a person's criminal convictions that have happened throughout the person's life.  

There are a number of different items that can show up on a police criminal background check that would disqualify a person for employment with the police department.  Any type of conviction for a violent crime is an immediate disqualification from employment with the police force, along with any convictions for theft, robbery, or if any protection orders have been taken out against the applicant that are still considered open.