Ehm, someone that I recently 'met' claims to have been a member

[DustMolecule]

of a 'certain city's' police force....as well as some other claims.

Google, et al searches don't provide anything to support this claim. This isn't a personal interest, it's professional....can I call HR in that city and ASK if this guy has ever been on their POLICE payroll? (Perhaps he was on that city's payroll, but as a janitor?)

Any suggestions would be appreciated. How can I verify or debunk his claim?

[NVMojo]

1. call that city's police department and ask to speak to him

[ogradda]

5. ooo very clever

clever indeed. i wouldn't have thought of that.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

7. I grew up in a law enforcement family.

I am the daughter, granddaughter, and sister of cops.

If you call and ask, you'll need to call once during all three shifts to be sure. The first shift dispatchers (and dispatchers are the ones who answer the phones in the communications center) won't know squat about third shift officers and vice versa.

Call once mid-morning, once early evening, and once after midnight, just to be sure.

[Divernan]

2. You are smart to check. Navy SEALS are plagued by bogus claims

and they have established a Wall of Shame. I checked out one dive shop operator who advertised that he was a SEAL. He was notorious for cutting corners in his training programs - got his certification standing suspended for a year on one occasion. turned out he had been an underwater welder in the Navy - that's a difficult job, all right, but not at all the same as being a SEAL.

[DustMolecule]

3. Good suggestion, but he doesn't work for them anymore...

...says he 'used to'....he has some other 'evidence' in his office to support his claim, but for some reason, "it doesn't feel right, I don't believe it".

Any other thoughts?

on edit: this was supposed to respond to Post #1

[Divernan]

4. Call personnel office of police/city & ask for confirmation

Tell them you are considering doing business with this guy and need to simply confirm fact of and dates of employment. I believe the police dept., like any other employer, is free to confirm this level of information without violating and privacy rights.

[DustMolecule]

6. You're right....I'll call on Monday a.m.....

.... this guy is a parody of what's been said here on DU....he's got more pics of * (along w/Laura and pics of * w/the 'Dick' than he does of his own family) on his credenza....he's got a big ole hole in the bottom of his boot and this guy just LUVS 'the Lone-Star State' (for reasons he declines to talk about)...it's just weird....

[radwriter0555]

9. Trust your instincts. He's bad news, it seems.

Time to move on.

[jukes]

8. DustMolecule

HR for any department will be extremely reluctant to discuss presesnt or past employees w/o a "need to know" certification; ie, if this person had applied for a job w/your company and you needed to do a background ck.

a private investigator wd have unique sources & cd find out for you; but unless you can write it off or def need the information, it prb wdnt be worth the cost. my guess is $5C, cd be less.

unfort, many cops/ex-cops do possess the traits you mention, the field draws some real "cowboys" & the political trend is def repub.

most former LE will have some memorabilia displayed in the office; certifications, commendations, news-clippings, or even just fotos. that lacking, he's likely a "concrete commando" and might have been a security guard or somesuch.

the above mention of SEALs is quite correct, but there are so many police agencies that there is no easy way to spot a fraud.

[blondeatlast]

10. Call the payroll office, they can legally veriffy if he's on the payroll.

I work for city government, it's the way it's done to verify employment history.

[Swede]

11. If it's really important hire a private eye.

They'll know how to get the skinny on this dude.