Posted: 7/8/2009 1:40:40 PM EDT
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I have been thinking seriously of a career change lately and have long been attracted to law enforcement. The biggest problem I foresee facing in the hiring process has to do with agency vision requirements. My vision is worse than 20/200 uncorrected, but corrects to 20/20 with contacts or glasses. I have looked into corrective surgery, but I am unfortunately not a good candidate for the procedures in use today and could risk serious problems. Many of the agencies I have looked into have vision requirements that I cannot meet. It seems that most state and federal agencies are a no go for me due to the vision issue.
I have two questions for those in the know. 1) Does the agency that you work for, that you know of, have uncorrected vision standards? 2) If so, is it something that can be waived for otherwise good candidates? I know that many government organizations are not afraid to give waivers where warranted, at least from what I saw in the Marine Corps, but I wonder if this holds true for LE agencies as well. Thanks for what help you can give! |
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I'm in the same boat you are. I'm so nearsighted I got PMR'd (Permanent Medical Rejection) when I tried to enlist, but I was young and my recruiter didn't know about waiving of medical defects... but that's a subject for another time. As a general rule you can't get "waivered" like you can for .mil. However, you may be misreading the announcements. Consider the following: many notices you see will state something along these lines: 20/20 corrected vision. Uncorrected vision no worse than 20/40 each eye for wearers of hard contact lenses or glasses. Successful wearers of soft contact lenses (at least six (6) months) not subject to uncorrected standard. (Montgomery County MD) Vision: Corrected to 20/20 in each eye (Burlington VT) Eyesight and Hearing: Must have at least 20/40 in each eye uncorrected and corrected to 20/20 in each eye and have normal uncorrected depth and color perception (NH State Police) 9. Have uncorrected vision of not less than 20/100 in both eyes, corrected to 20/20, and color vision consistent with the Occupational demands of law enforcement (Waterloo IA) Generally speaking, these qualification mean if you can correct to 20/20 you're employable, but you have to wear glasses or contacts while working (corrected). AFAIK the "uncorrected" is if you choose not to wear lenses - thus the more restrictive limi9t. It's not a "both" option. Such a belief had my folks (and thus me) convinced that I could never follow in Grandpa or Uncle Matt's footsteps. Luckily, a nice gentleman at the Sheriff's Merit Commission told me "OK, you wear glasses. Are your eyes so band you cannot get a driver's license? No? Good. Drive down here and pick up an application." I'm blind as a bat, but my agency allows "corrected to 20/20" so I got hired. There's always hope.  |
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Quoted:
I'm in the same boat you are. I'm so nearsighted I got PMR'd (Permanent Medical Rejection) when I tried to enlist, but I was young and my recruiter didn't know about waiving of medical defects... but that's a subject for another time. As a general rule you can't get "waivered" like you can for .mil. However, you may be misreading the announcements. Consider the following: many notices you see will state something along these lines: 20/20 corrected vision. Uncorrected vision no worse than 20/40 each eye for wearers of hard contact lenses or glasses. Successful wearers of soft contact lenses (at least six (6) months) not subject to uncorrected standard. (Montgomery County MD)
Vision: Corrected to 20/20 in each eye (Burlington VT) Eyesight and Hearing: Must have at least 20/40 in each eye uncorrected and corrected to 20/20 in each eye and have normal uncorrected depth and color perception (NH State Police) 9. Have uncorrected vision of not less than 20/100 in both eyes, corrected to 20/20, and color vision consistent with the Occupational demands of law enforcement (Waterloo IA) Generally speaking, these qualification mean if you can correct to 20/20 you're employable, but you have to wear glasses or contacts while working (corrected). AFAIK the "uncorrected" is if you choose not to wear lenses - thus the more restrictive limi9t. It's not a "both" option. Such a belief had my folks (and thus me) convinced that I could never follow in Grandpa or Uncle Matt's footsteps. Luckily, a nice gentleman at the Sheriff's Merit Commission told me "OK, you wear glasses. Are your eyes so band you cannot get a driver's license? No? Good. Drive down here and pick up an application." I'm blind as a bat, but my agency allows "corrected to 20/20" so I got hired. There's always hope. This seems to make sense to me, but why do they word it in such a twisted way? I do have to say, on those second two examples, it would really seem that they mean your eyes can be no worse than (20/40 in on case and 20/100 in another), regardless of what you correct to. Like there is an upper limit regardless. Also, if it is not a both issue, why would they use words like "and" and not "or"? What am I missing? |
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Quoted: Quoted: This seems to make sense to me, but why do they word it in such a twisted way? I do have to say, on those second two examples, it would really seem that they mean your eyes can be no worse than (20/40 in on case and 20/100 in another), regardless of what you correct to. Like there is an upper limit regardless. Also, if it is not a both issue, why would they use words like "and" and not "or"? What am I missing? I'm not sure, but it's government... it's not supposed to make sense.  The only thing to do is call and ask, and make sure you tell them than you correct to 20/20 and see what they say. |
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Good luck and best wishes. My eyes were 20/250 and 20/400. I had RK (precursor to LASIK) in 1993 so I could become a cop. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I was thinking. Describes me to the "T". I wish you luck, but my agency wil not waive the vision standards in any way, shape or form. |