We all know that Shawn's dad was grooming him for a career in law enforcement. It seems as though Shawn learned well from his dad and has a nack for finding the bad guys. So, why didn't he go into law enforcement??????

I think there are two reasons...

1) The constant training and 'grooming' eventually caused great dissent between Shawn and his dad, leading Shawn to rebel against his dad, his job, and his teachings. His dad may have taught him well, but eventually Shawn was so resentful, he didn't want to use the skills or follow in his dad's footsteps.

2) If you recall, during the rebellious phase, Henry had Shawn arrested for 'stealing' a car. (This was mentioned in the Pilot and shown in Ghosts.) It is possibly that, with a criminal record, even if Shawn had decided to pursue a career in law enforcement, he would not have been allowed into the police academy.

And, if you want, here's a third reason:

3) Shawn's temperament is not suited to being a cop. He may be good at what he does, but he'd easily get fired if he ever even could have made it through (and into) the academy. Shawn's not a rules kind of guy, and that's fairly important for being a cop (see Henry and Lassie as examples. Even Jules is pretty buttoned down, same with Chief Vick.)

JMHO

I also think Shawn's got the same problem a lot of gifted people do...he gets bored easily if he doesn't feel challenged -- hence his extensive résumé. Somehow, I really don't think he'd feel challenged by police work, other than the challenge of bucking authority. As a "psychic detective," though, he can put his skills to work and has the challenge of keeping up his ruse.

Dunno if that makes sense, but that's my $0.02.

I 100% agree...I also $100 agree (that's my stupid joke of the day)

Winky, Iam sure that any juvenile criminal records would be sealed when shawn turned 18. A lot of Law Enforcement types are not by the rules kind of guys.

Be that as it may, even if it had been sealed, Lassiter knew about it in the Pilot when he's questioning Shawn on suspicion of being involved in the stereo store robberies... leading me to believe that Henry may have even gotten (or tried to get) Shawn charged as an adult (since he would have been 16 or possibly 17 at the time of the "theft").

There's even the chance (and now that I think about it, it is a good chance) that Shawn was 18 at the time of that car 'theft'... I know I was 18 my senior year. So we can't know for sure that it is a juvenile record.

wasn't Shawn 18 when he was arrested ?

"The Ghost in You"

1995

the opening sequence is him getting arrested and Henry saying

"This officially ends your chance at being a cop"

and Shawn responding

"Let's be honest, I gave up wanting to be like you a long time ago"

and i'm saying this like i have all the episodes committed to memory but the truth is i just looked it up and watched it online to confirm

Yep! After the statement of what Shawn's mother is going to think, Shawn said, "I don't know. Do you have her new phone number?"
Henry lost it and said, "That's it. Will someone please book him?" And it was almost Lassiter who booked Shawn, but it was Henry who arrested him. It was later in pilot where Lassiter questions Shawn about the arrest.

"I was eighteen."
"Oh, I guess we can erase it out." This means that it is in Shawn's personal record, so employers know that Shawn got arrested! Employers don't like hiring people with a criminial record, especially in law enforcement.

If Lassiter was able to get to Shawn's criminal record so easily in the Pilot episode, that means they weren't sealed.

Henry is such a Bastard!