Im very confused on this since I reached out to the police department and they would not disclose what they meant by references , if any one could help explain this I didn’t list any references that would talk negatively about it maybe it’s because I didn’t fill it correctly? Unfortunately no context was given
Is it time I look for an alternate career?

Maybe your references didn’t pick up, maybe they didn’t like the quality of them, maybe they didn’t like their answers, maybe they didn’t have all the answers.
It’s not necessarily time to pursue a different career, but it might be time to apply to a different agencies.
Who knows, you might’ve done nothing wrong. Some local agencies are very picky despite being undermanned.
Gotcha I’ll apply to new agencies I’ll maybe freshen up my selections of references most of them are army NCOs from my time in service thought that would be good enough
Depending on how long your out that may have been one nit picky reason- Iv found they dont like only references from years ago they want something from right now too even if the persons not super impressive just so they know you didn’t suddenly turn into a pos
What? Dude, just apply to other departments lol... and make sure your references aren't actually saying something stupid about you
Time for new references
More than one reference probably revealed some information about you that you did not disclose.
Makes me think since I was completely honest on all of my employment issues etc and stuff of the sort
Stop using apostrophes when you don't need them.
And you didn't get hired because of your references. The department won't clarify any further because they don't have to.
List new references and try again, and/or apply to different agencies.
Applicants tend to list references they think will only speak highly of them, but you would be amazed at the number of times they really dish dirt about about their histories.
There's a few sheriff's offices in the area, and a bunch of police departments that have decent pay and benefits. Don't be discouraged by one turning you down.
OCSO, OPD, many more in the are hiring!