Should ALL states do the same thing?
This Monday, the State of Colorado ruled that police officers are now going to be required to undergo full psychological evaluations before obtaining employment with a new department.
The Denver Post reported, that these background checks would occur long before an officer would be hired. It would also occur every time an officer changes jobs or even moves jurisdictions in the state.
The Post added that the law already requires
psychological evaluations, but the problem is that in practice these are
almost never carried out.
During a meeting of the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, these new rules and policies were just approved.
“What the public is concerned about is that police departments
don’t pass off someone that is a problem in one department to another
department,” Grand Junction, Colorado police chief and POST vice
chairman, John S. Camper, told said in an interview with Mic.
Mic says that Camper disputes the Post‘s claim that holds that the primary screenings have not being enforced. “I haven’t heard of that,” he claimed. “I can tell you in the departments I’ve been in… we do psych tests on everyone.”
Mic noted that “the loose protocols have largely benefited problem officers who can shuffle between departments
when they have committed violations. In many cases, they end up in more
impoverished rural areas which typically have difficulty finding
qualified candidates.”
These new Colorado regulation still will not be codified
in state law, but failure to adhere to them will still have
consequences. Camper noted that “If a person doesn’t comply with this,
then they’ve got the potential to not be allowed to be certified as a
police officer.”
(Article by M. David and Jackson Marciana)