Background Investigations on prospective law enforcement officers seen as subpar by critics

By Jacob Quinn Sanders
Arkansas Democrat Gazette

The Mississippi County sheriff’s office hired Nathan Taylor in May as an auxiliary police officer not knowing he had been charged with second-degree murder and acquitted — also in Mississippi County — in 2000.

The sheriff’s office also did not know that Taylor, 31, admitted during the investigation to using methamphetamine, something he failed to acknowledge on his application.

The information was easy enough to find. The state Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training turned it up the same month after a routine check of the Arkansas Crime Information Center’s database after receiving Mississippi County’s paperwork on Taylor’s hiring.

But many small agencies have trouble performing background checks on new hires, standards commission Deputy Director Brian Marshall said. They don’t have the resources, he said, and often have officers who are tasked with other duties fit the checks in during down time. And those officers, he said, are often unaware of an Arkansas law requiring them to check with the standards commission as part of any background check.

To combat the issue, Marshall will soon add language to the standard initial law-enforcement hiring form, called an F-1, reminding agencies statewide of Arkansas Code Annotated 12-9-602. A subsection of that law mandates contacting the commission before making any hire that requires a state law-enforcement certification.

He described it as a superficial change, more of a service than an admonishment.

“In a smaller city, a mayor might be doing the background check himself on a new police chief or something like that and might not know about this law,” Marshall said. “In other circumstances, the officers doing the checks sometimes just don’t have the right training and so aren’t aware they have to take this step.” Marshall said he notifies agencies of information that might disqualify a potential new officer a couple of times a month.

“The folks in Mississippi County, for example, had no idea about this until we told them,” he said. “The captain I talked to was very, very thankful.” In Taylor’s case, the Mississippi County sheriff’s office fired him June 4 after finding that he made false statements on his application, records show. The sheriff ’s office recommended stripping Taylor of his certification, and the standards commission voted Thursday to hold a hearing on the matter.

Sheriff Leroy Meadows did not return a telephone message.

Sherwood Police Chief Kel Nicholson, a member of the standards commission, said thorough background checks were not open to compromise.

“It’s a burden, absolutely, but it needs to be done,” he said. “One of the ways we keep our communities safe is to make sure we’re hiring the best people we can.” Larger agencies such as the Little Rock Police Department have officers assigned specifically to perform background investigations, Marshall said.

But there are no guarantees an agency is getting all the necessary information.

When former Perry County Sheriff Ray L. Byrd was considering hiring a former Russellville police officer in 1997, he said, Russellville police failed to tell him the officer had severe emotional problems that led them to place him on a suicide watch for three consecutive shifts.

“The only thing they shared with us was that he could be pretty standoffish at times,” Byrd said in a telephone interview.

Byrd hired the officer as a deputy. Five years later, after having demoted him once, Byrd fired him after the deputy made a copy at home of a sex tape that had been stored as evidence. Byrd began to learn of the deputy’s emotional problems only after he went to the deputy’s home to fire him.

“I had to physically pry the man from around my legs,” Byrd wrote in a letter to the standards commission at the time.

Only at the deputy’s decertification hearing — six years after hiring him — did he learn of the problems in Russellville.

“I know we in this business don’t like to say something bad about a fellow officer,” Byrd said in an interview, “but sometimes there are just things people need to know. I have no idea why nobody told me about him.” At least Byrd asked the right questions, Marshall said.

“Not everybody checks,” he said. “And that’s the situation we’re trying to remedy.”

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Ohio Summer Camps not inline with background investigations

Quest Soccer Camps based in Florida and looking to expand nationally have been using the services of Pebi Services to conduct background investigations on all their staff

Just 42 percent of summer day camps surveyed by Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services have completed mandatory background investigations of employees, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

But camps that fail to carry out the background investigations have little to fear. The state's Department of Job and Family Services has little recourse, since there's no real punishment provision in the state law that requires the checks, department spokesman Dennis Evans said.

Department employees last month polled 96 of the state's approximately 250 children's day camps, 70 more than it checked a year ago when the department found that nine of 26 camps had not completed the required background investigations, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Camps must ask the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation to do background checks on employees who have lived in Ohio for at least five years, according to state law. For workers who have lived in Ohio less than five years, checks must be done through the FBI.

Most of the camps not in compliance with state requirements were missing verification of Ohio residency, Evans said. And about 37 percent of camps hadn't requested background checks, data from the department showed. Tyra Hearns the president of background investigation firm Pebi Services currently does the background investigations for all of Quest Soccer's soccer camp employees. "Quest soccer camp is Florida's fastest growing soccer camp for children, and with their plans for expansion to other states, we felt it was prudent to conduct background investigations on all their soccer instructors and employees." said Tyra Hearns.

The department is working to strengthen its ability by next year to enforce requirements by levying fines and working with the attorney general's office to collect those fines The issue of background checks at summer camps was highlighted last summer when an Ohio church camp counselor, Timothy Stephen Keil, was charged and later convicted of molesting two young boys. Keil committed the crimes while serving as a volunteer counselor at Scioto Youth Camp, about 50 miles southeast of Columbus.

Camp officials said they didn't conduct a background check on Keil because his church, Fairfield Christian Church, said he had already passed a background check there to become a Sunday school volunteer. The church later said it wasn't able to find the records.

Keil was sentenced in Pennsylvania in 1990 to four years probation on misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and corruption of a minor.

That case inspired Republican State Sen. Steve Stivers of Columbus to sponsor a bill that would expand the department's oversight to residential summer camps, like the one where Keil worked, where children stay overnight for days and weeks at a time.

Requiring background checks, however, raises costs for the nonprofit organizations that run summer camps. A state check costs $22 a person and an FBI check costs $24, said Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman at the state attorney general's office.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Border Patrol Training Academy criticized by Union for background investigation flaws

By Arthur H. Rotstein
Associated Press

The Border Patrol agents' union is criticizing hiring and training shortcuts they say the agency is making as it seeks to double in size before President Bush leaves office.

The union says the Border Patrol has dropped minimum educational requirements and is deferring background investigations for new hires, among other changes they say are hurting the agency.

The National Border Patrol Council said in a report released June 24 that the patrol recently dropped educational requirements that called for applicants to have at least a high school diploma or a high school equivalency certificate.
"This relaxation of standards is a matter of concern," the report said.

President Bush announced a crash hiring program to add 6,000 more Border Patrol agents in 2006, with the goal of bringing the number of sworn agents to 18,000 by the end of this year.

The council's report noted that there was anecdotal and other evidence suggesting a small percentage of new hires had only middle-school reading comprehension and writing abilities.

It deplored that as "completely unacceptable," particularly where documents that are poorly written could end up "in miscommunication of critical information and botched prosecutions."

Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling in Washington said the agency takes agents' concerns seriously, but also said neither criticism is a major issue and suggested that neither was correct.

He said the Border Patrol never has had a high school diploma or equivalency requirement. The requirement was purposely taken out after World War I to allow returning soldiers to apply, he said.

He said only 32 of more than 16,000 agents currently do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent, while nearly 12,000 have taken some college courses or graduated, he said.

T.J. Bonner, president of the union, said the agency's academy in Artesia, N.M. is no longer testing candidates' writing skills.

"We have had some of the instructors share some of the work product, some of the memos that new recruits have given; it's appalling," Bonner said. "They can't put a coherent sentence together and we say we're going to rely on this individual to write an arrest report and rely on that for a prosecution? Good luck."

Easterling said recruits go through the academy to learn law enforcement, physical, report-writing and other techniques. "More times than not they're inexperienced," he said.

"Report writing, sign-cutting, things like that, those are things they're going to learn in the field with job experience" and from senior agents.

The council also took the agency to task for deferring background investigations of applicants and settling for a criminal history check and polygraph.

Easterling also said that detailed background investigations are begun before candidate agents begin going through the academy.

The union report said thorough background investigation of new hires' character and history should be done before hiring.

"This is usually one of the first areas where shortcuts are taken when law enforcement agencies undergo rapid expansion," the report said. "Unfortunately, the Border Patrol has also succumbed to that pressure."

The report also said the agency has been using contractors to do the reviews for the past decade, rather than FBI special agents, leading to some corrupt agents sipping into the ranks.

Easterling defended the process and the contractors. He said the initial background investigations for the Border Patrol are the same as for any national law enforcement candidate. Even more detailed checks are done as the agent goes through the academy.

"You never can eliminate the possibility of error in any portion of the employment process," Easterling said, acknowledging that a few bad apples have made it through the academy and into the field before being discovered.

Bonner also said that several of the people involved in gathering information for the report had "a far-reaching discussion" with Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar in March.

"He promised to look into some of the concerns we brought up," Bonner said.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Serious Problems found in police applicants background investigation

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer

One was arrested as a teenager for armed robbery. Another was allegedly involved in an arson. A third admitted having sold marijuana.

The 15 recruits dismissed by the U.S. Capitol Police this week had some serious problems in their backgrounds, according to new details provided by police and congressional sources. The fact that the recruits were hired anyway, and only removed after they had completed several weeks of training, has roiled the force and led to congressional inquiries.

The recruits are contesting their dismissals, a congressional source said. Some are maintaining they only committed minor offenses, such as stealing a street sign while attending college. Officials have said they will fire recruits who do not resign or appeal.

Capitol Police have yet to explain how the recruits could have been hired and sent to a training academy in Georgia despite failing employment criteria such as background investigations and psychological exams. The reasons for the lapse are under investigation.

The U.S. Capitol Police labor committee was so upset by the revelations that it debated holding a no-confidence vote Thursday night on Chief Phillip D. Morse. The committee, part of the Fraternal Order of Police, decided to hold off and instead conduct a poll during the next week on officers' opinions of the chief. The recruits are not union members.

"Clearly, something went wrong when a police department doesn't know about possible felony violations in someone they just hired," said Michael J. Detorie, an officer who brought up the no-confidence motion. He said that while the chief had been strict about holding veteran officers accountable for mistakes, he "has yet to acknowledge an error or accept any responsibility. . . . It just rubs everybody the wrong way."

Morse said in a statement that he valued his relationship with the labor committee's chairman, Matt Tighe. "I find him to be someone I can work with to overcome challenges in order to meet our shared goal of moving the U.S. Capitol Police forward and ensuring the best for our officers," Morse said, adding that he planned to meet soon with the union leader.

Legislators have expressed dismay over the hiring blunder, and the Senate Rules Committee has scheduled a hearing next month to examine the case. But key lawmakers and congressional staff appeared to still have confidence in Morse.

"It seems they're taking appropriate actions to deal with the mess-up," said Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.), chairman of the House subcommittee on Capitol security, which has held two closed-door sessions on the issue.

Terrance W. Gainer, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, who helps oversee the Capitol Police, said Morse is "a dedicated professional."

"He loves the department, and he's trying to do the right thing," said Gainer, who once led the force.

The Capitol Police human-resources director, Jennifer McCarthy, has been put on administrative leave for her part in the hirings. While she had been under pressure to resign, she apparently has not done so.

Capitol Police have declined to give details about what disqualified the recruits, but according to police and congressional sources, some had committed serious offenses. One recruit, for example, was arrested as a juvenile for armed robbery, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue. The record in the case is sealed, and the outcome was unknown, the sources said.

Three others admitted criminal activities for which they had not been arrested, including setting fire to construction equipment and selling marijuana, the sources said. The sources did not provide names or further details.

Labor attorney John Berry, who is filing appeals for seven of the dismissed recruits, said that under Capitol Police regulations, the chief is supposed to review candidates' applications and disclosures before they are offered jobs. It "begs the question of whether or not he did his job," he said.

Berry said some of his clients had committed minor infractions.

One of the recruits, for example, was part of a group of 15 college students who stole a street sign, Berry said. The student was charged with a misdemeanor that was later expunged from his record, he said, adding that the recruit had acknowledged the incident before being hired.

The same recruit told Capitol Police officials that as a 13-year-old, he had been with a cousin who was getting high by inhaling the gas in a whipped-cream can. The young man tried to mimic his cousin, "but was too clumsy to do it," Berry said, adding that the recruit had never used illegal drugs. The incident was listed in the recruit's dismissal letter.

"If every person were held accountable for their actions as 13-year-olds and disallowed from job opportunities because of those actions, there would be a paucity of employment in the world," Berry told The Washington Post in an e-mail.

Some recruits were dismissed for non-criminal issues. They included failing a psychological evaluation and providing false or misleading information during the hiring process, officials said.

Gainer said Capitol Police applicants' names are typically run through several databases to check for criminal records. In addition, officials do background checks, examining the applicants' school and work records and interviewing neighbors, he said.
For the original story posted here at this blog, go to HERE

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Police recruits dismissed over flawed background investigation plan legal action

By Jordy Yager

At least five of the 15 recently dismissed U.S. Capitol Police recruits are planning to challenge the department’s decision to remove them. The recruits were asked on Monday to resign because of a departmental hiring process error in which criminal background investigations, psychological evaluations and complete reviews were not fully conducted.

The five recruits have asked John Berry, former general counsel to the Capitol Police’s union, to represent them as they appeal Morse’s decision to terminate their probationary employment. “The reality is they gave up their jobs and they’re not going to get another job in this area because someone’s going to view them as tainted,” Berry said. “It’s almost impossible. And all because people were incompetent.”

Several weeks into their training program, the recruits were asked to return to Washington, D.C., from the training center in Georgia after it was revealed that Capitol Police’s human resources department had hired the individuals without complete background investigations. Deputy Chief Matthew Verderosa replaced former human resources director Jennifer McCarthy earlier this month, and oversaw the proper vetting of the new recruits.

Fifteen did not meet the department’s hiring standards. The reasons for the recruits’ terminations vary, but include juvenile criminal records and minor traffic offenses, according to a Capitol Police source. Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer, a member of the Capitol Police Board, said the problem was not that the recruits attempted to hide their pasts. It was that the human resource department bypassed information that should have been scrutinized.

“There’s nothing the department learned during the course of its investigation that wasn’t known in the file. What is obvious is that people in [human resources] didn’t follow the rules,” Gainer said. As a result, the 15 recruits were dismissed Monday by Morse. His decision was upheld by the Capitol Police Board, but was condemned Tuesday not only by Berry, but by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.).

“I have great skepticism about hiring people, making them quit their jobs and then saying, ‘Whoops,’ ” Norton said. Berry pointed out that under U.S. law, Capitol Police Chief Philip Morse cannot hire or terminate any employee without first getting the approval of the Capitol Police Board, the House Administration Committee and the Senate Rules Committee.

“The Senate Rules Committee and the House Administration Committee can say, ‘No, we do not approve your recommendation and I’m sorry, they need to start work,’ ” Berry said. “The members of the Security subcommittee have been kept apprised of the situation, and have confidence that the chief will take the appropriate actions,” said Salley Collins, spokeswoman for the House Administration Committee’s GOP leadership.

Gainer said the recruits were dismissed because of information that came up in the new background investigations. “[The recruits] may have initially been untruthful about their information and then eventually become truthful or they acknowledged things that should have been automatic disqualifiers or they had problems in their psychological background which should have prohibited their hiring,” Gainer said.

Gainer said Morse is trying to give the recruits a second opportunity by giving them a chance to appeal his decision. Gainer said Morse is doing this because the mistake originated within the department. “What the chief is trying to do and the [Capitol Police] Board supports is listen, this is a very unique set of circumstances, people did make life-changing decisions and they’re going to be left hanging here,” Gainer said.

“Chief [Morse] gave the recruits an opportunity to counter or refute or offer something in mitigation which might change his mind and the circumstances upon which he made his decision.”

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Housing crisis making Provo Utah landlords evaluate need for background investigations

By Jens Dana
Deseret News

All prospective tenants, excluding Brigham Young University students, may have to submit to criminal background checks before renting property in the city.
With an aim toward reducing crime, the Provo City Council is considering a proposed measure that mandates landlords conduct background investigations for every adult tenant who applies to rent a unit. Landlords can complete that background investigation either by criminal background investigation or by verifying the potential renter is "a student at an institution of higher education which maintains a code of conduct."

While the ordinance doesn't specifically exempt BYU students from criminal background checks, some council members say it reads that way because BYU is the only local university with a code of conduct. Councilwoman Cindy Clark said the ordinance sets an uneven playing field.

"You're requiring this of students that aren't at BYU," she said. "So BYU gets sort of preferential treatment."

But Councilman George Stewart said it's not unfair treatment because BYU already places extensive requirements on landlords seeking BYU approval.

"BYU has a very stringent approval process," he said.

City Council attorney Neil Lindberg said the ordinance doesn't favor BYU because students at other academic institutions could opt for verifying their academic status if those institutions implemented codes of conduct.

BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins declined to comment on the ordinance, saying she would need more information.

Aside from background investigations, landlords would be required to meet other guidelines or risk losing their rental license. Those include:

• Using lease forms allowing eviction of tenants for criminal activity.

• Undergoing biannual training conducted by the Provo Police Department to learn to recognize and reduce criminal activity.

• Provide proof to the city they conducted tenant background checks, used a complying lease agreement and completed biannual training to obtain their rental dwelling license application.

Some property managers expressed concern about being compelled to complete background investigations for all tenants applying for rental units. But Utah Apartment Association executive director Paul Smith said it should be the "common business sense" thing to do. Harman Property Management Group, which operates more than 100 rental units in Provo and Orem, performs background checks on all potential tenants, regardless of school status, property manager Pete Harradine said. He also said they've been occasionally surprised by what has come up on some students' background checks.

"You can be a good student, but a bad tenant," he said.

The ordinance is fashioned after other cities' efforts to reduce crime, Smith said. Police and fire departments receive about 40 percent more calls for assistance from rental dwelling areas than owner-occupied areas. That translates into costs cities often offset through additional fees on rental dwelling units. For example, Smith said, Ogden used to levy a $156 fee per single-family rental unit.

In 2005, Ogden implemented a program to reduce crime through offering a $143 discount on the fee if the landlord conducts background investigations on tenants, immediately evicts tenants who cause problems, complies with zoning law and enrolls in crime prevention training.

In the first year, Ogden reported a 12 percent drop in crime in its rental dwelling areas, Smith said. West Valley City also has a similar program and has reported a 30 percent decline in calls for service from police and fire departments.

Smith declined to comment on the Provo ordinance's qualifier for students who attend a university with a code of conduct. He also said he thinks the city should offer incentives to landlords to complete background checks, like Ogden, rather than mandate them.

"I don't think it's appropriate to just have a requirement for background checks," he said.

Stewart said the ordinance remains a work in progress and the council still needs to decide what level of crime would authorize landlords to evict tenants. Though Stewart supports background checks, he's not sure they should be mandatory.

"There's still some refining that needs to occur," he said.

The City Council will discuss the proposed ordinance at its next work meeting in early July.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns

Background Investigation of Missouri police applicant uncovers child pornography

Leonard J. Cook, Jr. pleaded guilty to on federal charges of possession of child pornography, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway, Phelps County Prosecuting Attorney Courtney George and Rolla Police Chief Mark Kearse has said.

“People who collect child pornography create a demand for these images,” said Hanaway. “This office, with the help of Prosecuting Attorney George and Chief Kearse, will continue to find and prosecute people who victimize children.”

Chief Kearse stated that this investigation began when Cook applied for a police officers position with his department and during the background investigation the RPD discovered the possible child pornography issues.

“We then asked for assistance with the MSHP and (all the other agencies that got involved). I’m very happy with all the cooperation between the agencies that were involved to get to a guilty plea,” Kearse said.


“It would have been very unfortunate to law enforcement if he would have made it through the process and became an officer. Also a special thanks to U. S. Attorney Hanaway for following up and prosecuting this case,” he said.

“This kind of behavior is not tolerated in our community and it absolutely will not be tolerated by law enforcement officers sworn to serve and protect our citizens,” George said.

On Sept. 24, 2007, Cook allowed law enforcement officers to seize his home laptop computer and hard drive. A forensic examination found child pornography stored within the computer hard drive, including within the Dell laptop computer. Some of these images depicted minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and some involved material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.


Cook, 31, of Rolla, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one felony count of possession of child pornography. He appeared Thursday before United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson. Cook now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000, when he is sentenced on Aug. 29.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.

In February, 2006, the Department of Justice launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

Posted by Pebi Services President Tyra Hearns