The tricky thing about background checks: You actually have to pay attention to the results you get.
That dilemma’s at the heart of a controversy surrounding the police force in Washington, D.C., which may lead to the force’s Human Resources director losing her job. Here’s the skinny:
The Capitol Police have a policy against hiring cops with prior criminal convictions and conducts background checks to make sure all applicants are clean.
But recently, a batch of 60 officers-in-training were hired — and it turns out 15 of them had criminal records or “other irregularities” and lied about them. Apparently the convictions appeared on the background checks but the applicants were hired anyway.
How’d they slip through the cracks? No one’s sure yet, but a thorough investigation is planned by the D.C. government.
In the meantime, the force’s HR director has been put on administrative leave. Many government officials and members of the public have called on the force’s HR director to resign, or be terminated.
