Many police agencies deal with the misconduct of their officers — which can result in dismissal or removal from their police agencies, and ultimately the revocation of their police officer’s license or certificate, when the officer has engaged in serious misconduct.
Currently, 46 of the 50 states provide for the revocation or decertification of a peace officer’s license or certificate when the officer has engaged in serious misconduct. The Minnesota Police Officers Standards and Training Board (POST) is responsible for the decertification of Minnesota peace officers.
The grounds for decertification vary greatly among the states, though typically include a conviction for a felony, such as murder, stalking, criminal sexual conduct, and theft, as well as specific areas of misconduct. MN Administrative Rule 6700.1600 outlines the Minnesota peace officer standards of conduct that could lead to disciplinary action by the Minnesota POST Board.
The National Decertification Index (NDI) is a nationwide registry of law enforcement and corrections officer certificate or license revocation actions relating to misconduct. The information is provided via a secure internet-accessible platform developed and hosted by Envisage Technologies and maintained by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST).
The NDI is a free service to law enforcement and currently contains over 30,500 actions. The database does not contain specific information about the decertification but does refer the person seeking information to the state POST that decertified him or her. Also, the fact that there is a decertification does not mean that the candidate is ineligible to be a peace officer in another state with less restrictive standards of conduct. The Minnesota POST Board has currently decertified 89 peace officers since 2000, and those revocations can be accessed here.
Know Who You Are Hiring
A thorough background investigation (including contacting former employers before hiring an employee) is very crucial — especially when hiring law enforcement officers — due to their positional authority and powers that police officers have over citizens. A standard query with the NDI, conducted as part of a city's conditional job offer, will let the background investigator or hiring authority know whether a potential employee has been decertified by a state licensing agency.
There have been cases where cities have not been fully aware of the past misconduct of their applicants, who are then hired due to a weak background check process. With continued discussions of national police reform, both the public and lawmakers tend to agree that the police need a national standard for decertification — and law enforcement agencies are seeing increased pressure to provide transparency about misconduct in law enforcement.
The NDI may prevent officers with a revoked certification — as a result of serious or gross misconduct — from being rehired, even if they move to a new state. I encourage police departments across Minnesota to spread awareness to other agencies and to take advantage of this free resource.
A police department or authorized individual may request access to the NDI here, and the access is subject to approval by the Minnesota POST Board administrator.
If you have any questions, you may contact me at tstille@lmc.org or (651) 215-4051.
Remember: Responder Safety = Public Safety
Stay safe and be careful -
Tracy
