Colorado working on keeping bad cops off its police forces

Colorado working on novel idea to keep bad cops off its police forces
By Thandisizwe Chimurenga - Mar 16, 2016

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Bad cops in Denver and other parts of Colorado will have a harder time hopping from job to job. Hopefully.

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“Yes, You Should Be Doing That” sounds like a good name for a new section, don’t you think? Here’s the first entry: A bill in Colorado appears to be on its way to becoming law. The bill would make it harder for cops—current and former—who have a checkered history to be hired in the state.

According to the Denver Post:


Wait … what?

In Colorado as in many other states, just because an officer has been fired doesn't mean they can stop being a cop. In order for them to never, ever wear a badge again they must be decertified, which means their license as a law enforcement officer has to be revoked. Colorado, like some other states, usually only decertifies a cop after they have been convicted of something. Other states will decertify depending on the seriousness of the misconduct—excessive force, brutality, etc. This law that is being proposed is supposed to make it easier to receive and review the records of cops who are applying for jobs with departments throughout Colorado:


The Denver Post is crediting itself with helping spur this along after a series of articles it published last year looking at how rogue cops keep getting hired as cops.

This proposed bill has bipartisan support in the state, as well as the support of the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, the County Sheriffs of Colorado, and the Colorado Municipal League.

And, if you’ve read this far, yes, this is a no-brainer; yes, it’s true, they haven’t been doing this all along; and yes, they should have been doing this all along.


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