This is a curious case. A Sioux County Sheriff was denied entry into the Nebraska Law Enforcement Center Reciprocity Training Program. According to the Chadron Record, the sheriff’s background check was incomplete. The article notes that to be admitted to the reciprocity center, the candidate must be certified in Nebraska. It seems that the sheriff did not complete certain aspects of the character affidavit and his employment verification. There were other issues or discrepancies as well.
As I really don’t know the complete story, there is little we can comment on this specific situation. However, what we find gratifying is that the Nebraska Lawn Enforcement Center performs such due diligence on any candidates for its Reciprocity Center. While in many states and with many law enforcement agencies the background checks for both employment candidates and current staff are either poorly conducted or when returned fall between the cracks, it appears that the Nebraska Police Standards Advisory Council and the Training Center are taking their jobs seriously. They are conducting comprehensive background checks that return relevant information about the applicant.
More to the point, the Council reviews these background reports thorough when they are completed. You would think this would be the common occurrence, something to be taken for granted. But it’s not. There are many screw ups that result in embarrassing consequences and costly liability issues.
According to the law, as the article attests–
“State law requires a candidate for sheriff to submit with his or her filing form a letter issued from the director of the Training Center attesting to the fact that the candidate has passed a background investigation conducted by the Training Center within the last year or has applied for a background investigation within 30 days of filing for office. Roe’s filing application was accompanied by such a letter that indicated he had passed a criminal history check and basic education requirements related to reading and English. A final paragraph in the letter, however, noted that those two requirements did not guarantee admission to the Training Center.”
Makes sense to me. Check them out before you hire.
