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�The police are the public� Mail Tribune / Jim Craven New recruits in the Medford Police Department are put on probation for 18 months and spend the first four or five accompanied by a field training officer. Officer Kevin Bailey, right, and field training officer Stephanie Smith prepare to cite a woman for several violations after she and her companion were stopped for having expired license plates. Probation is a common method police agencies use � besides background checks and testing � to spot any potential problems before hiring an officer permanently. That means some commit crimes, despite efforts to keep badges away from lawbreakers By Sara Murphy On July 11, three news stories rang out like shots fired at local law enforcement agencies: An Ashland police captain is accused of assaulting a dispatcher on duty. A Central Point police officer resigns and faces charges after an alleged attempt to forcibly suck two women�s toes. A Jackson County sheriff�s deputy is fired and faces criminal charges for alleged domestic assault. They�re the type of stories that embarrass police chiefs and cause citizens to question whether officers can be trusted to enforce the law it seems they can�t uphold. Local law enforcement officials say they take police misconduct seriously. They perform extensive background checks on new recruits that are designed to weed out potential troublemakers before they ever see a badge. Thanks in large part to that process, they say, the vast majority of officers are straight arrows. Though there�s no systematic record keeping that measures criminal activity by police, the general consensus is that cops are less likely to commit crime than the average Joe. Still, some experts say police departments could do more to eliminate deviants from their departments. Others say it may be unreasonable to expect that police officers wouldn�t sometimes break the law. "The first thing that people need to recognize is that the police are the public," says Robert Kane, an administration of justice professor at Portland State University. "Police officers commit the same crimes the rest of us commit." Screening processes, he says, just aren�t sophisticated enough to find every candidate�s flaws. "We�ve got 650,000 police officers out there (in the United States) and we have to assume that some of them are robbing liquor stores and beating their wives," Kane says. There�s no debate that officers sometimes make bad decisions and do bad things. But the top local cops, including Jackson County Sheriff Bob Kennedy, say there�s no room for it in their shops. "I can�t allow my officers to go out and enforce violations of law � domestic violence, DUII, whatever it may be � and then turn around and commit the same act themselves," Kennedy says. Earlier this month, he fired a deputy who faces criminal charges for allegedly pushing his girlfriend down a short flight of stairs during an argument. Kennedy says he might not have made the hire four years ago if he�d known then what he knows now. The department�s background check didn�t reveal any violent tendencies. But it�s that type of information that helps the sheriff and police chiefs make hiring decisions. "It�s really important for us to hire the best possible person because, literally, your life can depend on it," says Medford Police Chief Eric Mellgren. The screening process can take months. "We can have 100 people apply and end up with one or two candidates, or none," says Ashland Police Chief Scott Fleuter. "I�ve seen that happen." Like other local agencies, the Ashland Police Department begins its screening process with the basics: looking at the candidates� education, checking for any criminal history and ensuring they have a valid driver�s license. From there, applicants go through a series of tests assessing practical skills and physical agility. Oral interviews check for character traits, such as integrity and the ability to handle stress. Candidates who seem suited for the job are given conditional job offers, which allow the police agencies to advance to the key investigations: psychological exams and background checks. "The psychological exam is not to see if you�re nuts or normal, but to see if you have the emotional capability to stand there and be yelled at," Mellgren says. The test � which typically consists of a four- to five-hour battery of written exams and an appointment with a police psychologist � runs about $500, Kennedy says. The entire hiring process, he estimates, costs the sheriff�s department $3,000 to $5,000. "Most agencies don�t do psychological exams because they�re very expensive," Kennedy says. "Most agencies don�t send somebody to hometowns because they can�t afford it." The sheriff�s department � and Medford and Ashland police � sends trained officers, detectives and sergeants to personally check on applicants� backgrounds. "If we have somebody testing with us from Arizona, we�ll send somebody to Arizona," Kennedy says. They talk to previous employers, neighbors, old girlfriends, anybody who might know something. "You go to the corner market, you go to the ex-spouse," Fleuter says. At this stage in the game, chiefs in smaller cities can�t match the resources of their more metropolitan neighbors. Phoenix, which has just six officers including the chief, pays for psychological exams but can�t afford to send an officer cross-country. Instead, Chief Bob Kershaw mails out reference forms with self-addressed, stamped return envelopes. He gets back about 90 percent. "It puts us at something of a disadvantage," Kershaw says. "It�d be nice to go down and talk to people face-to-face. "You can pick up on things you can�t necessarily read into a piece of paper." Even in person, the chiefs say, it�s getting more difficult for background investigators to get honest responses. They say fear of lawsuits keeps some potential references from talking. And police departments sometimes give bad officers good references to send them on their way. Kershaw says that�s not his policy. His department made the headlines twice last year when one Phoenix officer allegedly choked a belligerent but handcuffed shoplifter and a second officer was accused of plying two teenage girls with alcohol, exposing himself to them and fondling one girl at least twice. "After the last incident, I just exploded," Kershaw says. "I told my people, �If you�re involved in any misconduct on duty, off duty, doesn�t matter, you�re going down the road.�" And he promised to let their prospective employers know all about it. Honest and thorough references are important, experts say, because police officers have the right to use coercive force. And because they carry guns. "They have awesome, awesome power. And with that comes awesome responsibility," says Gordon Graham, a California Highway Patrol captain, attorney and one of the nation�s leading lecturers on risk management in law enforcement. Graham advocates performing integrity checks on employees every five years, which is already standard practice in the FBI. "I�m a huge fan of that," he says. When it comes to topics like ethics and integrity, Graham says police are � and should be � held to higher standards than the rest of the population. "My goal as I go around America is not to reduce this number of loser cops," Graham says. "I think we can eliminate it if we really work at it and have everything in place." Graham says police departments need to recruit and retain officers with integrity, train them, provide a good policy manual, actively enforce the policies and follow up with discipline when necessary. Medford�s Chief Mellgren says keeping his department honest starts at the top. "I don�t speed," Mellgren says. "My kids say, �Gee Dad, you drive like an old guy.� And I do, but I don�t want to get up in the morning and read about myself in the newspaper." Like it or not, that�s what officers have to do, says Graham, who doesn�t share drinks over dinner if he has to drive home. "The public has to have trust in American law enforcement," Graham says. "All we�ve got going for us is our integrity." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA