Radley Balko has an amazing article in the Washington Post about what may well be the worst police department in the country. “All I know is this. If you’re the kind of police department that would hire someone who attended a Ku Klux Klan meeting, you knew something like this was going to happen. How could you not know that?”
I don't know, but the department did in fact hire Josh Hastings, and kept him on until he finally murdered a 15 year old boy, for which he was finally fired and held by a jury to be financially liable. He evaded criminal responsibility, probably due to a lackluster prosecution. But Hastings was probably NOT the worst officer on the force. Read the whole thing at the link. Here's a snippet:
Disturbing as Hastings's disciplinary record may be, other officers in the department have even thicker personnel files. In fact, many of the very officers who trained and supervised Hastings have had lengthy histories of misconduct — including domestic violence, lying, and the use of excessive force.
A review of LRPD personnel records, emails and court cases dating back to Hastings's hiring in March 2007 suggests a department plagued by nepotism, cronyism and racism — both blatant and subtle. Internal investigations of officer misconduct can be sloppy and incomplete, and are often haphazardly conducted by officers with clear conflicts of interest. There appears to be little supervision at any level, whether by sergeants over beat cops, the high command over supervising officers, or city and elected officials over the department's leadership. When officers have been fired — and it takes a lot to get fired — they are often able to appeal and win back their jobs, either in court or through the city's Civil Service Commission, usually with the help of the police union.
Onward and upward,
airforce
