In a new article from the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, journalist Sam Stecklow writes of our ongoing data transparency project. In partnership with a coalition led by Big Local News, we have been working to make police employment history data public. Colorado's refusal to release this information makes it one of just 15 states that keep this information secret, preventing the press and public from being able to monitor "wandering officers" who move from department to department.
In other states where such databases are disclosed, reporters and researchers have shown significant gaps in state oversight systems that have allowed officers with troubled pasts to be shuffled to school district departments and passed around tiny suburban departments. Departments have failed to notify criminal defendants about officers’ histories of misconduct, and officers have continued to work in law enforcement even after criminal convictions. In Florida, researchers showed that wandering officers are not only more likely to be fired at their new departments, but also rack up even more citizen complaints.