Oct 25, 2007 7:40 am US/Central
DPD Puts Relaxed Hiring Standards On Hold
(AP)
The Dallas Police Department is holding off considering applicants with histories of brief, experimental drug use after city leaders said Wednesday they wanted more time to review the more relaxed standards in the department's recruiting.
"We just need to better understand the logic of our Police Department in how they came to it (the policy change)," Mayor Tom Leppert said in a story posted on the Web site of The Dallas Morning News.
Under the new change, police will consider applicants who have used small amounts of drugs such as cocaine and heroin in the distant past.
Previously, recruiters could consider applicants who had used marijuana, but would-be officers who had tried harder drugs could not be hired.
Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia, who heads the council's public safety committee, said she believes that the "devil is in the details" and wants to make sure the department is "hiring the best officers we can get."
Police said they expect to brief the City Council's public safety committee on the policy in November.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle implemented a similar recruiting policy as chief of the Arlington Police Department in the 1980s. No officers had subsequent drug issues, he said.
"In my view, it could result in us hiring better qualified people, because we'll in theory have more people to choose from," Kunkle said.
The new policy is similar to the one used by the FBI, considered "the most professional law enforcement agency in the country," Kunkle said.
Some officers are skeptical about the policy. The change in hiring standards could have a negative effect, said Lt. Rick Andrews, head of the Dallas Police Executive Lodge.
"It speaks to your character, or lack thereof," Andrews said. "I think there's potential there for less-than-acceptable behavior to creep in."
The change in Dallas comes as the 3,180-member department attempts to add officers to its ranks to curb illegal activity in what has been the nation's most crime-ridden big city.
Dallas hired about 335 officers last fiscal year but had to replace about 175 officers who left through attrition. This fiscal year, the department is trying to hire about 375 people and expects to replace about 175.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
