Wandering cops shuffle departments, abusing citizens

Timothy Loehmann wanted to be a police officer like his father. He got a job in Independence, Ohio, but it didn't go well. His supervisors allowed him to quit after he suffered a "dangerous lack of composure" during firearms training. The department concluded he would "not be able to cope or make good decisions" under stress. The deputy chief wrote Loehmann "could not follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal."

Cleveland Police did not check on Loehmann's history in Independence before hiring him. And Ohio law required a felony before an officer would lose his badge. So it was Loehmann who responded in the fall of 2014 to the Cleveland park where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was playing with what turned out to be a toy gun. Loehmann shot him dead.

The Cleveland department’s failure to check on Loehmann's background is an example of one of the biggest roadblocks to police accountability - "wandering cops" who lose their jobs in one place only to be rehired and to engage in misconduct in another. The problem of wandering cops continues to haunt police accountability amid piecemeal reforms that fall short of fixing the problem, experts say.

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Legislation that would bar cops who are fired or forced to resign because of misconduct from working in law enforcement in New York is gaining traction in Albany.

Proposed by Sen. Brian Benjamin (D-Harlem), the bill is being picked up by Assemblyman Phil Ramos (D-Suffolk), a former cop who says the measure will do more than just help departments avoid problem officers.

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