In the nearly three weeks since an Illinois deputy sheriff was charged with murder after fatally shooting Sonya Massey, observers have questioned how and why the officer — who had worked for six law enforcement agencies in four years — kept on getting hired.
According to an NBC News review of police hiring laws in Illinois, Grayson’s hiring did not appear to have violated state or local police hiring policies. And an NBC News review of hiring practices around the country shows that there is a patchwork of hiring standards that vary from state to state and from community to community.
Experts say the hiring standards in many small law enforcement agencies are often lower than those of large city agencies. Nearly 85 percent of the country’s 18,000 state and local police agencies employ fewer than 50 officers, according to data from the U.S. Justice Department. And there are no national laws governing how state and local police agencies, including sheriff’s offices, hire and vet their applicants. Compounding the problem is a nationwide police shortage fueled by the police killing of George Floyd and the wave of protests, police retirements, and drop in applicants that followed. The shortage has forced many chiefs and sheriffs to choose from lower-quality applicants.
Full story: Sonya Massey killing sparks renewed scrutiny of police hiring