Police misconduct can harm people and undermine public confidence in law enforcement. To date, research and reform efforts have been largely reactive, focusing on post-hire interventions such as training, behavioral mediation, and monitoring (e.g., body cameras). However, new research (Dilchert et al., 2026) explains how police misconduct can be addressed during the pre-hire screening process. They identify several behavioral red flags that signal elevated risk for future police misconduct.
THE RESEARCH STUDY
The researchers used a large database with over 6,000 police officers and tracked 5 years of misconduct records (e.g., citizen complaints, excessive use of force, reprimands). The researchers found several pre-hire behaviors that were associated with serious risk of post-hire misconduct: prior suspensions, unfavorable terminations, poor credit, and negligence warnings. The authors also identified a set of less common but especially high-risk behaviors: prior domestic violence citations, being behind on child support payment, unjustified use of force, demotions, and racially offensive behavior. Although these behaviors occurred less frequently, they were linked to substantially higher rates of post-hire misconduct and therefore warrant consideration.
PRACTICAL AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Prior misbehavior is a strong and measurable predictor of future police misconduct and should play a central role in hiring decisions. The authors provide an interactive screening tool to help identify high-risk applicants, and they emphasize that even a single serious risk indicator may warrant screening out an applicant. This may require increased recruiting efforts, as larger applicant pools allow riskier applicants to be screened out more easily. At the policy level, the authors call for standardized, behavior-based screening criteria, and restrictions on record expungement and transfers that allow officers with documented risk histories to evade accountability.
Dilchert, S., Mercado, B. K., & Ones, D. S. (2026). The importance of not looking the other way: Prehire on- and off-the-job misbehavior predicts subsequent police misconduct. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001322
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