Past behavior matters, especially in law enforcement where certain pre-hire misbehavior by law enforcement candidates sharply increases the likelihood of police misconduct once they are hired, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
The researchers analyzed pre-hire data and disciplinary records for 6,075 officers at more than 150 municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies across the United States, tracking them for up to five years. They identified which background warning signs most accurately predicted later misconduct.
Officers who had a prior record of professional misconduct (written reprimands, suspensions or terminations) were more than six times more likely to be fired at their new jobs than hires with no prior disciplinary record. Frequent job changes, bad credit, domestic violence and temper problems were also strongly linked to higher misconduct risk.
The research was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology .
“Perhaps most concerning, we found that law enforcement agencies largely ignored these red flags,” said lead researcher Stephan Dilchert, PhD, an associate professor of management at Baruch College in the City University of New York. “Candidates with serious prior incidents faced only marginally lower hiring odds. While many departments reacted decisively to misconduct after hiring, they failed to screen out high-risk candidates up front.”
More than half of the officers included in the study had prior law enforcement experience, which is often considered favorable in hiring decisions. However, officers with prior law enforcement experience were more likely to be accused at their new jobs of excessive use of force, sexual harassment and racism. They also were nearly twice as likely to be sued for misconduct than officers who had no prior law enforcement experience.
Based on these findings, agencies should not give strong preference to hiring candidates with law enforcement experience, Dilchert said.
“We need to stop assuming that experience equals better behavior by law enforcement officers,” he said. “Police misconduct has devastating consequences for communities, yet there are no national standards in police hiring. Agencies have lacked evidence-based guidance on what warning signs to look for during hiring, which is one of the reasons we conducted this study.”
The researchers used an archival database from a psychological services provider that conducted hiring evaluations for agencies across the country. Anonymized records included candidates’ pre-hire background information and subsequent disciplinary actions. Within five years of hire, one in five officers had received at least one professional misconduct report.
The study highlights the need for the development of national police hiring standards, Dilchert said. While other high-stakes professions use centralized screening and credentialing systems, police hiring in the United States is highly decentralized with thousands of independent agencies relying on inconsistent processes.
Legal protections will be needed for agencies that share police officers’ disciplinary records to help stop officers with histories of misconduct from simply moving from one department to the next, according to Dilchert.
“Police misconduct is financially costly and also undermines public trust and community safety,” Dilchert said. “The key is to stop ‘looking the other way’ when encountering red flags during hiring because every community deserves police officers who have been thoroughly vetted.”
Article: “ The Importance of Not Looking the Other Way: Pre-Hire On- and Off-the-Job Misbehavior Predicts Subsequent Police Misconduct ,” Stephan Dilchert, PhD, Baruch College, City University of New York, Brittany K. Mercado, PhD, Elon University, and Deniz S. Ones, PhD, University of Minnesota; Journal of Applied Psychology , published online March 23, 2026.
Contact: Stephan Dilchert, PhD, may be contacted at stephan.dilchert@baruch.cuny.edu .
The American Psychological Association , in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA’s membership includes 173,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.
Journal of Applied Psychology
Data/statistical analysis
People
The Importance of Not Looking the Other Way: Prehire On- and Off-the-Job Misbehavior Predicts Subsequent Police Misconduct
23-Mar-2026