Audit Blasts System For Keeping Track Of Bad Cops

State Auditor Claire McCaskill has put out an audit critical of the way the state runs its Peace Officer Standards and Training program – the program that is responsible for tracking and licensing cops in this state. McCaskill says her audit discovered that the system was not tracking the hiring and firing of police officers very well, information about police officers under investigation was not being distributed in a timely fashion, and some police were able to move from one department to another under a cloud of investigation, all without the gaining police department or the state knowing. McCaskill suggests the program needs to hire more than one investigator to track all of the complaints against police statewide and changes in the law that allows the departments and state do a better job of sharing information.