Colorado police in background screening trouble

background screening being “less than favorable”. A lawsuit filed by David Christopher Dalgarn – a man shot by former Grand County Sheriff’s Deputy Rochalle Rooks – has yet again pointed the spotlight at the background checking failures that we are seeing time and time again. In this case, Rooks rammed Dalgarn’s car, then shot him, rendering Dalgarn paralyzed. He had noticed Dalgarn driving recklessly, and so “intentionally rammed” Dalgarn, according to the federal judge’s recount of the case. It is understood that both Dalgarn — who was unarmed — and Rooks exited their cars and Rooks shot Dalgarn just seconds later without warning, discharging as many as 11 rounds from his semi-automatic service pistol. It has now been revealed that the department “expressed concern over Rooks’ performance,” but treated the concern with little regard. Rooks’ driving record was also deemed suspect, according to depositions cited in the judge’s order. “At the time of his application, Rooks had been in two car accidents within three years and had received seven traffic citations within eight years. And while employed by the department, Rooks caused a roll-over accident while off-duty in his own car,” the judge cited. “Another time he drove his patrol car into a pole in the parking lot.” Evidence has also suggested that Rooks “had poor judgment using a firearm.” Now while we need to have sufficient numbers of police officials to ensure public safety, it seems there is a complete disregard for the ability of those hired and their past actions. We should not be hiring simply to make up the numbers. In this case, a background check was performed, but the information this revealed was completely ignored. The result? A man who was pulled over for minor traffic misdemeanors is now paralyzed for life.]]>