Police officers accused of wrongdoing and let go, often find employment with other police departments.

This is the first installment in a three-part series examining the lack of police oversight in West Virginia.

CEDAR GROVE, W.Va. - When West Virginia police officers get into trouble and are fired or quit their jobs, they often jump to other departments the same handful of departments, a Gazette-Mail investigation shows.

The state doesn't monitor why officers switch departments, but the Division of Criminal Justice Services keeps track of their employment histories. An examination of the data about 14 years' worth shows that
166 officers have held jobs with more than four departments in West Virginia.

Officers moving from department to department after their actions are questioned - but before anything can be proven is a common occurrence not just in West Virginia, but across the nation, said Sam Walker, professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Omaha, and a police accountability expert.

"Everybody talks about the problem of gypsy cops-- officers who are employed, get in trouble, quit, then get hired somewhere else," he said. "It has been talked about but it has never been researched. Part of it is that research in policing always focuses on big cities. Small departments go off the radar screen."

Police officers switch jobs for the same reasons anyone does -- better pay, relocation, better work environment, said Roger Goldman, professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law and an expert on police certification.

"Then you have your last-chance agencies -- every state's got them," he said.

Goldman said there are small departments all around the nation that will hire an officer with questionable conduct in his past because it's easier and cheaper.

Graphic Link:
http://www.wvgazette.com/mediafiles/document/2010/12/26/PTP_map_gyspies_I101226012326.pdf

Link:http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201012251320