By Andrea Klick
The Kansas City Star
PLEASANT HILL, Mo. — The City of Pleasant Hill said it will improve background checks for new hires after swearing in a police officer without searching his social media history, leading citizens to discover a racist post he made about a month ago.
Mayor John E.P. King and the Pleasant Hill Police Department issued a statement Wednesday morning, apologizing for swearing in Officer Jacob Smith without looking at his social media profiles before he was hired.
Smith was placed on paid leave hours after Monday’s city council meeting and fired from the police department around 1 a.m. Wednesday following a review of the allegations.
“It is important for us to identify when mistakes are made and own up to them,” the city said. “And in the times when we have erred, it is important for the community to point out when we need to be held accountable.”
Police Chief Tommy Wright said the post showed a racist meme that targeted Black people. The Star is not publishing the details of what it said.
The content of the post “did not reflect the standards of the city, the police department, your elected officials, the law enforcement profession, and the community as a whole,” the city said in its statement.
“There is no excuse for racism, insinuation of violence, or any form of hate in our community,” the city said.
Wright said the police department’s hiring process usually includes a social media background check that would evaluate potential officers’ rhetoric and conduct. The step, officials said, was unintentionally overlooked in Smith’s hiring.
Officials had completed other steps of the background check, including a public records check, criminal history and courts records checks and searches for images, videos, names and news related to the job candidate.
The city said the error showed issues within Pleasant Hill’s hiring process, which officials hope to fix by communicating expectations for future hiring processes clearly, creating checklists so that all steps must be carried out and developing more thorough background checks.
Officials said they understand that the incident will hurt the public’s trust in the police department and city, but they hope to be transparent moving forward as they work to improve the city’s hiring process.
“The police officers, sergeants, and leadership of the Pleasant Hill Police Department work hard every day to provide this community with the safety and protection at the highest level of service,” King said. “These officers are part of this community, and they want their police department to be the pride of this city.”
“Please do not let one individual detract from the work they have accomplished in the last few years to make the Pleasant Hill Police Department what it is today.”
—
©2023 The Kansas City Star.
Visit kansascity.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.