State Licensing of Corrections Officers

• In Event: Policy Panel: Officer Decertification in the United States: Directions, Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Forty-four states have established Peace Officer Standards and Training Commissions for law enforcement officers but only 21 states have expanded their authority to cover corrections officers. This presentation explores reasons why this disparity in coverage might exist and discusses the experience in Florida where, in recent years, three times the number of corrections officers have lost their licenses compared to law enforcement officers. Given the publicity of inmate deaths in prisons and jails as well as sexual misconduct by corrections officers, states will be under increased pressure to regulate corrections officers as well as law enforcement officers.

Author

• Roger Goldman, Saint Louis University