WICHITA — Wichita’s police chief is looking for ways to accept at least some candidates who are being turned away today.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Chief Gordon Ramsay says he “would like to hire more people that have struggled in life and understand those hardships.” He says that could include recruits who have crimes in their past.
Neither the Wichita Police Department nor the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office currently accepts job applications from anyone with criminal convictions, including minor cases such as shoplifting. A driving force behind the policies is preventing credibility issues in court.
But Ramsay questioned whether a teenage offense should stand in the way of someone working in law enforcement many years later. Local defense attorneys praised Ramsay’s intent.
