* Decertification or Delicensing of Police Officers happens in 44 states. Massachusetts is one of six states that has no decertification process, including California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and neighboring Rhode Island.
Roger L. Goldman, the Callis Family Professor of Law Emeritus at Saint Louis University School of Law, is an expert on U.S. police licensing and license revocation laws. For more than 25 years, he has been helping states write and adopt laws that provide for removing the license or certificate of an officer who engages in serious misconduct, such as sexual assault or brutality.
Professor Goldman is also a leading expert on the U.S. Supreme Court and constitutional law. In addition to his many articles on police licensing, he is an author of three books on the U.S. Supreme Court: The Role of the Supreme Court in Protecting Civil Rights and Liberties; Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.: Freedom First; and Thurgood Marshall: Justice for All.
Revocation of Police Officer Certification: A Viable Remedy for Police Misconduct? | Show Abstract
Saint Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 45, pp. 541-579, 2001
Number of Pages in PDF File: 40
State Revocation of Law Enforcement Officers’ Licenses and Federal Criminal Prosecution: An Opportunity for Cooperative Federalism | Show Abstract
St. Louis University Public Law Review, Vol. 22, p. 121, 2003
Number of Pages in PDF File: 30
Decertification of Police: An Alternative to Traditional Remedies for Police Misconduct | Show Abstract Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 45, 1987-1988
Number of Pages in PDF File: 36
A Model Decertification Law | Show Abstract
32 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 147, 2012, Saint Louis U. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2013-7
Number of Pages in PDF File: 12
Police Officer Decertification: Promoting Police Professionalism through State Licensing and the National Decertification Index
The Police Chief 81 (November 2014): 40–42.
OTHER RESOURCES:
NATIONAL DECERTIFICATION INDEX: A SEARCHABLE NATIONAL REGISTRY OF CERTIFICATE OR LICENSE ACTIONS RELATED TO OFFICER MISCONDUCT. A project of: The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST)
About the NDI: The purpose of the National Decertification Index (NDI) is to serve as a national registry of certificate or license revocation actions relating to officer misconduct. The records contained in the NDI are provided by participating state government agencies and should be verified with the contributing authority. Inclusion in the database does not necessarily preclude any individual from appointment as an officer.
The NDI currently contains 19,478 actions reported by 39 states.
For additional information, contact Mike Becar, Project Director.
Police Licensing and Revocation
By Thomas J. Jurkanin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminal Justice Administration, Middle Tennessee State University
The Police Chief 81 (February 2014): 30–35.
International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, “2012 IADLEST Survey of POST Agency Certification Practices” POST Agency Certification Practices, 2011 by Matthew J. Hickman and Loren T. Atherley (Meridian, Idaho: IADLEST, 2012), http://www.nwjs.org/docs/POSTAgencyCertPractices.pdf