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Council questions background-check vendor after audit note; chief vows extra checks
Summary
Councilor Grant asked about a referenced shortfall in a hiring background check; Chief Jeremy Storey said the department contracted with an external firm for capacity reasons, will add redundancy checks, and is open to changing vendors if problems persist.
Councilor Grant asked whether the department's background-check process might be improved after OIR noted a shortfall in at least one hiring investigation. "I would hope that we can really evaluate that... the cost of things like this slipping through seems pretty high," Grant said.
Chief Jeremy Storey said the department historically ran background investigations in-house but contracted with an external company for capacity. He acknowledged a particular investigator in one case did not meet the department’s expectations and said the department has raised the issue with the vendor. "I still feel comfortable using this company... there'll be extra checks on our end to make sure that there's redundancy in place," Storey said, and added that the department will consider other vendors if issues continue.
Councilors welcomed that approach and asked staff to report back if systemic problems are identified; no formal action was taken during the session.
