Background Investigation Dimensions

Background Investigation Dimensions

• Job-relatedness is crucial for candidate screening, assessing skills, abilities, and attributes for effective job performance, and defending against claims of unfairness or discrimination.
• Selection procedures should stem from job analysis that considers requirements and demands.
• POST has done job analyses for peace officers/public safety dispatchers, reanalyzing data to determine essential attributes for these roles.
• A unified set of background dimensions applies to both peace officers and public safety dispatchers.
• The ten dimensions appear in Table 2.1 and must be considered when investigating peace officer/public safety dispatcher candidates, as per Commission Regulations 1953(b) and 1959(b).
• These dimensions are categorized into Moral Character, Handling Stress and Adversity, Work Habits, Interactions with Others, and Intellectually-Based Abilities.
• "Integrity" is assessed at multiple pre-employment stages.
• Figure 2.1 shows the connection bewteeen background investigation and psychological screening dimensions for peace officer candidates
• The overlap emphasizes the importance of the background investigation for psychological evaluation.
• Six dimensions—Integrity, Impulse Control/Attention to Safety, Substance Abuse, Stress Tolerance, Conscientiousness, and Decision-Making/Judgment—are consistent between background investigation and psychological screening.
• These dimensions enhance the measurement accuracy of character traits for peace officers and public safety dispatchers.
• Each dimension has a behaviorally based definition, description, and indicators for candidate evaluation.
• Tolerance levels for acceptability are not included and are determined by each agency
• Agencies are urged to set standards for criminal convictions, drug use, and driving history as issues arise.
• Not setting standards forces investigators to continuously seek input, slowing the process and potentially creating liability if standards are inconsistent or inappropriate.
• Investigators should avoid imposing personal beliefs when evaluating character, especially if agency standards are not defined.
• Agency standards must be job-related and consistent with business needs, while overly strict requirements can reduce the candidate pool

Background Investigation Dimensions vs Psychological Screening

• Background investigation indicators are based on past behaviors
• Psychological screening dimensions are based on displayed behaviours
• There are some similarites between the two, but the processes are different
• This interdependance helps to highlight the important peace officer and public safety dispatcher character attributes

POST Background Investigation Dimensions - Table 2.1

• Moral character

  • Integrity
    • Honesty
    • Impartiality
    • Trustworthiness
    • Protection of Confidential Information
    • Moral/Ethical Behavior
  • Impulse control/attention to safety
    • Safe driving practices
    • Attention to safety
    • Impulse/Anger control
  • Substance abuse and Other risk-taking behavior

• Handling stress and adversity

  • Stress tolerance
    • Positive attitude and even temper
    • Stress tolerance and recovery
    • Accepting responsibility for mistakes
  • Confronting and overcoming problems, obstacles, and adversity

• Work habits

  • Conscientiousness
    • Dependability/Reliability
    • Personal accountability and responsibility
    • Safeguarding and maintaining property, equipment, and belongings
    • Orderliness, thoroughness, and attention to detail
    • Initiative and drive
    • General Conscientiousness

• Interactions with others

  • Interpersonal skills
    • Social sensitivity
    • Social interest and concern
    • Tolerance
    • Social self-confidence/persuasiveness
    • Teamwork

• Intellectually-based abilities

  • Decision-making and judgement
    • Situation/Problem Analysis
    • Adherence to Policies and Regulations
    • Response Appropriateness
    • Response Assessment
  • Learning ability
  • Communication skills
    • Oral communication
    • Written communication

MORAL CHARACTER

• Involves maintaining high standards of personal conduct including honesty, impartiality, trustworthiness, and abiding by laws, regulations, and procedures.
• Includes not abusing the system for personal gain, not bending rules, not sharing confidential information, not engaging in illegal activities, being honest and impartial, not condoning unethical conduct, and being truthful in all dealings.

INDICATORS of lack of Moral Character

• Dishonesty in the hiring process
  • Deliberately misstating or misrepresenting identifying information or qualifications
  • Misleading any person involved in the pre-employment screening process by misstating, misrepresenting, or failing to completely answer question
  • Engaging in any act of deceit or deception, Lying about past mistakes or oversights
• Fraudulently reporting or other abuses/misuses of employer leave policies
• Abuses privileges and benefits of the job
• Involved in the sale or distribution of illegal drugs
• Engages in inappropriate sexual activity
• Evidence of perjury
• Falsification of official reports including statements, narratives, property documents, evidentiary documents, giving incomplete or misleading information to supervisors
• Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty
• Attempting to induce others to give false information
• Association with those who commit crimes or otherwise demonstrate unethical/ immoral behavior
• Commits illegal or immoral activities that would be offensive to contemporary community standards of propriety
• Commits crimes against employers – arson, burglary, stealing (goods, money, or services) - which would amount to a felony
• Conviction(s) of any criminal offense classified as a misdemeanor under California Law, especially as an adult
• Having an outstanding warrant of arrest at time of application for job or throughout the hiring process
• Admission of having committed any act amounting to a felony under California Law, as an adult
• Admission of any criminal act, whether misdemeanor or felony, committed against children
• Actions resulting in civil lawsuits against the candidate or their employer
• Committing acts that, had they been detected, would have resulted in prosecution and conviction and would have automatically disqualified the candidate.
• Conviction of any offense classified as a misdemeanor under California Law while employed as a peace officer
• Admission of administrative conviction of any act while employed as a peace officer, involving lying, falsification of any official report or document, or theft
• Admission of administrative conviction or criminal conviction for failure to properly report witnessed criminal conduct committed by another law enforcement officer
• Accepting or soliciting any bribe or gratuity while in a position of public trust
• Embezzlement of money, goods or services while in a position of trust

Impulse Control/Attention to Safety

• Avoiding impulsive and/or unnecessarily risky behavior to ensure the safety of oneself and others.
• Thinking before acting, taking proper precautions, keeping one’s impetuous, knee-jerk reactions in check, and behaving in conscious regard for the larger situation at hand.

INDICATORS of poor Impulse Control/Attention to Safety

• Safe Driving Practices
  • Receipt of multiple moving violations (especially for potential life-threatening acts such as reckless driving, speed contest, etc.)
  • Driver in multiple chargeable collisions. Numerous moving and non-moving violations, at-fault accidents
  • Instances of road rage, driving recklessly and/or at excessive speeds
• Attention to Safety
  • Fails to take proper precautions to minimize risks associated with hazardous activities
  • Takes unnecessary, foolish risks
  • Disregards risk to self or others
• Impulse/Anger Control
  • Overreacts when challenged or criticized
  • Unnecessarily confrontational in interactions with others
  • Reacts childishly or with anger to criticism or disappointment
  • Disciplined by any employer as an adult for fighting in the workplace
  • Admission of any act of domestic violence as an adult
  • Use of verbal or physical abuse or violence toward others
  • Violent assault upon another, including spousal battery, sexual battery, or other acts of violence
  • Admission of administrative conviction or criminal convictions for any act amounting to assault under color of authority or any other violation of federal or state civil rights laws
  • Instances of reprimands, counseling, terminations, suspensions for poor behavioral control at work

Substance Abuse and Other Risk-Taking Behavior:

• Involves engaging in behavior that is inappropriate, self-damaging, and with potential adverse impact on the agency and includes alcohol and drug abuse, domestic violence, sale of drugs and gambling.

INDICATORS of Substance Abuse and Other Risk-Taking Behavior:

• Illegal use or possession of a controlled substance while employed in any law enforcement capacity, including military police
• Drug test of the candidate, during the course of the hiring process, where illegal controlled substances are detected
• Illegal or unauthorized use of prescription medications
• Illegal use or possession of a controlled substance while a student enrolled in college-accredited courses related to the criminal justice field
• Manufacturing, cultivating, transporting, brokering, or selling any controlled substances
• Record of alcohol or drug-related incidents, including driving under the influence or such charge reduced to reckless driving, violation of open container laws or transporting open containers
• History of other problems associated with drug and/or alcohol use
• Perpetrator of domestic violence incidents
• Missed work due to alcohol use
• Alcohol use while on the job (where prohibited)
• Arriving at work intoxicated/smelling of alcohol or hung-over
• Gambling to the point of causing harm to oneself

HANDLING STRESS AND ADVERSITY

• Stress Tolerance involves maintaining composure, particularly during time-critical emergency events and other stressful situations, weathering negative events and circumstances and maintaining an even temperament and positive attitude.
• Accepting criticism without becoming overly defensive or allowing it to hamper behavior or job performance.

INDICATORS of poor Stress Tolerance include

• Attitude and Temperament
  • Worries excessively and enters into new situations with considerable apprehension
  • Overly suspicious and distrusting in dealing with others
  • Argumentative, antagonistic towards others, bully
  • Commonly behaves with hostility and anger
  • Behavior-impairing mood swings
  • Badmouths employers and others
  • Unnecessarily confrontational and aggressive
  • Disrupts/undermines authority (fails to successfully carry out directives; shows signs of contempt by eye rolling, excessive exhaling, etc.)
• Stress Tolerance and Recovery include
  • Comes “unglued,” freezes, or otherwise performs ineffectively when feeling overloaded or stressed
  • Uncontrollable reaction to verbal abuse from others
  • Reacts childishly or with anger to criticism or disappointment
  • Allows personal problems and stressors to bleed into behavior on the job
• Accepting Responsibility for Mistakes include
  • Does not accept responsibility for actions and mistakes; routinely makes excuses or blames others for own shortcomings
  • Becomes excessively defensive or otherwise overreacts when challenged or criticized
  • Minimizes the importance of past mistakes or errors
  • Refuses to accept responsibility for mistakes or improper actions
• Confronting and Overcoming Problems, Obstacles, and AdversityInvolves
• Willingness and persistence in confronting problems and personal adversity, taking control of situations, as necessary and demonstrating hustle and drive in reaching goals.

INDICATORS of poor abilities to confront and overcome include

• Displays submissiveness and insecurity when confronted with challenges, threatening situations, or difficult problems
• Fails to take action or change behavior to resolve problems or mistakes
• Multiple personal bankruptcies, having current financial obligations for which legal obligations have not been satisfied or any other flagrant history of financial instability
• Allows debts to mount and evades creditors, collection agencies, etc.
• Past due accounts, discharged debts, late payments, collection accounts, civil judgments, and/or bankruptcy
• Fails to meet obligations for example, auto insurance, auto registration, selective service registration, IRS requirements, child support obligations
• Fails to exercise fiscal responsibility commensurate with income

WORK HABITS

• Conscientiousness is about Diligent, reliable, and conscientious work patterns
• Performing in a timely, logical manner in accordance with rules, regulations, and organizational policies.

INDICATORS of poor Work Ethic Include

• Dependability/Reliability
  • Fails to meet commitments to work, school, family, volunteer, or community activities
  • Poor attendance and takes time off from work unnecessarily (e.g., on/near weekends)
  • History of being late to work, meetings, appointments
  • Misses scheduled appointment during the process without prior permission
  • Excessively long breaks, returning from lunch late, leaving work early
  • Fails to comply with instructions or orders
  • Fails to properly prepare for meetings
• Personal Accountability and Responsibility
  • Is not accountable for their performance
  • Blames others for improper actions
  • Fails to analyze prior mistakes or problems to improve performance
  • Disciplined by any employer (including military) for gross insubordination, dereliction of duty, or persistent failure to follow established policies and regulations
  • History of involuntary dismissal (for any reason other than lay-off)
  • Conducts unauthorized personal business while on duty
  • Failure to exercise fiscal responsibility commensurate with income
  • Past due accounts, discharged debts, late payments, collection accounts, civil judgments, and/or bankruptcy
  • History of flagrant financial instability, such as multiple personal bankruptcies, financial obligations for which legal judgments have not been satisfied, etc.
  • Failure to meet obligations (for example, auto insurance, auto registration, selective
  • service registration, IRS requirements, child support obligations)
• Safeguarding and Maintaining Property, Equipment, and Belongings
  • Fails to safeguard property entrusted to them
  • Fails to maintain equipment
  • Loses valuable information
• Orderliness, Thoroughness, and Attention to Detail
  • Pattern of disorganization in work, school, etc.
  • Fails to attend to details (e.g., typos, missing/incorrect information)
  • Fails to attend to all aspects of projects and activities to be sure they are completed
  • Motor vehicle collisions due to inattentiveness
  • Overlooks or misinterprets instructions on PHS and other documents
  • Fails to properly recall instructions/directions provided previously
  • Cannot properly recall pertinent/important details related to personal history
  • Problems at school, work, driving due to poor attention/vigilance
• Initiative and Drive
  • Gives up in the face of long hours or other difficult working conditions
  • Fails to keep current on new rules, procedures, etc.
  • Does not initiate proper action unless given explicit instructions
  • Fails to ensure that the job is performed correctly
  • Procrastinates
  • Watches the clock rather than attending to task accomplishment
  • Gives up or cuts corners when faced with obstacles
  • Performs job duties in a perfunctory manner, expending minimum amount of effort
• General Conscientiousness
  • Resigns without notice (except where the presence of a hostile work environment is alleged)
  • Resigns in lieu of termination (except where a hostile work environment is alleged)
  • Reprimanded or counseled for poor work performance (including military service)
  • Terminated or suspended from work (other than honorable discharge from military)
  • Released from probationary employment status except for reduction in force
  • Poor record of academic achievement

INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS

• Interpersonal Skills Involves interacting with others in a tactful and respectful manner, and showing sensitivity, concern, tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness in one’s daily interactions.

INDICATORS of poor Interpersonal skills include

• Social Sensitivity
  • Provokes others by officious bearing, gratuitous verbal challenge, or through physicalcontact
  • Antagonizes others
  • Uses profanity and other inappropriate language
  • Incidents of domestic violence, use of verbal or physical abuse, or violence toward others
  • Use of physical force to resolve disputes
  • Demonstrated overreaction to criticism
• Social Interest and Concern
  • Baits people and takes personal offense at comments, insults, or criticism
  • Evidence of inability to get along with others in work or personal life
  • Makes rude and/or condescending remarks to or about others
  • Source of customer/citizen complaints
  • Argumentative, loner, bully
• Tolerance (tact and impartiality in treating all members of society)
  • Makes hasty, biased judgments based on physical appearance, race, gender, or other group membership characteristics
  • Refuses to listen to explanations of others
  • Inability to recognize how one’s own emotions/behavior affect situations and others
  • Having been disciplined by any employer (including the military and/or any law enforcement training facility) for acts constituting racial, ethnic, or sexual harassment or discrimination
  • During the hiring/background process or having a history of uttering any epithet derogatory of another person’s race, religion, gender, national origin, or sexual orientation
  • Makes inappropriate comments to or about others regarding personal characteristics as well as derogatory comments about specific groups (racial, gender, sexual orientation, proficiency with the English language, immigrant status, HIV/AIDS infection, religion, transgender, social status)
  • Evidence of the use of derogatory stereotypes in jokes or daily language
  • Sexual harassment/hostile work environment incidents
• Social Self Confidence/Persuasiveness
  • Avoids confrontations at all costs
  • Intimidated by others
  • Minimizes or avoids interactions with others
  • Escalates situations by overreacting
  • Fails to diplomatically offer ideas or persuade others to adopt desired course of action
  • Disruptive/challenging to authority
  • Use of harassment, threats, or intimidation to gain an advantage
  • Succumbs to peer pressure
• Teamwork
  • Resents successes and accomplishments of team members
  • Does not assist or request assistance from team members
  • Alienates colleagues by dominating interactions and activities
  • Gossips, criticizes, and backstabs colleagues and coworkers
  • Fails to achieve or maintain trust with peers, supervisors, and clients

INTELLECTUALLY-BASED ABILITIES including

• Decision-Making and Judgment involving The ability to make timely, sound decisions, especially in dangerous, pressure-filled situations, and/or where information is incomplete and/or conflicting.
• Able to size up situations quickly to determine appropriate action and involves the ability to sift through information to glean that which is important and, once identified, to use that information effectively.

INDICATORS for poor decision making Include:

• Situation/Problem Analysis
  • Unable to step into a situation and figure out what probably led up to that point in time, as well as what is likely to happen as the situation unfolds
  • Tunnel vision and does not see the big picture when analyzing information
  • Fails to identify patterns and implications when analyzing information
  • Failure to consider available information or appropriate options
  • Naive, overly trusting, easily duped
  • Spends too much time on minor issues and is unable to set priorities
• Adherence to Policies and Regulations
• Failure to consider organizational policies and regulations when making decisions
  • Fails to use appropriate judgment and discretion in applying regulations and policies and cannot distinguish between the letter and the spirit of rules and laws
  • Rigid adherence to rules without consideration of alternative information and needs directives to be in black and white
• Response Appropriateness
  • Poor judgment in knowing when to confront and when to back away from potentially volatile situations
  • Overbearing approach to resolving problems
  • Escalates problems by under or over-reacting
  • Uses force when unnecessary or inappropriate
  • Indecision or poor decisions when options are not clear-cut
  • Paralyzed by uncertainty or ambiguity and insecure about making a decision
• Response Assessment
  • Unable or unwilling to make “midcourse corrections” on initial course of action when presented with new information or when circumstances change
  • Fails to apply lessons learned from past mistakes
• Learning Ability involves
• Ability to comprehend and retain a good deal of information, to recall factual information, and to apply what is learned.

INDICATORS of poor learning abilities include:

• Dismissal or probation from school, or other indication(s) of poor academic performance
• Dismissal from a POST-certified Basic Academy, and no subsequent effort to improve in the deficient areas
• Pattern of making repeated mistakes when faced with similar problems and negative situations, in and outside of learning environments
• Communication Skills
• Ability to make oneself understood, both orally and in writing.

INDICATORS of poor communications skills include:

• Oral Communication
  • Speech is difficult to understand
  • Responses to questions are rambling, confused, and/or disorganized
  • Expresses thoughts and emotions inappropriately through facial gesture and body language
  • Discussions of topics are incomplete, inappropriate, and/or filled with a lot of unnecessary/irrelevant details
  • Fails to understand both explicit and implied messages and responds accordingly
  • Does not listen well, thereby missing the point of what others are saying
• Written Communication
  • Poor grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling
  • Written communications are incomplete, disorganized, unclear, and/or inaccurate
  • Written responses to Personal History Statement items are inappropriate, incomplete, or otherwise difficult to decipher

BIAS ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (PEACE OFFICERS)

• Commission Regulation 1955 requires that an evaluation of a peace officer’s emotional and mental condition include “bias against race or ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation, that might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of a peace officer.”
• Government Code section 1031.3 requires POST to study, review, and update regulations and screening materials to identify implicit and explicit bias in peace officer candidates.
• The Bias Assessment Framework illustrates the important role that background investigation findings play in the psychological evaluation.
• The psychologist’s assessment of a peace officer candidate’s explicit and implicit bias must be informed by the candidate’s background and personal history information.
• Information to be considered involves (1) history of biased behaviors, (2) evidence of mitigating or protective factors subsequent to biased behaviors, and (3) indicators of traits or attributes that may aggravate/facilitate or mitigate/protect against discriminatory behavior. The psychological evaluator relies on background information to assess the candidate and determine their overall suitability for peace officer employment. Relevant areas to the background investigation includes biased behaviors and bias-relevant traits and attributes. These are to assist with identifying behaviors and traits/attributes that can be either aggravating/facilitative or mitigating/protective. Aggravating/facilitative factors (e.g., negative behaviors) increase the potential for biases being expressed in behaviorally discriminatory ways. Mitigating/protective factors (e.g., positive behaviors) shown to decrease the behavioral expression of bias in some contexts. When conducting interviews and gathering personal history information, considering both factors is important. If there’s a history of biased behavior, providing evidence/mitigating factors behavior is important.

Bias Assessment Framework Table 2.2

• Targeted Construct - Biased Behaviors:

  • Background and Personal History:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: History of biased behaviors.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Evidence of mitigating or protective factors subsequent to biased behavior.
  • Written Instruments:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Responses to a written self-report questionnaire pertaining to a history of biased behavior.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Not directly assessed.
  • Psychological Interview:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Interview questions pertaining to a history of biased behaviors.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Interview questions pertaining to behaviors contrary to bias or that mitigate a history of biased behaviors.

• Targeted Construct - Biased Attitudes:

  • Background and Personal History:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Not directly assessed.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Not directly assessed.
  • Written Instruments:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Published measures of biased attitudes are available but have not been validated for use in personnel selection and may be useful in the context of the psychological interview.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Published measures of biased attitudes are available but have not been validated for use in personnel selection and may be useful in the context of the psychological interview.
  • Psychological Interview:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Interview-based assessment of biased attitudes.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Interview-based assessment of attitudes in opposition to the targeted bias.

• Targeted Construct - Bias-Relevant Traits & Attributes:

  • Background and Personal History:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Indicators of aggravating or facilitative traits or attributes.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Indicators of mitigating or protective traits or attributes.
  • Written Instruments:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Indicators of aggravating or facilitative traits or attributes.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Indicators of mitigating or protective traits or attributes.
  • Psychological Interview:
    • Aggravating or Facilitative: Indicators of aggravating or facilitative traits or attributes.
    • Mitigating or Protective: Indicators of mitigating or protective traits or attributes.

Non-exhaustive List of Biased Behaviors - Table 2.3A

• Examples of Aggravating or Facilitative Factors:

  • Use of slurs or epithets
  • Acts of violence, harassment, or discrimination
  • History of disciplinary actions, reprimands, or other formal consequences
  • Statements, postings on social media sites or in forums, and other behaviors indicating bias
  • Affiliation and engagement with a hate group
  • Voluntary and ongoing association with persons who hold membership in a hate group

• Examples of Mitigating or Protective Factors:

  • Evidence that the candidate made a prompt, good-faith effort to make restitution
  • Evidence that the offense is so minor, or so much time has passed, or it happened under such unique conditions that it is unlikely to reflect a stable bias
  • Evidence that the candidate has matured or rehabilitated
  • The information, evidence or report was from a questionably reliable source
  • In the case of voluntary and ongoing association with persons who openly espouse bias, mitigating evidence may be that the association is warranted by one or more important social, familial or occupational ties and the candidate does not share the bias

Table 2.3b

Non-exhaustive List of Bias-Relevant Traits and Attributes

• Examples of Aggravating or Facilitative (Negative) Factors
  • Trait cynicism (opinions conveying a highly negative view of human nature)
  • Misanthropy (perceptions of others as hostile and threatening, general suspiciousness, and cynicism regarding the motives of others)
  • Disinhibited or antagonizing externalizing tendencies (Examples: impulsivity, disconstraint, antisocial behavior.)
  • Interpersonal intolerance (Examples: rigidity, closedmindedness, antipathy, or unreflective responding toward a group or its members.)
  • Low empathy (particularly vis-à-vis persons outside one's own identity group) and other personality traits and symptoms shown in the police literature to be associated with post-hire counterproductive behavior involving mistreatment of others
• Examples of Mitigating or Protective (Positive) Factors
  • High theory of mind (the ability to recognize and anticipate others' intentions, beliefs and desires)
  • High cognitive or executive control (the capacity to constrain thought processes and behavior to reach goal-relevant ends, resulting from processes including planning and monitoring behavior; coordinating behavior in complex, novel, or ambiguous situations; selectively activating information that facilitates one's goals while actively inhibiting information that interferes; and overriding impulsive or automatic responses when they clash with goals)
  • Favorable or neutral experience(s) with members of other groups (intergroup contact)
  • Motivations to respond without prejudice
  • Perspective taking (actively contemplating others' psychological experiences, particularly among persons outside one's own identity group)
  • Accountability to social norms (the implicit or explicit expectation that one may be called on to justify one's beliefs, feelings, and actions to others)

• The background investigator should gather facts, supported by evidence to verify good moral character and the absence of unsuitability to perform duties as a peace officer/public safety dispatcher, and to provide relevant background and personal history
• For peace officer candidates, the information mus tbe provided to the screening psychologist, including documentation of potential biases Commission Regulation 1955.
• A vital source of information about a candidate can be gathered from third-party sources (e.g., personal references).
• The Background InvestigationDimensions also provide a resource for identifying behaviors directly relevant to the Bias Assessment Framework
• For example, InterpersonalSkills (Dimension 7) identifies relevant mitigating or protective factors (i.e., positive behaviors) such as social concern, social sensitivity and tolerance
• The Background InvestigationDimensions serves as points of focus for the background investigation itself, as well as issues to be considered when preparing the final report.
• The report must include those that are relevant based on the candidate’s personal history and also any findings of biases and any evidence of positive behaviors that may mitigate potential biases included
• It is imperative that all relevant findings and supporting documentation be included in the background investigation report.
• Findings from a comprehensive background investigation allow the hiring authority and those conducting the evaluations to rely less on the candidate’s self-reported history, which may be inaccurate

HIRING CONSIDERATIONS

• Making case-by-case judgments based on the specific facts presented by each candidate’s background is necessary.
• Rarely is one fact a sufficient basis for disqualifying an individual; it is generally necessary to investigate the circumstances surrounding each fact to determine the candidate’s suitability,
• Factors to consider include:
  • The patterns of past behavior and specific combinations of fact and circumstances
  • The consequences if past undesirable behavior occurs again or becomes generally known
  • The likelihood of recurrence of the undesirable behavior
  • The relevance of the past behavior to the job demands and requirements
  • The length of time between the particular undesirable act and the application for employment, with consideration given to the intervening behavior of the candidate
  • Positive attributes and/or behaviors that may mitigate past behaviors
  • The legal rights of the candidate