Course Description

Your greatest asset and your greatest liability are the people that represent your agency every day.  As agencies face a difficult recruiting environment, increased turnover, and calls to re-evaluate hiring criteria to cast a wider net in recruiting efforts, the risk of negligent hiring is a serious one.  This is a crucial time for law enforcement leaders to re-evaluate their hiring practices to ensure that they are doing everything within their power to address the legal, ethical, and public safety risks associated with hiring “warm bodies” in spite of discoverable red flags as it pertains to applicants’ character and ability.

In this two-hour webinar, Attorney Matt Dolan will review the sources of liability incurred by law enforcement agencies when making hiring decisions based on background investigations, academy performance, and conduct during the field training program.  

Topics covered will include:

  • Going beyond automatic disqualifiers in background investigations
  • Due diligence in an era of free agency and lateral hires 
  • The dangers associated with politically motivated hiring
  • Ethical and public safety implications of “cutting corners” in the hiring process

Instructor

Director, Dolan Consulting Group

| Attorney Matt Dolan

Matt Dolan is a licensed attorney in the State of Illinois, who specializes in training and advising public safety agencies in matters of labor and employment law. His practice experience focuses on employment discrimination claims brought under federal law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"). He received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from DePaul University and his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Matt serves as a public safety instructor with Dolan Consulting Group. He has trained and advised thousands of public safety professionals throughout the United States in matters of legal liability related to personnel management.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Before You Start

    • Consent Questions

  • 2

    Webinar

    • Negligent Hiring Liability for Law Enforcement | Hour 1

    • Negligent Hiring Liability for Law Enforcement | Hour 2