Individual accessing results on their own background check
Q: When applying as a police officer, I was told I failed my background, but I when I asked what I failed, I was refused an answer. Each department has stated the same, so how do I make them tell me, since I can\’t get ahead or take care of any problem if I don’t know what it is.
A: As you likely are aware of, California Government Code section 1031(d) provides that “peace officers” shall “[b]e of good moral character, as determined by a thorough background investigation.” Section 1031.1 of the Government Code sets out the requirements facilitating this background investigation. In connection with conducting this investigation, law enforcement agencies often times require that the applicant waive any right they might have to review background investigation materials in order to encourage informants to come forward with information on the applicant. See County of Riverside v. Superior Court of Riverside, 27 Cal. 4th 793, 798-99 (2002) (“The law contemplates that new applicants be subject to the background investigation before they are hired, and to encourage candor from informants, employers … routinely ask applicants to waive any right they might have to review background investigation materials. Prospective employers may also make express assurances of confidentiality to informants….”).
Thus, if in connection with your application you have waived your right to review any materials from the agency’s investigative file, the agency is likely within its rights to deny you the information you seek. County of Riverside, 27 Cal. 4th at 799 (acknowledging that an applicant would have no right to view documents in the background investigation file after applicant signed waiver).
Although it is not clear from your submission whether you waived your right to this information, you might want to review your application materials (if you kept a copy of them) to verify whether a waiver was made. In addition, in your next communication with the law enforcement agencies you might also want to ask them for the legal authority on which they base their denial. That might enable you to evaluate whether the denial is lawful.