There are new calls for Boston City Hall to take a close look at its hiring policies, specifically when it comes to background checks — after issues with two city workers involving criminal records.
The main question is whether the city should conduct a criminal background check for every single person it hires. The city’s Labor, Workforce and Economic Development Committee held a hearing Monday, with the city’s Chief of People Officer addressing the issue.
“There are some positions at the City of Boston which require interacting with vulnerable populations, other positions which are designated to interact directly with the public in unsupervised ways,” Alex Lawrence said during the hearing. “So generally, those are the two kinds of high level categories that might determine whether or not we run a criminal background check.”
Lawrence went on to say that no matter the department, they can’t necessarily enact a blanket policy for criminally checking every hire, because everyone has due process rights and the city must also protect itself from litigation.
This question is today being brought up because in the past year, the city has had to fire two people over criminal record issues, according to The Boston Globe.
One of those workers was a 37-year-old Level Three sex offender who worked in Parks and Recreation and had two convictions of indecent assault and battery of a child under 14 years old more than 10 years ago. The Globe reported that this person was fired after the Boston Herald published a story on their background.
The other was a 25-year-old man who was caught with a loaded gun that was equipped with a switch during a traffic stop, while not having a license to carry, tee Globe reported.
The hearing provided an opportunity for a discussion — it’s uncertain if any new rules or policies will be implemented.
Lawrence said that they will be closely examining the city’s job descriptions to make sure someone with a serious criminal record does not work with the public in any capacity.
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