State Senate votes to require police to save personnel records

LANSING  (AP) — The Michigan Senate has passed legislation designed to ensure a police officer's bad behavior is not hidden if the officer resigns and takes a new job elsewhere.

The bill approved unanimously Thursday next goes to the House for consideration.

The measure would require law enforcement agencies to keep records of the reasons for and circumstances surrounding an officer's separation from employment.

Officers would have to sign a waiver allowing a prospective employer to contact their former employer, and the prospective employer could not hire the officer without first receiving the personnel records.

Republican Sen. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge said he introduced the bill after an Eaton County sheriff's deputy who was accused of making an abusive arrest resigned and got a similar job in Lenawee County.