Administrative Leave
There was a post a little while ago about two TSA agents being put on administrative leave for a racist display.
One comment observed that administrative leave is, in effect, a paid vacation.
It is hard to fire government employees - I imagine this is the case at all levels, local, state, and federal - and so there's that administrative leave thing.
That got me thinking.
How many times a week do we read that this agent or that, this cop or the other, has been placed on administrative leave. And then the story falls down the memory hole.
Wouldn't it be nice if some kind citizen would keep track of administrative leave actions. What happens after administrative leave? My guess? Slaps on the wrist and return to work. Sure, some people have undertaken more or less heinous actions and move from administrative leave to criminal charges. Or from leave to termination. And then what? On to another police force or government agency? My preference? A national database of law enforcement officers (of all kinds, in all agencies) placed on administrative leave, a db that is consulted when people apply for law enforcement jobs. And a commitment not to employ people who show up on this db. I know. Yeah, right. In most cases, being placed on administrative leave for questionable behavior is a checkmark in the plus column for law enforcement officers.