A very distressing report released Monday revealed that 47 Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies were removed from service on Friday, Sept. 23. Since the agency has roughly 1,000 active officers, this means that nearly 5% of the active police force suddenly did not have law enforcement powers. The former officers’ firearms and badges were taken from them. They will retain their benefits and salary as they are officially on “restricted desk duties.” KTVU reported that this seemingly sudden move was the result of failed psychological exams the deputies had taken—dating back to 2016.
A letter obtained by the media outlet that was sent to those put on leave showed that these deputies received a “Not Suited” classification to serve as a peace officer in California as a result of their tests. The fact is that 2022 minus 2016 equals six years; the reason that these psychological exams were finally “audited” is a clear result of the double homicide that rocked the department earlier this month. On Sept. 7, 42-year-old Maria Tran, a psychiatric nurse, and her 57-year-old husband Benison Tran were shot and killed at their Dublin, California, home. The main suspect, who has been arrested and charged, is 24-year-old sheriff's deputy Devin Williams Jr.
The initial reports painted these shocking murders as an act of passion, saying that Williams had been having an affair with Maria Tran, who had subsequently broken off the short relationship. The Alameda County Sheriff’s office told reporters on Sept. 7 that Williams’ record was “immaculate,” saying there were no red flags or warning signs leading up to this tragic event. It turns out that Williams is one of the officers who received a “Not Suited” test score.
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The Sacramento Bee reports that the sheriff’s office said the six-year-long delay is a result of overlooking “a 2016 rule change disqualifying deputies who would previously have passed their psychological exams.” At the time, Alameda County Sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly specifically said: “We looked into the files. We began to see that the rules had changed. The scores that we thought were passing (state standards) were just below passing, and as a result of that, the people that we employed would not qualify with their psychological exams to be peace officers.”
According to Kelly, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training greenlit written and verbal messages in 2016 to hire people who received a score of “D-Not Suited” on a scale of “A” to “F.” The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training says it is looking into the “situation.”
Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods told SFGate that his office was not informed of this turn of events in regards to 47 deputies placed on leave. He found out when reporters called him up to get his opinion on the matter. "If these deputies were not fit for duty, then how can we trust them to investigate our clients and testify against them in court? How can we trust them to treat people properly at the jail? This revelation could compromise hundreds of cases — closed and pending. Unfortunately, we will not know how bad it is until we get more information from the Sheriff and the District Attorney’s Office," Woods said.
In the letter, Sheriff Gregory Ahern said he hoped to "resolve this issue as quickly as possible" and hoped to do so by scheduling new psychological examinations. Lt. Ray Kelly told reporters that the new testing would take place over the next “couple months.” He didn’t speak to the fact that of the 47 deputies who failed the test, 30 work at Santa Rita Jail. Santa Rita jail, according to KTVU, has had 59 “in-custody deaths since 2014.”
Kelly also went on to say something very strange in defense of these in-limbo deputies: "I know that people are going to assume that all these deputies are killers. But that's not true. This test tries to find out if you are psychologically suitable for the job, to handle all the horrible things we see. At the age of 22, sometimes you're not. I know this isn't good. But it's not as bad as it sounds."
Actually, that is exactly as bad as it sounds. Kelly’s defense is that the psychological test that they give to prospective recruits at the hiring age of 22 means there’s a good chance you are going to fail, but somehow still get hired because “all these deputies” aren’t “killers.” It’s a meaningless thing to say. Unless, of course, you don’t believe in having a psychological evaluation for police officers. But then again, Lt. Kelly had to talk with the press about a fortnight ago about how one such young deputy is suspected of murdering two people.
Kelly went on to explain to KRON4 that “Young people, fresh out of college with very little life experience, very little work experience, tend to not do as well on the psychological exams as people with more life experience. It’s based on your emotional intelligence and a bunch of other factors.” But his explanation was in comparison to taking an “SAT test” or an “IQ” test. Which, frankly, is the whole point. If you could easily game the test, then the test would be useless, wouldn’t it?
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A letter obtained by the media outlet that was sent to those put on leave showed that these deputies received a “Not Suited” classification to serve as a peace officer in California as a result of their tests. The fact is that 2022 minus 2016 equals six years; the reason that these psychological exams were finally “audited” is a clear result of the double homicide that rocked the department earlier this month. On Sept. 7, 42-year-old Maria Tran, a psychiatric nurse, and her 57-year-old husband Benison Tran were shot and killed at their Dublin, California, home. The main suspect, who has been arrested and charged, is 24-year-old sheriff's deputy Devin Williams Jr.
The initial reports painted these shocking murders as an act of passion, saying that Williams had been having an affair with Maria Tran, who had subsequently broken off the short relationship. The Alameda County Sheriff’s office told reporters on Sept. 7 that Williams’ record was “immaculate,” saying there were no red flags or warning signs leading up to this tragic event. It turns out that Williams is one of the officers who received a “Not Suited” test score.
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The Sacramento Bee reports that the sheriff’s office said the six-year-long delay is a result of overlooking “a 2016 rule change disqualifying deputies who would previously have passed their psychological exams.” At the time, Alameda County Sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly specifically said: “We looked into the files. We began to see that the rules had changed. The scores that we thought were passing (state standards) were just below passing, and as a result of that, the people that we employed would not qualify with their psychological exams to be peace officers.”
According to Kelly, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training greenlit written and verbal messages in 2016 to hire people who received a score of “D-Not Suited” on a scale of “A” to “F.” The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training says it is looking into the “situation.”
Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendon Woods told SFGate that his office was not informed of this turn of events in regards to 47 deputies placed on leave. He found out when reporters called him up to get his opinion on the matter. "If these deputies were not fit for duty, then how can we trust them to investigate our clients and testify against them in court? How can we trust them to treat people properly at the jail? This revelation could compromise hundreds of cases — closed and pending. Unfortunately, we will not know how bad it is until we get more information from the Sheriff and the District Attorney’s Office," Woods said.
In the letter, Sheriff Gregory Ahern said he hoped to "resolve this issue as quickly as possible" and hoped to do so by scheduling new psychological examinations. Lt. Ray Kelly told reporters that the new testing would take place over the next “couple months.” He didn’t speak to the fact that of the 47 deputies who failed the test, 30 work at Santa Rita Jail. Santa Rita jail, according to KTVU, has had 59 “in-custody deaths since 2014.”
Kelly also went on to say something very strange in defense of these in-limbo deputies: "I know that people are going to assume that all these deputies are killers. But that's not true. This test tries to find out if you are psychologically suitable for the job, to handle all the horrible things we see. At the age of 22, sometimes you're not. I know this isn't good. But it's not as bad as it sounds."
Actually, that is exactly as bad as it sounds. Kelly’s defense is that the psychological test that they give to prospective recruits at the hiring age of 22 means there’s a good chance you are going to fail, but somehow still get hired because “all these deputies” aren’t “killers.” It’s a meaningless thing to say. Unless, of course, you don’t believe in having a psychological evaluation for police officers. But then again, Lt. Kelly had to talk with the press about a fortnight ago about how one such young deputy is suspected of murdering two people.
Kelly went on to explain to KRON4 that “Young people, fresh out of college with very little life experience, very little work experience, tend to not do as well on the psychological exams as people with more life experience. It’s based on your emotional intelligence and a bunch of other factors.” But his explanation was in comparison to taking an “SAT test” or an “IQ” test. Which, frankly, is the whole point. If you could easily game the test, then the test would be useless, wouldn’t it?
There is no more effective way for you to help turn out infrequent but Democratic-leaning voters in key congressional districts and Senate swing states this year than Vote Forward. Sign up to write personalized letters to targeted voters from the comfort of your home, on your own schedule, using a statistically proven method and without ever having to talk to anyone at all.
Good judges are more important now than ever. In some states, judges are on the ballot this November. Tune in to The Downballot to listen to Justice Richard Bernstein talk about what being on the Michigan Supreme Court has been like, and how his re-election campaign is shaping up.
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