Two members of the D.C. Council said Wednesday the District must conduct criminal background checks for building officials who have law enforcement powers.
The issue came up after an Examiner investigation found a top inspector who’s under investigation by the FBI once had spent four years in federal prison on cocaine and weapons convictions. The report also found that the District doesn’t conduct criminal checks on its inspectors even though they carry law enforcement badges and can shut down construction projects and have homebuilders arrested for violating their orders.
“This is an obvious problem,” said D.C. Councilman Jim Graham.
Graham said he believes that residents convicted of crimes “shouldn’t be branded with a scarlet letter,” but the District should be aware of the criminal histories of employees who have law enforcement responsibilities.
Graham said he would seek to require background checks for city inspectors.
“Let’s put this into place,” he said.
A permanent requirement of criminal background checks needs the approval of the D.C. Council and Congress, said Michael Rupert, spokesman for the D.C. Office of Personnel.
Councilmember Mary Che, the new chairwoman of the consumer affairs committee, said there’s always the danger that regulators or inspectors might take advantage of their positions, but she has not decided whether criminal background checks for inspectors would eliminate that danger.
Juan Scott, acting chief of the D.C. illegal construction enforcement unit, had been convicted 13 years before he was hired at the DCRA in 1999. Scott had been on parole for a previous cocaine and weapons charges in 1986 when he was arrested by D.C. police after they said they recovered about $100,000 worth of cocaine, $1,200 in cash and a weapons arsenal, including 17 rifles, 400 rounds of ammunition and a live hand grenade.
