How to Facilitate the Cheating Process

On January 30, 2020, thirty Georgia State troopers were dismissed from the department after investigations proved that they had cheated on an online examination for the speed detection operation component of the Trooper School curriculum, which was a must pass. The cheating allegations were made on October 8, 2019. The initial complaint came from a citizen who had a relationship with a former cadet. The citizen revealed that the cadet in question had given his password to a citizen to take the exam for him. The Office of Professional Standards for the Department of Public Safety opened investigations on October 15 and eventually found the allegations to be true. Professional standard investigators interviewed two of the thirty-three troopers on October 15, while the rest were interviewed between October 25 and November 13. The two troopers interviewed first corroborated the accusations and volunteered other troopers who had cheated on the examination (11Alive, 2020b). Each cadet disclosed they had cheated and described the methods they used. The first allegation was that all cadets in the 106 th trooper school had cheated on the online examinations. Secondly, a cadet helped other cadets with their online examination. The third allegation stated that three cadets had assisted another cadet in passing his examination. Lastly, a training instructor printed a written makeup exam and allowed two cadets who had failed the exam to take it to their dorms and return it the following morning. All cadets entering the school had signed a DPS form and acknowledged the rules and conducts of cadets, which included academic integrity (11Alive, 2020b). They all violated the DPS code of conduct policy by using written or typed notes, receiving direct assistance from another cadet on test answers, utilizing test answers posted on a social media platform, queried an internet search engine, and using two snap chat groups that were used to facilitate the cheating. The thirty-three former state troopers involved in the cheating scandal cost Georgia taxpayers nearly 2 million dollars. More than 1.8 million dollars had been used to send the thirty-three troopers through trooper school, translating to more than fifty-five thousand dollars per trooper. The stated costs included salaries, ammo, fuel, rooms, meals, software costs, and supplies, such as three types of uniforms. The estimated financial cost did not include patrol cars, radios, and laptops. Moreover, additional costs to perform investigations and replace the terminated troopers were not included in the estimated $2 million (11Alive, 2020a). The cheating scandal might have happened due to the rotten-apple argument, where one cadet who was deviant before hiring negatively influenced the others. Another reason for the scandal could be poor supervision during examinations. Additionally, the cadets might have been pressured to survive since the examination was a must pass (“Chapter 7”). If I were the commissioner, I would have instructed the officers to retake the examination under close supervision. Retaking the exam would have saved costs and taught the officers a lesson. If a criminal justice professor were to find out that the students in one of the online criminal justice courses were cheating on quizzes or tests by using the book or collaborating with others on answers, the professor's best course of action would be failing the students for the course. Failing the course would act as a deterrence for these students and others. Additionally, the students should also receive an academic warning that would be considered if they were caught up in another cheating situation. However, their conduct should not be documented for consideration by prospective criminal justice employers since that would be overly punitive. 

References 

11Alive. (2020a, February 1). Georgia State Patrol cheating scandal cost state nearly $2 million, agency says [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=g1adaawDUWA 

11Alive. (2020b, January 30). Georgia State Patrol dismissed 30 troopers in Trooper School cheating scandal [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ZCPWyzlG9zA 

Chapter 7: Police corruption and responses [PowerPoint slides].