The state is reviewing decisions granting police powers to about 15 law enforcement officers in response to an investigation by The Post and Courier that identified failures in the state's screening process.

The newspaper's series, "Tarnished Badges," chronicled how troubled cops remain in law enforcement, despite histories of professional misconduct and criminal behavior.

William Neill, director of the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, confirmed Friday that his office is revisiting the cases to determine whether agency staff made the right call in allowing the officers to remain in the profession.

"What we did is, we went through the articles and identified the names that y'all wrote about," Neill said.

The reviews, which will be vetted by state lawyers, could result in the academy overturning some of its earlier rulings, he said. The list of officers was still being finalized Friday and it was unclear exactly which cases the academy intends to look at again.

The academy, a division of the Department of Public Safety, is responsible for training and tracking some 14,000 law enforcement officers across the state. If an officer commits a crime or is forced out of a law enforcement job for misconduct, the academy can review the officer's employment history to determine whether he should continue to carry a badge and gun in South Carolina.

Since 2002, three out of every four officers whose conduct was called into question were approved to take new law enforcement jobs, despite histories of drug violations, domestic violence charges and multiple firings from other departments, the newspaper's investigation found.

Chuck Canterbury, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, applauded the academy's efforts to ensure that its decisions are sound. "As a police labor organization, we don't want bad apples in law enforcement," said Canterbury, who worked for 26 years at police agencies in Horry County.

But Canterbury expressed concern that the state's appeal mechanism for accused police officers lacks due process.

In some states, appeals are handled by review boards in a public setting and officers are allowed representation by an attorney. Those boards often consist of active law enforcement officers.

In South Carolina, appeals are handled by state officials behind closed doors.

Canterbury said he'd like to see the state formalize its appeal process. If the academy overturns any of its earlier rulings, those officers should be afforded every opportunity to fight for their jobs, he said.

Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt said it is "probably a good idea" for the academy to conduct its own investigation and reassess certain officers.

One officer mentioned in the newspaper's series was Roudro Gourdine, who was hired as a Berkeley County sheriff's deputy last year, despite two allegations that he used excessive force on suspects in his custody at other departments.

"If (the academy) should investigate any officer employed by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office and deem it necessary to pull that officer's certification, quite naturally the officer will not be employed with us any longer," he said.

Roger L. Goldman, a law professor at St. Louis University who has studied states' police disciplinary systems for 25 years, said South Carolina's decision to backtrack on earlier decisions suggests it doesn't have confidence in its own system.

"Maybe the lesson here is you should just get it right the first time," Goldman said. "But I think it's better late than never."

The newspaper detailed how the academy was sometimes unaware of potentially career-ending problems for officers it was supposed to be monitoring.

Former Santee police Officer Brian Brown faces a reckless homicide charge in connection with an October 2002 car accident that killed a Bowman man and critically injured the man's wife. The academy knew nothing about the crash or the criminal charges until The Post and Courier inquired about the case in January.

Brown, now a Bonneau police officer, is on leave while he prepares for his trial, which could begin as early as next month. He said it won't bother him if the academy decides to reconsider his eligibility to work in law enforcement.

"I'm at peace with myself. I know I've done nothing wrong," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, the academy can do what it wants to do. I couldn't care less."