Police officers deserve society's support and gratitude. They, and the law-abiding citizens they "protect and serve," also deserve an effective system for weeding out, then keeping out, the small percentage of unworthy officers who violate the public trust and undermine society's confidence in law enforcement. Toward that end, the governor and other state leaders are properly moving toward new safeguards for hiring law enforcement officers in the wake of The Post and Courier's series on shortcomings in the system statewide.

The series, "Tarnished badges," revealed how troubled officers can move from one police department to another because of inadequacies in tracking and reporting their records.

In some instances, those records include offenses that should preclude their service as policemen, sheriff's deputies or security officers for state agencies. Psychological fitness also is an obvious requirement for the rigors and responsibilities of police work.

Gov. Mark Sanford on Monday called for a meeting of law enforcement leaders to discuss how problem officers can be weeded out of the system. Key to that effort will be more state support for the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy, which has the responsibility for overseeing standards for law enforcement officials. The academy's work has been severely hampered by budget cuts and, in some cases, a lack of cooperation by local police officials.

One immediate correction should be to restore psychological screening for all officers who want to enter the profession. As Mauldin Police Chief John Davidson told our reporters, Glenn Smith and Ron Menchaca, those tests have helped his department identify "gross psychological abnormalities" among applicants.

Since screening was suspended in 2003, more than 1,000 officers have joined law enforcement agencies in the state. In view of Chief Davidson's remarks, that's hardly a reassuring thought.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said Tuesday during a weekly press conference sponsored by ETV and the S.C. Press Association that she is hopeful the screening process can be resumed and funds included in this year's budget. Testing funds and other budget support for the Criminal Justice Academy were cut during the state's recent economic downturn, which resulted in declining revenues to the state.

Additionally, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said he will back more funds to improve the academy's record-keeping on problem officers, necessary to warn police agencies when they apply for jobs. The academy, which has seen its staff reduced by half, should be restored to full strength and given the additional support of field investigators to help determine whether officers with troubled careers should be allowed to retain their police powers.

Meanwhile, local law enforcement agencies should tighten their personnel and professional standards. They should improve background investigations and generally work toward a dependable system of identifying problem officers and notifying their counterparts across the state.

Small-town departments shouldn't accept troubled applicants who have been booted out of other departments simply because they are willing to work for less. Elected county and city councils should support law enforcement budgets that will enable local jurisdictions to hire officers who meet adequate standards of behavior and competency.

Sheriffs and police chiefs should give more than lip service to the state system that is designed to eliminate the repeated employment of unfit officers. The electorate should hold sheriffs accountable at the polls when inadequate employment policies create problems for public safety.

Once a better system is in place, law enforcement agencies should conform with it. As our report noted, there have been instances where officers have been hired without a review of the record or where the record fails to reflect past problems. "Tarnished badges" documented that officers who have problems in one department often have the same problems in another. Those can be as simple as insubordination and as serious as assaulting suspects. Both public safety and police agencies suffer.

As North Charleston Police Chief Jon Zumalt observed: "If an officer does something wrong, whether it's in California or South Carolina, it has a direct reflection on every officer in the United States. We have to guard the profession."

It may be too much to expect police officers to be paragons of virtue, but they should meet meaningful professional standards and demonstrate the temperament to handle the responsibility and authority inherent in their jobs.

"Tarnished badges" documented how some agencies and individuals have failed to achieve that standard. The governor's law enforcement summit is a good place to start fixing the system.