Multi-state review of 5,070 candidates uncovers red flags concerning authority, professional limits, and hesitance to report wrongdoing
About one in six of these applicants already believes it is fine to look the other way on a small offense when they like an inmate. Risk shows up in attitudes long before it ever shows up in a record.— Tony Paixão, Vice President of Investigative Platforms at VerensicsATLANTA, GA, UNITED STATES, September 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Verensics has published Behavioral Trends in Correctional Officer Applicants, an examination of pre-employment screening information gathered from 5,070 correctional officer hopefuls across several state corrections agencies. The study encompasses 705,846 questionnaire answers addressing viewpoints on misuse of authority, improper relationships, and gang ties. The report compares the 2026 data with Verensics benchmarks from 2023 through 2025.
Roughly one in seven candidates (13.9%) were placed in the company’s High or Critical behavioral-risk tiers. These findings provide corrections hiring teams with documented evidence for targeted follow-up and better-informed employment decisions.
Abuse of Authority. Nearly one in five candidates (19.4%) indicated that senior officers could assign personal chores to lower-ranking officers. Four percent, or 202 individuals, considered it acceptable for a senior officer to exchange a position for sexual favors, up from 3.4% in 2023. Additionally, 15.5% believed employees ought to carry out a supervisor’s orders even when those directives break the rules.
Inappropriate Relationships. Almost one in six candidates (16.1%) thought it better to overlook minor transgressions by an inmate they favor, roughly three times the 5.4% recorded in 2023. Moreover, 2.3% found it acceptable to receive personal favors from an inmate, 1.1% considered it acceptable to bring in contraband or smuggle items, and 5.2% would not report a romantic involvement between a senior officer and a subordinate.
Gang Affiliation. Reluctance to report gang connections more than doubled year over year, moving from 0.8% in 2025 to 2.0% in 2026. When asked about answering gang-related questions truthfully, 4.5% of candidates replied they would not. Separately, 7.1% reported friends or family previously linked to a gang, and 4.6% reported friends or family currently involved.
The report groups indicators into three phases: past involvement, current attitude, and future reporting reluctance. The results demonstrate why agencies may benefit from evaluating candidates’ mindsets and rationalizations rather than depending solely on documented prior behavior. In corrections, character must be verified, not assumed.
Risk indicators also overlap. More than a quarter of applicants (27.7%) triggered at least one risk signal in both abuse of authority and inappropriate relationships, while 7.8% triggered signals across all three categories. Candidates with elevated risk in these core areas were roughly four times more likely to show honesty, integrity, and turnover concerns, and four to five times more likely to display substance-use and workplace-violence risk signals.
“A clean record doesn’t tell you what a candidate thinks is acceptable,” said Tony Paixão, CFI, CFE, Vice President of Investigative Platforms at Verensics. “About one in six of these applicants already believes it is fine to look the other way on a small offense when they like an inmate. Risk shows up in attitudes long before it ever shows up in a record.”
Paixão presented the findings on August 17, 2026 at the Southern States Correctional Association conference in Savannah, Georgia.
Methodology. The report analyzes aggregate pre-employment questionnaire data from 5,070 correctional officer candidates who completed the Verensics screening questionnaire in early 2026 and compares 2026 findings with Verensics benchmarks from 2023 through 2025. The results describe the applicant population analyzed and should be considered alongside interviews, background checks, reference checks, and other hiring information.
About Verensics. Verensics delivers AI-driven adaptive questionnaires, which modify follow-up questions in real time, for pre-employment screening, insider threat programs, and workplace investigations. Its platform helps organizations collect and document self-disclosed behavioral information, pinpoint areas for follow-up, and sustain an auditable review process.
Russell Law
Verensics
+1 404-771-3966
rlaw@verensics.com
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