Symon Gooding had been on the fast track at the Department of Juvenile Justice, having been promoted twice in as many years. With her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice — and credits toward a master’s in public administration — she seemed precisely the type of person administrators were looking for. They called her an agency “treasure.”
But in her upward climb in law enforcement, Gooding applied for a higher-paying job at the Miami Gardens Police Department that required a polygraph test.