When I was a police administrative sergeant and part of my duties was recruitment, background investigations, and hiring. The Chief gave me broad discretion in hiring decisions and trusted my judgment

When I was a police administrative sergeant and part of my duties was recruitment, background investigations, and hiring. The Chief gave me broad discretion in hiring decisions and trusted my judgment. I had an applicant who was an experienced police officer. While conducting his background investigation, found that he had been arrested twice for assault. One assault being a Class A Misdemeanor and the other being a Class B Misdemeanor. I rejected this applicant. I thought that his propensity for resorting to violence would make him a liability to the department. He reapplied, and I shot his application down a second time.
A few weeks later, I was called into the Chief’s office. He told me that he was receiving a lot of political pressure to hire the applicant whom I had twice rejected. I explained my reasons for rejecting the candidate. The Chief said, “I understand that, but I am getting a lot of pressure to hire him, so I am asking if you will sign off on him so we can hire him”.
What would be YOUR response to the Chief? Describe what factors you would have to take into consideration before responding to the Chief’s request.