HALL, Chief Justice:
Plaintiff J.H. appeals from an order of the Third Judicial District Court of Utah granting summary judgment to defendants West Valley City and West Valley City Police Department (“West Valley”) and dismissing J.H.’s claims against those parties. We affirm.
J.H. filed claims against West Valley and defendant Jene V. Lyday for alleged injuries arising from sexual abuse that Lyday committed upon J.H. in April of 1986. Lyday was employed as a police officer by West Valley City Police Department at the time of the abuse. J.H. filed claims against West Valley for violation of his civil rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 based upon the City’s “deliberate indifference” toward the rights of J.H. and the other citizens of West Valley City, for liability under the theory of respondeat superior, for negligence in hiring Lyday and later installing him as advisor to a law enforcement explorer post organized by the City, and for negligently placing Lyday in a position of trust and authority without adequate supervision. West Valley filed a motion for summary judgment, which was heard on October 30, 1989. The trial court granted the motion on the grounds that J.H. had failed to state a prima facie case against West Valley under any of his theories of recovery, that there was no genuine issue of material fact, and that West Valley was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Because the summary judgment did not dispose of pending claims against Ly-day, the trial court certified the disposition for appeal under rule 54(b) of the Utah [118]*118Rules of Civil Procedure. J.H. thereafter made a timely appeal to this court.
Our review of this case follows established standards for determining the appropriateness of summary judgment. Regarding questions of law, this court accords no deference to the trial court and reviews the trial court’s decisions for correctness.1 In reviewing factual issues, this court views the evidence and all inferences to be drawn therefrom in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party.2 Our recital of the facts is based upon that standard.
Lyday was hired by the West Valley City Police Department in July of 1980 as part of West Valley’s original recruitment of police officers. He was hired by Chief of Police David Campbell and Assistant Chief of Police Gerald Maughan. Prior to his position with West Valley, Lyday had served as a police officer for the Salt Lake City Police Department for seven years. During his tenure with the Salt Lake City Police Department, he became acquainted with both Campbell and Maughan, who also served in that department. Campbell was also personally acquainted with Lyday through a mutual religious affiliation.
As part of the application process, Lyday was required to take a physical agility test and a written test. He was interviewed by Campbell and Maughan and was required to fill out a personal statement form that the hiring officers reviewed. This form required that Lyday reveal any prior conduct that would disqualify him from police work. A background investigation of Ly-day and all other applicants included a search for prior criminal activity, a fingerprint analysis and criminal activity search with the FBI, a search of the applicant’s driving and credit records, and a check for satisfactory prior employment. No attempt was made to verify the information on the personal statement form. No interviews were made of family, friends, or associates of Lyday. No psychological tests were performed to uncover violent tendencies or deviant characteristics. No other psychological or physical examinations were performed.
Attached to his motion in opposition to summary judgment, J.H. submitted the amended affidavit of Dr. Arthur Brown, a licensed marriage and family therapist and psychologist. Brown opined that if psychological tests had been performed on Lyday before he was hired or placed in charge of the explorer program, these tests would “most likely” have revealed Lyday’s deviant characteristics.
Lyday was appointed to the Public Relations Department of the police department in 1984. As the officer in charge of public relations, he functioned as advisor to the Law Enforcement Explorer Scout Program (“the explorer program”). This program was instituted to improve public relations, encourage law enforcement careers among participants, and provide a positive program in the community for adolescents. Lyday’s duties with respect to the explorer program included coordinating explorer education and training sessions, coordinating explorer activities and social events, supervising explorers when they were called upon to assist police officers in traffic control or other duties, coordinating a “ride along” program in which explorers were allowed to ride with West Valley police officers as they performed their regular duties, and coordinating explorer participation in public service activities such as safety presentations and mall demonstrations. Occasionally, after explorer activities, Lyday provided transportation home for some of the explorers in the program. He was paid for his coordination and supervision activities with this program. He included time spent with the explorers, whether for regular police activity or social activities or demonstrations, as part of his on-duty police time with West Valley. It is unclear whether time spent transporting explorers home from explorer activities was counted as on-duty time by Lyday.
[119]*119When Lyday was placed in charge of the explorer prograna, he did not receive additional training or instruction on dealing with youths, nor was he required to undergo any additional testing or background check. As the explorer advisor, he was not observed or supervised by any other person during the performance of his duties.
J.H.’s involvement with the explorer program began in October 1985. He joined the explorer program because of his interest in police work and his desire to make police work his career. Upon acceptance into the program, J.H. was informed that he was to strictly obey all police officers working with the program. He was also told that the program was under Lyday’s control. He and other members of the explorer program were advised to follow Lyday’s directions and instructions or they could be dismissed from the program.
On April 10 and April 17, 1986, Lyday sexually molested J.H. The conduct occurred in a patrol car while Lyday was driving J.H. home following explorer activities. Lyday committed the acts after telling J.H. that he was teaching him standard and accepted relaxation techniques which police officers relied upon to deal with job-related stress. After the second molestation, J.H. notified his parents and the authorities of the abuse. The Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department and West Valley investigated the complaints. Lyday resigned from his position in May 1986. He was formally charged with two counts of forcible sexual abuse3 and pleaded guilty to one count of attempted forcible sexual abuse. On October 7, 1987, J.H. filed the instant claims against Lyday and West Valley.
I. VIOLATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER SECTION 1983
J.H.’s first claim is that his civil rights were violated by Lyday’s conduct against him. He brings suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which states:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.4
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that under certain circumstances, a municipality may be sued as a “person” for violating a citizen’s rights. In Monell v. New York City Department of Social Services,5 the Court held that to establish a claim for violation of civil rights against a municipality under section 1983, the violation complained of must arise out of the official acts of the municipality or under a governmental custom or policy, even though such custom may not have received formal approval through the body’s decision-making channels.6 Liability against a municipality will not lie merely on the basis of respondeat superior or on the unofficial acts of the municipality’s employees.7
Subsequent cases have clarified the requirements for establishing section 1983 liability against a municipality for the acts of its employees. First, the injury to rights must have been committed under color of state law.8 There is no constitutional right to protection from the actions of private citizens.9 To show that an injury [120]*120was committed under color of state law, a plaintiff must show that the actor was either a public official who can be said to act for the municipality or an employee of the municipality who acted according to a law, custom, or usage known to and acquiesced in or condoned by the municipality.10
In Canton v. Harris,11 the Court held that a custom or usage may result from failure to train city police officers if that failure amounts to deliberate indifference to a known constitutional right of a plaintiff or the citizens of the municipality.12 Further clarifying the meaning of the term “deliberate indifference,” the Court stated:
Only where a municipality’s failure to train its employees in a relevant respect evidences a “deliberate indifference” to the rights of its inhabitants can such a shortcoming be properly thought of as a city “policy or custom” that is actionable under § 1983. As Justice Brennan’s opinion in Pembaur v. Cincinnati put it: “[M]unicipal liability under § 1983 attaches where — and only where — a deliberate choice to follow a course of action is made from among various alternatives” by city policymakers. Only where a failure to train reflects a “deliberate” or “conscious” choice by a municipality— a “policy” as defined by our prior cases — can a city be liable for such a failure under § 1983.13
Although Canton involved a custom or policy of inadequate training of police officers, the deliberate indifference standard articulated in Canton is also readily applicable to a municipal policy or custom of failing to adequately screen and hire applicants.14 Although it seems unlikely that a municipality would have a policy of inadequate hiring practices, in light of the duties assigned to police officers and to specific officers on a police force, a need for additional • testing and screening of applicants for positions as officers may be facially obvious. If so, the violation of rights resulting from inadequate screening may be so inevitable that the officials who ignored or failed to identify the need may be said to have been deliberately indifferent to it.15 However, an isolated incident involving failure to screen an applicant will not be sufficient to show that the city’s policy violated a plaintiff’s rights.16 Thus, to show that a city was deliberately indifferent in its hiring practices, actual knowledge of the applicant’s problems and their relationship to the damage caused or a widespread pattern of hiring police officers with violent or deviant tendencies must be established.17
[121]*121In articulating the parameters of municipal liability for failure to train police officers under section 1983, the Court in Canton required that a close relationship exist between the deficiency in city policy and the resulting injury. In defining this close nexus for causation purposes, the Court stated:
Moreover, for liability to attach in this circumstance the identified deficiency in a city’s training program must be closely related to the ultimate injury....
To adopt lesser standards of fault and causation would open municipalities to unprecedented liability under § 1983. In virtually every instance where a person has had his or her constitutional rights violated by a city employee, a § 1983 plaintiff will be able to point to something that the city “could have done” to prevent the unfortunate incident. Thus, permitting cases against cities for their “failure to train” employees to go forward under § 1983 on a lesser standard of fault would result in de facto respon-deat superior liability on municipalities— a result we rejected in Monell.18
Thus, a plaintiff has a higher burden to show that the policy of the municipality was the moving force, or active cause, of the deprivation of the plaintiffs constitutional rights. This proof of causation, which is more than “but for” causation, must be an active, proximate cause of the harm.19
Applying the above standards to the present case, we first examine whether Ly-day’s molestation of J.H. provides a legal basis for liability against West Valley. It cannot be said that the City is automatically liable for Lyday’s actions in molesting J.H. merely because Lyday was a West Valley employee.20 It is not contended, nor do the facts demonstrate, that in committing the molestation, Lyday was acting as a policy maker of the City or according to a West Valley custom. Therefore, his acts are not fairly attributable to West Valley, and the City should not be held liable for them.21
However, plaintiff’s section 1983 claim is based not only on the actions of Lyday, but also on the actions of Lyday’s superiors in the police department. Plaintiff has asserted that Campbell and Maughan violated his rights through their custom and practice of hiring police officers without adequately checking into applicants’ backgrounds and psychological fitness. Plaintiff has shown that Campbell and Maughan were officials of West Valley with policy-making authority with regard to its police department and any hiring practices or decisions there. Therefore, policies regarding hiring made by these individuals may be fairly attributable to West Valley.
When the record is viewed in a light most favorable to plaintiff, it also shows that the procedures used by Campbell and Maughan in evaluating Lyday’s application for employment with West Valley were in accordance with the normal policies, customs, and procedures used to evaluate police applications at the time Ly-day was hired. Although West Valley has denied that it was negligent in hiring Ly-day, it has not specifically denied that the procedures used to evaluate Lyday’s application were the customary procedures used for all police applications. However, the affidavits of Campbell and Maughan detailing the procedures used in hiring Lyday indicate that the procedures followed the normal routine of the department.22
[122]*122However, plaintiff has failed to establish that the remaining requirements for making a claim under section 1983 have been met. Under Canton, plaintiff must also show that the custom or practice used in hiring police officers for West Valley was deliberately indifferent to his rights and that this indifference actually caused his injury. Plaintiff has failed to establish either of these elements.
First, he has failed to establish that West Valley’s custom or practice for hiring police officers was a violation of section 1983 as defined by Canton and Wassum. The record, taken in a light most favorable to plaintiff, does not show an indifference on the part of West Valley that could be equated with a conscious choice not to act. The record shows no evidence of knowledge on the part of West Valley that Lyday had a sexually deviant character or was likely to behave violently or to molest plaintiff. Further, there is no evidence of a pattern of hiring police officers with violent or deviant behaviors or characteristics. At most, plaintiff has demonstrated that further screening procedures for prospective employees existed that West Valley did not use. The decision not to use such procedures, whether conscious or not, does not alone rise to the level of deliberate indifference necessary to establish liability under section 1983.23
Second, plaintiff has not made a legally sufficient showing of causation to establish liability under section 1983. The relationship between West Valley's hiring practices in 1980 and the alleged violation of plaintiffs rights in 1986 is tenuous at best.24 J.H. has not established the close nexus between city policy and his damages as required by Canton. Therefore, his claim under that section must fail.
II. RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR
Plaintiff next argues that West Valley should be held liable for the actions of Lyday under the doctrine of respondeat superior. We have previously held that there are three basic elements for determining whether an employee is acting within the scope of his or her employment for purposes of respondeat superior liability.25 First, the employee’s conduct must be of a general kind and nature that the employee is hired to perform. The employee’s acts must be generally directed toward the accomplishment of the employee’s duty and authority.26 Second, the conduct must occur within the hours of the employee’s work and the ordinary spatial boundaries of the employment.27 Third, the employee’s conduct must be motivated, at least in part, by the purpose of serving the employer's interest.28 The employee’s intent, however misguided in its means, must be to further the employer’s business interests. “If the employee acts ‘from purely personal motives ... in no way connected with the employer’s interests’ or if the conduct is ‘unprovoked, highly unusual, and quite outrageous,’ then the master is not liable.” 29
The question of whether an employee is acting within the scope of his employment for purposes of respondeat superior liability is a question of fact that must normally [123]*123be submitted to a jury.30 However, situations where the activity is so clearly within or without the scope of employment that reasonable minds cannot differ, it lies within the prerogative of the trial judge to decide the issue as a matter of law.”31
Applying the above standards to the present case, plaintiff has shown that the molestations occurred within the general spatial and time limitations of Lyday’s employment. The record shows that Lyday was a West Valley employee assigned to perform duties with the explorer post. When the events in question occurred, he was on duty. He was obligated to supervise the explorers in the mall activities that had just concluded. It is apparent, at least, that the city acquiesced in Lyday’s occasional provision of transportation to explorers participating in the activities. The molestation itself occurred in his patrol car, which had been issued for his use by West Valley. Therefore, J.H. has met the second part of the test for determining respondeat superior liability under Birkner.
However, the molestations committed by Lyday were clearly outside the scope of his employment. Plaintiff has not alleged any facts supporting the conclusion that at the time the molestations occurred, Lyday was engaged in conduct of a general kind and nature that he was employed to perform. Lyday was obviously not hired to perform sexual nature on the explorers under his supervision. Plaintiff argues that Lyday was employed to instruct and direct them in areas involving police work and that his actions in molesting J.H. were carried out pursuant to this type of instruction and supervision. This argument fails, however, because it is not the instruction and supervision by Lyday of which J.H. now complains. Lyday was not hired or authorized to instruct the explorers in sexual matters, nor was he authorized to touch the explorers in any manner. His acts of molestation were not in any way part of the instruction and supervision of the explorers but were in fact a complete abandonment of that instruction and of his employment.32 Therefore, reasonable minds could not differ in determining that the touching or molestation was not within the general nature of work Lyday was hired to perform.
Plaintiff has likewise failed to allege sufficient facts to meet the third criterion of Birkner. No record evidence exists that would lead reasonable minds to conclude that Lyday was acting in the interest of West Valley when he committed acts of molestation on plaintiff. Lyday admitted that he committed the acts for his own personal gratification and that he knew the acts were prohibited by law and outside the bounds of his employment. West Valley received no benefit from the acts, and Ly-day did not intend West Valley to benefit from his acts. There was no motivation, even in part, to serve the employer’s interest. Therefore, the third criterion has not been met, and plaintiff’s claim for respon-deat superior was properly dismissed upon the granting of defendant’s motion for summary judgment.
III. NEGLIGENT HIRING
Plaintiff next claims that West Valley was negligent in hiring Lyday without conducting more extensive background checks, verifying information on his per[124]*124sonal statement through interviews, or conducting psychological testing. Regardless of whether an employer may be held liable under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer may be directly liable for its acts or omissions in hiring or supervising its employees.33 The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment on this claim, stating that plaintiff had failed to state a prima facie case of negligence against defendants. To state such a case, plaintiff must show that West Valley had a duty to protect him from harm at the hands of its employees, a negligent breach of that duty, and the harm and damages caused by that breach.34 Plaintiffs claim for negligent hiring was properly dismissed because plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to show the element of proximate causation.35
Plaintiff has not established that West Valley’s failure was the cause of his harm. He has produced no evidence that West Valley knew or had reason to know that Lyday had deviant characteristics that would make him a risk as a police officer or while working with youths. Campbell and Maughan produced affidavits stating that they had previously worked with Lyday and had no reason to know that he had deviant characteristics. Further, plaintiff has produced no evidence that Lyday did or said anything prior to his molestation of plaintiff that would have put West Valley on notice that he had a propensity to commit such acts. Indeed, plaintiff has not produced any evidence to create a factual issue as to whether Lyday’s problem even existed prior to the time he was hired by West Valley or was placed in charge of the explorers. The facts alleged do not establish the connection between West Valley’s hiring practices in 1980 and Lyday’s actions in 1986.
Plaintiff attempts to circumvent the lack of causation for his claim through expert testimony relating to the detection of sexual deviancy. He asserts that West Valley’s hiring practice of not conducting sexual deviancy testing on Lyday caused Lyday to be wrongfully or negligently hired and subsequently caused plaintiff’s injuries at the hands of Lyday. In support of this claim, plaintiff produced the affidavit of Dr. Arthur Brown stating that if psychological tests designed to detect sexual deviance and the potential for sexual abuse behavior had been administered, such tests would “most likely” have revealed Lyday’s sexually deviant characteristics. Brown’s affidavit fails in several respects. First, it merely asserts that one of the tests, the MMSI, was available two years prior to the time of the affidavit. It does not assert that either of the suggested tests for sexual deviancy and propensity for sexual abuse behavior was available at the time Lyday was hired.36 Second, the affidavit fails to assert that Lyday’s deviancy or propensity to commit sexual abuse existed or probably existed at the time he [125]*125was hired, when the tests would have been administered. Third, it fails to predict how those tests would relate to the behavior of which plaintiff complains. Fourth, Brown’s affidavit does not assert that Ly-day’s deviancy could have been predicted to a degree of reasonable medical certainty; it merely asserted that the tests would have “most likely” shown some deviancy.37 Therefore, the affidavit is facially inadequate to create a factual issue that failure to administer the tests more than six years prior to the incident in question could somehow have caused the incident. Plaintiff has failed to state a prima facie case of negligence by failing to sufficiently allege that defendants’ acts caused his damages. Hence, the trial court’s award of summary judgment to defendants on plaintiff’s claim of negligent hiring is appropriate.
In so holding, we do not negate the importance of adequate hiring and screening procedures in our state’s police departments. Hiring and maintaining employees with demonstrated mental fitness and integrity is especially important in an area such as a police department where officers are given a high degree of authority. Police officers regularly have one-on-one contacts with private citizens in a variety of situations. During these contacts, it is necessary and desirable that the officers maintain authority over the citizens they encounter and that the citizens obey and respect that authority.38
The legislature of this state has recognized the great authority bestowed upon police officers and the need for public respect for and trust in that authority and, accordingly, has created a corresponding duty on the part of a hiring agency to examine a prospective officer’s mental fitness to perform his duty. In 1980, at the time Lyday was' hired by West Valley, Utah Code Ann. § 67-15-6 required:
Every applicant for admission [for training as a police officer] shall meet the following standards and requirements before being admitted:
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(7) free of any physical, emotional, or mental condition that might affect adversely the performance of duty as a peace officer.39
This statute requires that an employer take measures to determine that its police officers are mentally competent. It does not, however, require any particular procedure or test for determining mental and emotional stability, nor does it state what measures must be taken. We decline to read section 67-15-6 as creating a private right of action for failure to follow any specific procedure in hiring police officers. However, failure to conduct any checks or testing to ensure that an officer is mentally fit as required by the statute may be evidence of negligence in a city’s hiring practices.40
IV. NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION
Finally, plaintiff claims that West Valley was negligent in placing Lyday in a position of trust without providing adequate supervision or observation of his activities. The trial court held that plaintiff had not stated a prima facie case of negligence against West Valley and granted West Valley’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing this claim.
[126]*126To state a prima facie case of negligent supervision or retention of Lyday, plaintiff was required to show that West Valley had a duty to supervise and direct Lyday in a manner so as to protect persons from acts of violence or molestation by him. To prove that such a duty existed, plaintiff was required to show that such acts were foreseeable.41 There is no duty to protect persons from unforeseeable risks of harm at the hands of another.
Plaintiff states his case too narrowly by arguing that violent or deviant conduct by Lyday in particular must have been foreseeable. Plaintiff has not shown that violent or deviant conduct toward the explorers by any of West Valley’s officers was foreseeable. Other cases in which we have found that a claim may lie for negligent supervision show the distinction between known or foreseeable dangers and unknown, unforeseeable dangers.
In Clover v. Snowbird Ski Resort,42 we held that a material issue of fact existed regarding Snowbird’s negligent supervision of its employees, precluding summary judgment. In Clover, the plaintiff was injured when a Snowbird employee skied over a jump at the resort and collided with the plaintiff, causing her injuries. In support of her negligent supervision claims, Clover presented evidence that Snowbird provided ski passes to its employees as part of their compensation package and that Snowbird was aware of the dangerous condition created by the ski jump and was aware that its employees often took the jump, but did not take any measures to prohibit its employees from taking the jump or to alleviate the danger.43
In contrast, the plaintiff in the instant case has failed to sufficiently allege or prove that West Valley was negligent in supervising the explorer post. West Valley had no notice of any problem with Lyday or with any of the officers. West Valley had no reason to know that it should take special precautions when supervising Lyday. Lyday had served in the Salt Lake City and West Valley police forces for many years with an unblemished record. West Valley had no prior problems of a sexual nature between other members of its police force and the explorer post. West Valley had no reason to know that problems of this type existed in the program. Absent this knowledge, West Valley had no duty to take special supervisory measures.
Plaintiff’s suggestion that other measures could have been taken to protect youths in the program from the officers is unreasonable and speculative. The supervision of the explorer program was consonant with the program’s purposes and with reasonable standards of supervision. The post was arranged to give the explorers one-on-one interaction with the police officers employed by West Valley and to teach the explorers about the responsibilities of being a police officer. The instructions given by Lyday were merely a part of the program, which was highlighted by a “ride along” activity where the youths shadowed the officers on their daily routes. A requirement of constant supervision of all officers participating in the program would destroy the program’s objectives. To so burden the explorer program without notice of a special need and absent knowledge of any problem between the officers and the youths would be unreasonable.
Plaintiff has also failed to allege facts establishing that any act or omission of West Valley was a proximate cause of his damages. Nothing indicates that more or different supervision or rules concerning the explorer program would have had a different effect on Lyday’s conduct. He admitted that he knew his conduct was illegal and against the rules and standards of West Valley. Therefore, it is not reasonable to assume that additional rules would have had any effect on him.
We therefore hold that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that defendants West Valley City and the West Valley City Police Department are entitled to judgment [127]*127as a matter of law. We affirm the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment to defendants on each of plaintiffs claims.
STEWART, J., concurs.