Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jul 2000
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2000 Roanoke Times
Contact:  201 W. Campbell Ave., Roanoke, Va. 24010
Website: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/index.html
Author: Zeke Barlow

INDICTED POLICE OFFICER KNOWN IN NEIGHBORHOOD AS 'NICE GUY'

'He Was One Of The Few Cops Who Looked Out For You,' Said A Northwest
Resident

A federal grand jury indictment accuses Roanoke Police Officer Frederick
Pledge of drug charges.

Officer Frederick Pledge says that being a hands-on cop is the best way to
work a beat. Talk to the people. Get to know them.

His beat was one of the toughest around, working the streets of Northwest
Roanoke, where the majority of the city's drug crimes occur and police
respond to reports of gunshots almost nightly.

Some who live in the neighborhood he once patrolled said he was a cop who
got involved and cared.

"I thank God for sending him to my community," said Martha Brown, a resident
of the area. "I think he's truthful."

But Brown wasn't saying this to help Pledge move through the ranks or to
give him a pat on the back. She said it to help get Pledge out of jail.

Monday, the man who said he wanted to be a cop since he was a kid found
himself on the other side of the law.

Pledge was arrested after a federal grand jury indictment said he used his
position to push drugs, gave protection to drug dealers and had people
beaten up for talking too much about his dealings.

The indictment alleges 16 examples of Pledge taking drug and money bribes in
support of a federal racketeering charge. It alleges nine acts, including
that Pledge and other unidentified officers "shook down" and stole drugs
from local dealers, in support of a separate conspiracy charge.

Pledge has been on administrative leave since June. Two other officers who
were friends of his recently were put on leave. The U.S. attorney's office
has said more indictments are expected in August.

Pledge, 29, posted bond and was released from jail Thursday with the help of
Brown and 35 other people who wrote letters to the court asking that he be
granted bond.

Pledge's lawyer, Rickey Young, said his client is shocked by the charges.
Pledge is a man who got into policing to help people and isn't a dirty cop,
Young said.

"It's crazy that he got into trouble because he was friendly to people,"
Young said. "This kid was actively involved" in the community he patrolled.

Pledge told a reporter Thursday that he prides himself on not writing tons
of tickets and arresting people like a "Robocop," but talking to those in
the community. He said he was merely "community policing."

"It was what I was taught in the academy," he said, referring to the
training he got from the city when he joined the force in 1993.

Young said that Pledge often talked with all members of the community, drug
dealers and upstanding citizens alike. But because Pledge talked to the
dealers, people think he is guilty just because he associated with them,
Young said.

"He made an attempt to help the crack users on Lafayette" Boulevard, said
James Wise, who attends the same church as Pledge. "If you are trying to
help someone, you can't be distant. You've got to be hands-on. He took a
different approach and made an effort."

The indictment says Pledge "engaged in social activities with drug dealers
and other known criminals, to include using drugs, in order to strengthen
his position with them." It also says he went to numerous striptease parties
with dealers and once sold cocaine at a party.

Police officers on the force are reluctant to talk about the case other than
to say that Pledge seemed like a nice guy. But some former officers were
willing to talk freely.

Lylburn Ollie, who recently retired, said Pledge put forth a good, clean
image.

"His uniform looked like it was made for him," Ollie said. "He knew the job.
I was as surprised as anybody to hear about it."

Pledge said in the interview that he wanted to wear the uniform since he was
a kid.

He grew up in Brownsville, Tenn., a small town with family values, said a
high school classmate, Levita Kent. She remembers Pledge as a suave guy who
was a bit of a practical joker and a ladies' man.

Pledge said he joined the Marine Corps after high school because of the
rigid discipline it offered. He saw combat in Desert Storm and helped mop up
after Hurricane Hugo, earning three awards before he was honorably
discharged.

After more than four years in the service, he joined the Roanoke Police
Department in 1993, a time when it was aggressively recruiting minorities.

He was assigned to the traffic division, where he often rode a motorcycle.
In his off time, he was an avid motorcyclist, often cruising the streets
with his bike club, the "Killer Bees." Northwest residents said they often
saw him tearing up the streets with his buddies on their fast Japanese
bikes.

After the traffic division was dissolved in 1999, he went to evening patrol
in North Roanoke. Also, he worked late nights on weekends as a security
guard at the Texas Tavern.

"He seemed like a nice guy" who would joke with the customers, said Steve
Russell, a short-order cook.

One of the charges on the indictment says Pledge provided security for drug
dealers' parties and that he provided security while a 10-15 kilogram
cocaine deal was made.

But Rico Rourk, who throws parties and hired Pledge to work security, said
such characters were never at his parties and Pledge was well-respected
officer.

"He was a nice guy," Rourk said.

The two other officers on administrative leave also worked security at the
parties. Connie Lee, an officer who recently died in a motorcycle crash,
also worked the parties, Rourk said.

Ask most people who knew Pledge on the street and they'll agree that he was
a nice guy.

"He was one of the few cops who looked out for you," said John Smith, who
grew up in Northwest.

"It seemed like everybody who came in said 'Hi' to him," said Freeland
Pendleton, who owns La'Cove Restaurant in Northwest. Pledge would stop at
the restaurant nearly every Thursday for the fried chicken special,
Pendleton said. "He seemed like a real nice fellow."

But with words like racketeering and drug dealing now associated with his
name, the reputation Pledge has built could be tainted forever.

Young says that's the reason he's taking his client's case to the mat.

"We're going to battle."
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