Pubdate: Wed, 20 Dec 2006
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2006 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Rick Martinez

OFFICERS WHO ABUSE THEIR BADGES

North Carolina has a cop problem. This is how bad it is. Up until 
this year, when flashing blue lights showed up in my rear-view mirror 
or rolled down my street, I went through a mental checklist of what I 
might have done wrong. No more. In light of recent history, if a 
siren is meant for me, I fear for my safety.

I take no joy in writing these words. I admire cops. A nephew is a 
Phoenix, Ariz., beat cop. When people claim a law enforcement officer 
has roughed them up, my gut reaction is to think the perps probably 
deserved it. The guff that patrol officers endure from citizens of 
every economic class is way beyond what you and I would put up with.

But even a police supporter like me would be a fool to ignore growing 
evidence that something is wrong inside North Carolina's law 
enforcement community. A disturbing pattern of violence and 
corruption has emerged.

The latest episode involves the Dec. 1 shooting death in Wilmington 
of college student and robbery suspect Peyton Strickland by a New 
Hanover Emergency Response Team member. It was a botched attempt to 
arrest Strickland and others for an alleged assault and theft of a 
PlayStation3.

But there have been other tragic outcomes. In January, Davidson 
County jailers Brandon Gray Huie and Lt. Ronald Parker beat inmate 
Carlos Claros Castro to death. An autopsy determined Claros Castro 
died from multiple injuries, including blunt trauma to the head and 
asphyxiation. Huie pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 
July. Later that month a Davidson County jury convicted Parker of the 
same charge.

In August 2005, Nyles Arrington was shot and killed by off-duty 
Raleigh police officer Michelle Peele as he tried to steal her car. A 
Wake County grand jury refused to indict her, but Raleigh Police 
Chief Jane Perlov canned Peele for violating regulations on the use 
of deadly force. Peele still wants her job back. Although remorseful, 
she maintains she did nothing wrong and testified she would do the 
same thing if faced with the same circumstances.

Last week, three former Wake County deputies were indicted on charges 
of simple assault after allegedly roughing up Robert Wise in front of 
his wife and daughter. What did Wise do to provoke the August 
incident? His SUV took up two parking spaces outside a Garner restaurant.

Wake County cops aren't the only ones suspected of administering 
beatings to civilians. In September, Durham Police Chief Steve 
Chalmers fired officers Gary Lee and Scott Tanner after they were 
charged with misdemeanor assault for a sports bar fight with a cook. 
Judge Debra Sasser dismissed the charges over a venue dispute.

Outside the Triangle, old-school crime and corruption seem to hold 
sway among some law enforcers. Over the past four years, for example, 
12 former Robeson County deputies have been charged with drug-related 
crimes that include kidnapping, arson and theft.

In Polk County, newly elected Sheriff Chris Abril faces charges of 
statutory rape and first-degree sexual offense. The incidents 
allegedly occurred in the 1980s when Abril was in his late 20s and 
the girls were 10 and 11 years old. Abril strongly denies the 
charges, which he claims are political attacks.

In the Rowan County town of Landis, police chief Charles Childers was 
arrested in August on child pornography charges that included 
allegations of trying to seduce a female juvenile.

That is just a sample. This year, other North Carolina law officers 
have been investigated on charges ranging from drug trafficking to 
murder-for-hire to larceny to taking indecent liberties with a minor.

For sure, officers rightly fear for their safety from armed and 
deadly lawbreakers, but their job description requires them to use 
force only when necessary. And it never calls for corruption. Law 
enforcement leaders would be foolish to dismiss all these alleged 
acts and the resulting investigations as the work of a few rogue 
cops. There are just too many incidents at nearly every level to 
ignore. Yet I know of no North Carolina law enforcement leader who 
has publicly acknowledged growing lawlessness among those who carry a badge.

Self-examination would be a good start in rebuilding law 
enforcement's ethical foundation -- although most cops I know think 
that introspection is a waste of time. In this situation, however, 
it's a matter of self-preservation.
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