Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2007 Source: Coshocton Tribune (OH) Copyright: 2007 Coshocton Tribune Contact: http://www.coshoctontribune.com/customerservice/contactus.html Website: http://www.coshoctontribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3213 Author: Kathy Thompson, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) WHEN COPS GO BAD Those Who Know 3 Accused Officers Wonder What Went Wrong ZANESVILLE - The arrest of two Zanesville Police officers and a Genesis Police officer has fellow law enforcement officials and officers shaking their heads and wondering what apparently made the three turn their backs on their oaths to "protect and serve." Zanesville officers Sean Beck and Trevor Fusner, along with Genesis HealthCare System officer Chad Mills have been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Beck has an additional charge of extortion. The three were arrested late Monday afternoon - Beck and Fusner at the police station by federal agents and Mills on Maple Avenue by local authorities. Police Chief Eric Lambes, still experiencing some angry moments, said he has no idea why Beck and Fusner went rogue. "How do you know something like that?" Lambes asked. "We may never know what was going through their minds. I have no idea what they were thinking or even how they thought they could get away with it." The plan According to federal court documents filed by the FBI, Beck met with a witness on Aug. 22, at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Zanesville to get $1,300 as partial payment for making drug indictments "disappear." Beck also supplied the witness with 45 Percocet pills he previously confiscated from a car stop in Zanesville. The witness was to sell the pills and split the proceeds with Beck. In another conversation Beck had with the witness, Beck told of how he waited on Interstate 70 for a van that reportedly had $200,000 worth of drug money. Beck told the witness he waited on the van for hours, hoping to pull it over and take $150,000 from the driver and then let the driver go, according to the documents. Federal officials believe Beck had an elaborate plan where Fusner and Mills would help him steal a kilo of cocaine from a dealer, who was expected to deliver the drugs to the cemetery. The plan was to let the dealer go after getting the drugs. Currently the three are being housed in the Franklin County Jail in separate cells and away from the general inmate population because of their positions as officers, said Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes. Beck and Fusner are facing termination from the police department and are on unpaid administrative leave. Mills was placed on unpaid leave by Genesis. All three are scheduled to have bond hearings in a federal court in Columbus this week. Unknown motive "I had all three of these men in one class or another at the police academy," said Col. Bryan Hoover with the Muskingum County Sheriff's Office. "You can't tell by talking to someone or looking at them that they're going to do something bad in the future." Hoover said he believes the three may have been motivated by the money they thought they could make selling drugs. "I don't know if it's greed, financial issues or even being angry at certain people," Hoover said. "It's just hard to know unless they tell us why." Tom Porter, vice president of the FOP and a Zanesville officer who worked closely with Beck, said he doesn't know if there could ever be a process that would tell if an officer will turn. "I can see where some guys might get angry when they see all the drug dealers out there making money day in and day out by doing very little and we're out there putting our lives on the line every minute we work for really, very little pay compared to what the bad guys are getting," Porter said. "They may see it as an easy way out of a fist full of bills or an easy fix to their problems." But Porter believes the officers who do cross the line "lose their moral fiber." "I think what Beck and Fusner did was out of pure greed," Porter said. "I can't tell you how many of our guys have sat up the past few nights going over and over in their heads any signs that we might have missed with these guys. I, myself, have thought could I have done something or did I miss something. It hurts, that's for sure. I wonder how I didn't see that they were corrupt." K.C. Jones, a Muskingum County Sheriff's Office detective and president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said he has no idea what makes a cop break the very laws he or she is entrusted to uphold. "I don't understand the thought process," Jones said. "When you tell someone not to touch a hot stove and they do it, they generally don't do it again. But, when you have a criminal mind, you don't care who tells you not to do it and you don't care how many times you do it." Jones said while many detectives and law officers have to have the ability to "think like a criminal to catch a criminal" they don't cross the line between good and bad. Wearing the badge Beck, 28, a 1998 graduate of Zanesville High School, was one of two Zanesville Police K9 officers. Before becoming an officer with Zanesville, Beck worked for the Dresden Police Department, first as an auxiliary officer from November 1998 to June 2000 and then again from March 2001 to January 2002. He was a full-time officer from January 2002 until August 2003. Records also show Beck worked at Longaberger's security department in 2000. Beck became the city's first K9 officer in February 2006 - a position he told the Times Recorder he worked hard for. "I have wanted to bring a K9 to the department for quite a while," Beck said at the time. "I love riding with the dog and I trust him with my life. He's the best partner." Beck's canine partner, Paco, has been transferred to a trainer in Athens to be retrained and partnered with a new officer. Fusner, 31, who lives in Chandlersville, joined Zanesville police in May 2005. Before that, he worked for the Genesis HealthCare System Police Department from February 2001 to May 2005 and with the New Concord Police Department from September 2001 to September 2003. Fusner was also an officer with the South Zanesville Police Department from February to August 2004. There are no commendations or reprimands in his personnel file. Lambes said he was an "average" officer who didn't cause problems or get into trouble. Mills, 29, who lives on Rose Lane in Zanesville, has been with the Genesis police for the past two years. He worked for the Crooksville Police Department from December of 2001 until July 2002, when he was fired after he was arrested on a drunken driving charge in Franklin County. Mills also worked for the New Lexington Police Department for a short time. Mills is also an auxiliary officer with South Zanesville Police Department, but has been suspended from that department until the outcome of the investigation. Not crossing the line Porter said law officers are human and the temptations for them are going to happen. "But, we make personal choices every day," Porter said. "We made the choice to be officers when we could be doctors, or bankers or work construction. It's also our personal choice to not give into those temptations. Once you do, you not only ruin your own life and career, you ruin the lives of your family and friends. That's what Beck and Fusner have done. They've created a huge mess for their wives, their kids and their families." Lt. Ed Miller of the Perry County Sheriff's Office worked with Mills and said he, too, is angry. "This job is about integrity," Miller said. "None of us have taken that oath and put on the uniform to get rich. We know we're not going to get rich." Miller said it takes a special person to want to become involved in law enforcement. "I don't care if you are a local officer, with the state, the federal government or whomever, it takes someone special to want to help people without thinking of yourself," Miller said. "And one of the last things a cop should ever think about is stealing. Period." Miller said when law officers go before a judge or jury during a criminal case, the only thing they have as evidence in a lot of cases is their credibility and word. "You're not born with that," Miller said. "When they pin that badge on you, you don't automatically get it. You have to earn those qualities by investing in hard work, good investigative practices and production. You don't do it by setting up people to sell drugs for you or stealing money." Miller said "Wrong is wrong no matter how you cut it." "Other than that, I have no clue what these guys were thinking or why they would shame themselves, their families and their departments like that. Not a clue," Miller said. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath