Pubdate: Sun, 10 May 2009
Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2009 Fayetteville Observer
Contact:  http://www.fayobserver.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/150

BAD COPS. SHADY, LAW-BREAKING SHERIFFS.

Despite the tenet that law officers need to hold themselves to higher 
standards, corruption stands as one of the oldest problems in law enforcement.

"They are the final line, something that separates society from the 
bad guys. They are the protectors," said Dr. Hamid Kusha, an 
assistant professor in the Criminal Justice Department at East 
Carolina University. "The mandate of police is to serve and protect. 
Therefore, we look at police as good guys. We want them to have high 
ethical standards." Obviously, that's not always the case. In Spring 
Lake, an assortment of alleged misdeeds has turned the Police 
Department into an ineffectual force. Tuesday, Spring Lake Police 
Chief A.C. Brown resigned one day after the arrests of Sgt. Alfonzo 
Devone Whittington Jr. and Sgt. Darryl Eugene Coulter Sr., who were 
indicted last week by a special Cumberland County grand jury.

The charges against Whittington and Coulter include embezzlement by 
public officer, obtaining property by false pretense, breaking and 
entering, second-degree kidnapping and obstruction of justice. Along 
with those indictments, the Police Department was stripped of its 
remaining police powers.

But law enforcement misconduct spreads much further than Spring Lake. 
In the last three years, four sheriffs in this state have been 
convicted of breaking the very laws that they swore to uphold. In the 
past six years, five North Carolina sheriffs have faced serious 
charges. "Four is too many, and one is too many. It's very 
regrettable," said Eddie Caldwell, executive vice president of the 
N.C. Sheriffs' Association. But Caldwell questions whether more cases 
exist today than in the past. The immediacy of the news ­ with 
breaking stories running around the clock on television and on the 
Internet ­ produces a glut of information. Caldwell said some 
newspapers seem to thrive on the misdeeds of religious leaders, 
teachers and government officials.

"Those stories get front-page coverage," he said. "There's much more 
transparency. Things that happened decades ago that did not get 
prosecuted or reported get fully prosecuted or reported today. If a 
government official gets a parking ticket, that's reported. That 
changes public opinion." The N.C. Attorney General's Office and the 
N.C. State Bureau of Investigation have investigated more than 500 
public corruption cases in the past eight years, according to Noelle 
Talley, spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice. Those cases 
include investigations of law enforcement officials, such as the 
sheriffs of Robeson, Davidson and Brunswick counties, and the 
Greensboro Police Department.

In July 2008, Knightdale Police Chief Richard Nelson Pope stepped 
down after being charged with one count of assault on a female 
following a domestic dispute with his estranged wife.

Early this year, Warren County sheriff's Deputy Cornelius Davis was 
charged with two counts of sexual battery after being accused of 
inappropriately touching women at two Raleigh stores.

A few days later, on Jan. 7, Wilmington police officer Wotzvely 
Albert Perez was charged with assault and sexual battery while on 
duty. Kusha, the East Carolina University professor, has taught on 
police operations and the relationship between police and community 
since 1997. Police corruption, as he points out, is not a new issue. 
The problem dates back to colonial times.

"The reason why we're seeing a lot of bad cops," he said, "we are 
concentrated on this issue. Policing in the United States is very 
much under checks and balances. In the past eight years or decade, 
we've had congressmen and people at top positions that corrupted 
them. Their action is being scrutinized. Maybe nobody gives a damn 
about ethics and laws anymore." Talley, the Justice Department 
spokeswoman, said it would be inappropriate for her office to answer 
questions regarding police misconduct because the SBI continues to 
handle the Spring Lake investigation. The SBI typically investigates 
cases involving law enforcement officers, which can range from 
involvement in a shooting to public corruption. The following former 
sheriffs have gone from serving the public to serving time: Former 
Sheriff Glenn Maynor was the highest-ranking lawman swept up in 
Operation Tarnished Badge, a six-year investigation into corruption 
in the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. Twenty-three people, mostly 
deputies, pleaded guilty to crimes that included kidnapping, money 
laundering, racketeering, theft of federal money and satellite 
piracy. In May 2008, former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford ­ 
who had been the target of a two-year public corruption investigation 
­ was found guilty of accepting money to protect an illegal video 
poker ring. Former Brunswick County Sheriff Ronald Hewett was 
indicted on charges of embezzlement by a public official and 
obstruction of justice. In June 2008, his guilty plea to obstructing 
justice made him the second of the previous three Brunswick County 
sheriffs to trade in his badge for a felony conviction.

Former Polk County Sheriff Chris Abril, who was elected despite being 
charged mid-race with raping two girls more than 20 years earlier, 
later pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Abril avoided jail time in 
November 2008 after accepting a plea bargain.

Another former sheriff, Gerald Hege of Davidson County, was charged 
in September 2003 with 15 felonies and suspended from office. The 
charges included five counts of embezzlement by a public officer, 
five counts of obtaining property by false pretenses and two counts 
of obstruction of justice. Hege accepted a plea agreement and 
received suspended sentences, three years of probation and three 
months of house arrest.

Kusha believes some police officers are just not up to the job. "If 
you look at the policing profession, there's a lot of stress. It's a 
very stressful job," he said. "Maybe the pay's not enough. 'I'm 
putting my life on the line, and what is it I'm getting?' Maybe we're 
not respecting the police as we should. It's very difficult to 
pinpoint. Maybe we're getting better at detecting police corruption."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart