Two days after Durham Police Chief Chalmers gave his press conference, absolving his officers for employing racial slurs, and assuring the public of his confidence that his officers did not violate drunk driving laws, I remain amazed by the transparency of Mr. Chalmers words of absolution. [end exerpt]
Chief Chalmers made right choice
The Herald-Sun
September 15, 2006 4:48 pm
Police Chief Steve Chalmers must have struggled last week with the decision to fire two police officers who have been charged with assaulting a citizen during a brawl in Raleigh last July. But doing the right thing is tough sometimes, even for a police chief.
Chalmers was absolutely on target in handing Gary Powell, 38 and Scott Tanner, 33, their walking papers for their part in the alleged assault of a cook a Blinco's Sports Bar on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh. The Police Department's own investigation found that the officers' behavior that night was, as Chalmers said, "embarrassing" and brought negative attention to he Durham Police Department.
"These two were involved in what I would determine to be nothing less than a public brawl involving a total stranger, and certainly we feel there was no provocation for that," Chalmers said. "It really failed to rise to the level of what we expect our officers to do."
Let's be clear, neither Powell nor Tanner have been convicted of a crime in a court of law. There are those who will argue that the two shouldn't have been fired unless they were found guilty of assaulting Rene Dennis Thomas, the Blinco's cook.
They have a point, but only up to a point.
Chalmers didn't link the firings to convictions because an internal investigation found essentially that Tanner's and Lee's conduct the night of July 20 was unbecoming of Durham police officers.
Remember too, that three other Durham officers, all of whom have been cleared of wrongdoing in the case, were at the scene of the alleged assault, but reportedly took no part in it. One, Sgt. Mark Gottlieb, the officer at the center of the Duke lacrosse rape investigation, even called the District 2 watch commander the same night to report the incident, although he did not witness it himself. So it appears Chalmers had plenty of solid evidence to support firing Tanner and Lee.
"It was an open-and-shut thing and the statements were consistent," Chalmers said. "The only thing we weren't able to substantiate was the racial slur."
Thomas, the cook, told Raleigh police that one of the officers called him the N-word prior to the alleged assault, which he says began outside the bar after he shouted at the occupants of a truck leaving the parking lot. Thomas admitted to responding by calling the offending, unidentified officer a cracker. As we said in July, none of the participants in the alleged brawl had much of which to be proud that night.
We applaud Chief Chalmers for dealing with this issue forthrightly and in the open. It was important that he did so to retain the public's confidence in the department.
URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsedits/56-770120.html
Vote for Monks
Loyalty groups are akin to "good old boy networks." Both exist in municipal, state and federal governments. The controversial race for district attorney in Durham suggests that secluded sections of persons are busy at work to garner votes for their favorite sons. Consider this:
--MikeNifong, with his many years of experience, should have learned to appropriately conduct his behavior and avoid wide-spread media attention bringing forth the clatter of groups who place allegiance to the color of skin as opposed to the long arm of justice.
--Lewis Cheek, who waggles his voter registration from one political party another, is still afflicted with indecision of who he is and where he wants to go. His reason for "considering" opposition to Nifong is still not clear. If he receives a majority of votes, he will resign allowing the governor to choose your district attorney. If he falls short of votes, well, he didn't really campaign for the job. Sounds like he can't lose.
--Steve Monks, a newcomer to Durham. That's his best qualification. He hasn't been around long enough to become a part of the networks I've observed during my 80-plus years in this city. He is well qualified, impeccable in character, and as a newcomer, will be able to objectively approach the multiple problems that lie ahead in Durham.
He gets my write-in vote!
ANNIE MORGAN BOWLING
Durham
September 17, 2006
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/hsletters/