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And when will the N&O run the followingn column:

Department's silence is sickening

Members of the Durham Police Department: You know.

We know you know.

Whatever happened in that parking lot of the sports bar gone terribly bad, you know who was involved. every one of you does.

And you need to come forward and tell the Raleigh Police.

Do not be afraid of retribution on the department. Do not be persuaded that somehow this "happened" to one or more "good guys."

This seems an elementary statement, I know.

But I can see loyal department members sitting around convincing themselves that it would be disloyal to turn on their fellow officers -- why, the guys who were involved were just a little "over the top." In real life, they're funny. They call their mothers once a week. They help other officers with paper work. They attend church.

On this night, they were just a little too drunk, a little too "worked up." It was a scene straight out of NYPD Blue Indicative of the times.

The alleged racial epithets slung at the cook in the parking lot, who who black? Those were just ... jokes. Har, har

After all, these guys are not just Durham policeman, but investigators. The police officer dream job.

And the guy? He was... a cook, for Pete's sake.

I can see the department going down this path, justifying its silence. And it makes me sick.

Because, of all the occupational hazards that must come with working in a sports bar, one of them should not be assault and battery. And no, that they are good guy cops doesn't make it better.

Unfortunately, because the deparment members are policemen, there is a tendency to presume that this was an aberration. That these officers are "good guys."

I see it in the references to the "NYPD Blue" atmosphere allowed to flourish among department members.

I sense it in the "dismay" expressed by Chief Chalmers over the "situation" -- the going to a sports bar and the (shocking!) abuse of alcohol.

But drunken nights out are one thing. The implication that this event, if true, is somehow a night out that "got out of hand" is just plain wrong.

Assault is not part of a spectrum of behavior, the regrettable end game when testosterone and beer are ignited by a comment and fanned into flames by the larger department's permission.

No. Assault is a crime. A very serious one.

Those who commit it are criminals, not "good guys."

I don't know what happened in that parking lot, over in Raleigh. Ultimately, that will be a matter for the court system to decide. But who was in the parking lot is something the police need to know. Now.

They shouldn't have to wait for an investigation.

Every member of the Durham police department knows who was involved, whether it was assault or not.

Until the department members come forward with that information, reassignment isn't enough.

Shut down the department and bring in the state police and national guard if needed.

Exactly!!!

I'm telling you guys - the ENTIRE DEFENSE STRATEGY changed Friday.

Without any evidence, it was plain for all to see that Nifong hoped to sully the players with the websites they visited and the N-words and B-words, etc that they used in their e-mails.
He wanted to play Kim's 911 tape over and over with the N-word references. He wanted to use Finnerty's DC slurs against him - how can he do that now?

I expect to see the Cook from the Bar on the Defense's witness list. I can see Osborn saying - could you point out the man or men that surrounded you and beat you?

This hits the media where it hurts.