THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603160124
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Mayor William E. Ward and the City Council have made up their minds to put questions about the integrity of the police department behind them.
It is appropriate, for the sake of the record, to review just what it is they have turned their backs to:
Criminal investigations involving family members of political and law enforcement officials were not conducted in a routine way.
In one case, it was a full year before charges were brought after stolen property was found.
An internal investigation of the conduct of officers involved in the cases - which resulted in reprimands to five - was instituted after the vice mayor intervened directly with the police chief.
In one theft case, the original complaint and the stolen property itself have mysteriously disappeared, raising the possibility that prosecution of the case may be affected.
After hearing Chief Ian M. Shipley Jr.'s report on the performance of his department in secret session, City Council still wasn't satisfied and pursued the possibility of a special grand jury inquiry.
Defenders of Chief Shipley, including the cadre of police officers and sheriff's deputies who packed City Council chambers Tuesday night, say that the police department's troubles have been manufactured by unscrupulous politicians, back-stabbing city employees and scandal-mongering reporters. If only the problem could be explained away so easily.
But the behavior of politicians, city employees and the press - however reprehensible one considers it to be - does not explain the manner in which the police department discharged its responsibilities in these cases. And it does not explain why the police should not be held accountable to the people of Chesapeake for the way they do their jobs.
Is anyone confident that the police department is prepared to deal with the next case involving the child of a high-placed official?
City Councilman John W. Butt, in his emotional statement to City Council Tuesday, deplored the damage done to the reputation of Chief Shipley and his department, saying that the suspects charged in these cases ``will have their day in court, but the police officers...never will.''
That begs the question why Mr. Butt and his colleagues have decided not to pursue the matter further.
As city officials turn their backs on the situation and move on to other things, they do so knowing that the badges of Chesapeake cops do not shine quite as brightly as they did before. Those who have the power to restore their luster have decided, for reasons only they know, not to do so. by CNB