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| NEWS > 23 September 2007 |
Other related articles:
Crooked cops in dread of secre
Coercive powers are taking corruption investigators where they could not go before, reports Gary Hughes.
THE corrupt policeman was one of the old school. He had brushed aside previous attempts by internal investigators to catch him, confident he could bluff his way out of trouble with protestations of innocence.
But this time was different.
As he took the witness stand at the secret Office of Police Integrity hearing and was put under oath, he knew that the organisation's power to force him to answer questions, even if the answers incriminated him, left him wit... Read more
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Wilmington Morning Star, NC, U
23 September 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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North Carolina State Highway P
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USA: Judge rules trooper unfai
Raleigh | The state Highway Patrol unfairly fired a state trooper for having extramarital sex with a woman in his car and at a district station because the patrol let troopers who did the same or worse remain on the force, a judge ruled.
Monty Steven Poarch, an 18-year veteran who was based in Alexander County, was fired in 2003. But evidence in the case showed that another trooper who also had an affair with the woman was suspended without pay for five days.
Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter's decision this week, which calls for Poarch to be reinstated with back pay, could have far-reaching consequences. Another administrative law judge and a Wake County Superior Court judge both ruled in the case that fired state employees seeking their jobs back can explore whether agencies are consistent in applying discipline.
"The preponderance of the evidence at hearing … established that during the past nine years, (the Highway Patrol) imposed lesser sanctions than dismissal on other Troopers who had engaged in sex on and off duty, when dismissal was reasonably warranted," Lassiter wrote.
The decision is another setback for the patrol. Recent cases of trooper misconduct include allegations that a sergeant abused a police dog during a training session in Raleigh; a trooper on patrol in Orange County abducted two Hispanic women and made sexual advances; and another trooper patrolling Wake County predominantly targeted young women.
All three troopers have been dismissed in recent weeks, and two are the subject of criminal investigations.
At the same time, the patrol is being criticized by troopers claiming preferential treatment involving a minor fender-bender by an internal affairs captain, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Saturday.
A subordinate was allowed to investigate the accident, and he produced a report showing no fault by the captain. After The News & Observer asked questions about the investigation, patrol officials changed the report last week to show the captain was partially responsible for the wreck.
Efforts to reach Highway Patrol commander Fletcher Clay were unsuccessful.
None of the cases cited by the judge took place during Clay's tenure. His predecessor, Richard Holden, who ran the patrol from 1999 to 2004, handled several of the cases. Efforts to reach him also failed.
Patrol spokesman Lt. Everett Clendenin said the patrol will appeal the administrative law judge's ruling.
In her decision, Lassiter said the patrol had a legitimate reason to dismiss Poarch, but the patrol didn't use it; patrol policy prohibits troopers from having sex while in uniform. The patrol did not cite him for that.
Poarch is now a lieutenant in the Caldwell County sheriff's department. His attorney, Michael McGuinness of Elizabethtown, said Poarch is grateful for the decision and wants his job back.
"He absolutely wants to return to the Highway Patrol," McGuinness said.
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