WITHOUT INTEGRITY, POLICE ARE USELESS

Corruption Scandal: Internal Sting Sends A Signal Fake Evidence Will Not Be
Tolerated In Crime Fighting.

SINCE Edward T. Norris became police commissioner in April, he and his
consultants have expressed the belief there's corruption in the ranks of the
city force. Now they have Exhibit A -- a six-year veteran charged with
planting false drug evidence.

Because of his arrest, some 20 pending cases involving Officer Brian L.
Sewell may be thrown out. Countless guilty pleas and convictions will have
to be reviewed because they may be tainted.

The fallout does not end there. A chorus of lawyers is complaining that
their clients, too, went to jail based on other cops' fake evidence. Many of
those claims are likely bogus. But all must be investigated.

The puzzling question is this: Why would anyone need to plant evidence in a
city where making a "good" drug arrest is about the easiest thing an officer
can do?

The twin answers are cynicism and frustration. Unless those feelings are
controlled, a weary officer may easily come to regard all suspects as guilty
of something. If that attitude is allowed to take over, the next step is
vigilantism in the form of illegal arrests just to remove suspects from the
streets.

Credible police work cannot rely on fibbing or trumped-up charges. Indeed,
without integrity, police are useless. Citizens won't cooperate with bad
cops and police officers become demoralized.

The internal stings that Commissioner Norris has initiated must send a
strong and unambigious message to officers and citizens that no amount of
police corruption is tolerable. That certainty must be the cornerstone of
the city's efforts to attack drugs and violent crime.