ROBESON COUNTY LEADERS MUST PROTECT RESIDENTS, RESTORE TRUST

Rogue cops sully the reputation of the good ones who work hard to
serve and protect. They sap morale from the officers who remain
behind. They put the entire community in danger.

In Robeson County, police malfeasance has created a public safety
problem. Fifteen employees have left the Sheriff's Office in the eight
months since federal officials announced Operation Tarnished Badge, a
four-year corruption investigation. Eleven former deputies have been
charged with a litany of crimes that include beating up drug dealers
and stealing their money, paying informants with drugs that had been
seized as evidence and filing false vouchers to steal federal
drug-seizure funds. More recently, federal officials have targeted
deputies' alleged involvement in the theft of satellite television
signals and the sale of altered satellite cards used to receive the
signals for free. And the investigation continues. Sources in the
department say more charges are expected.

Inside the department, sources report that morale is low and worsens
as experienced officers resign, retire or are forced to leave. Robeson
County residents should be worried about whether they are getting
adequate protection from the officers left behind.

The Sheriff's Office has hired 16 employees since June 9, the day
state and federal officials announced Operation Tarnished Badge, but
many lack experience. County Manager Ken Windley recently said it
would be hard to replace the employees who left with years of
experience. County leaders need to get busy trying to do it. But they
can't just hire more people. Operation Tarnished Badge has been a
public relations nightmare. To restore credibility in law enforcement,
officials will need to initiate intensive ethics training for
officers. The district attorney and the state Attorney General should
help them. Officials also need to accelerate training for the new
recruits, to put the best-trained deputies possible on the streets.

And they need to create a system to monitor the deputies who are
hired. Police need a mechanism to police themselves. That begins with
creating an internal-affairs division. The Sheriff's Office is the
only law enforcement agency in Robeson County without one.

Leaders have a lot of work ahead of them. The effects of Operation
Tarnished Badge will be far-reaching, but officials have a
responsibility to reduce the effects that the debacle has had on
residents. And they have to institute the kind of policy changes that
will make it less likely for law-enforcement agencies to sink to this
level again.