OFFICERS WHO ABUSE THEIR BADGES

North Carolina has a cop problem. This is how bad it is. Up until
this year, when flashing blue lights showed up in my rear-view mirror
or rolled down my street, I went through a mental checklist of what I
might have done wrong. No more. In light of recent history, if a
siren is meant for me, I fear for my safety.

I take no joy in writing these words. I admire cops. A nephew is a
Phoenix, Ariz., beat cop. When people claim a law enforcement officer
has roughed them up, my gut reaction is to think the perps probably
deserved it. The guff that patrol officers endure from citizens of
every economic class is way beyond what you and I would put up with.

But even a police supporter like me would be a fool to ignore growing
evidence that something is wrong inside North Carolina's law
enforcement community. A disturbing pattern of violence and
corruption has emerged.

The latest episode involves the Dec. 1 shooting death in Wilmington
of college student and robbery suspect Peyton Strickland by a New
Hanover Emergency Response Team member. It was a botched attempt to
arrest Strickland and others for an alleged assault and theft of a
PlayStation3.

But there have been other tragic outcomes. In January, Davidson
County jailers Brandon Gray Huie and Lt. Ronald Parker beat inmate
Carlos Claros Castro to death. An autopsy determined Claros Castro
died from multiple injuries, including blunt trauma to the head and
asphyxiation. Huie pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in
July. Later that month a Davidson County jury convicted Parker of the
same charge.

In August 2005, Nyles Arrington was shot and killed by off-duty
Raleigh police officer Michelle Peele as he tried to steal her car. A
Wake County grand jury refused to indict her, but Raleigh Police
Chief Jane Perlov canned Peele for violating regulations on the use
of deadly force. Peele still wants her job back. Although remorseful,
she maintains she did nothing wrong and testified she would do the
same thing if faced with the same circumstances.

Last week, three former Wake County deputies were indicted on charges
of simple assault after allegedly roughing up Robert Wise in front of
his wife and daughter. What did Wise do to provoke the August
incident? His SUV took up two parking spaces outside a Garner restaurant.

Wake County cops aren't the only ones suspected of administering
beatings to civilians. In September, Durham Police Chief Steve
Chalmers fired officers Gary Lee and Scott Tanner after they were
charged with misdemeanor assault for a sports bar fight with a cook.
Judge Debra Sasser dismissed the charges over a venue dispute.

Outside the Triangle, old-school crime and corruption seem to hold
sway among some law enforcers. Over the past four years, for example,
12 former Robeson County deputies have been charged with drug-related
crimes that include kidnapping, arson and theft.

In Polk County, newly elected Sheriff Chris Abril faces charges of
statutory rape and first-degree sexual offense. The incidents
allegedly occurred in the 1980s when Abril was in his late 20s and
the girls were 10 and 11 years old. Abril strongly denies the
charges, which he claims are political attacks.

In the Rowan County town of Landis, police chief Charles Childers was
arrested in August on child pornography charges that included
allegations of trying to seduce a female juvenile.

That is just a sample. This year, other North Carolina law officers
have been investigated on charges ranging from drug trafficking to
murder-for-hire to larceny to taking indecent liberties with a minor.

For sure, officers rightly fear for their safety from armed and
deadly lawbreakers, but their job description requires them to use
force only when necessary. And it never calls for corruption. Law
enforcement leaders would be foolish to dismiss all these alleged
acts and the resulting investigations as the work of a few rogue
cops. There are just too many incidents at nearly every level to
ignore. Yet I know of no North Carolina law enforcement leader who
has publicly acknowledged growing lawlessness among those who carry a badge.

Self-examination would be a good start in rebuilding law
enforcement's ethical foundation -- although most cops I know think
that introspection is a waste of time. In this situation, however,
it's a matter of self-preservation.