BAD COP, JAILERS TARNISH THE LAW

It's disappointing that in the last couple weeks, an officer and jailer in
Cherokee County and two jail employees in Muskogee County have been accused
of and charged with crimes.

Yet it's encouraging area law enforcement didn't ignore accusations against
fellow workers or look away, but followed up with investigations and quick
dismissals of the four from their respective departments.

In Muskogee County, Stacy Lynn Gray, 26, and Shelley Ford, 39, were charged
in connection with an assault by four inmates on another inmate. The two
women face a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to inmates.

In Cherokee County, Glyn Ryals, 21, and Lynn McClain Trammel, 20, face drug
charges after an investigation by a district attorney investigator and the
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. Charges against Ryals include
felony drug possession.

The four have lost their jobs, but if found guilty, they should be punished
as severely as possible. When those in authority abuse the inherent powers
of their positions, they show contempt for the very law they are authorized
to enforce.

No one is above the law, and sometimes law enforcement agencies are forced
to prove it by jailing their own.