FORMER DEPUTY SHOULDN'T GET BREAK

Our View: Lenience for Law Officers Sends the Wrong Signal.

Like other lawbreakers, James Crabtree made some bad choices, and the
consequences are his to face.

But unlike most other lawbreakers, Crabtree is a former cop. In
recognition of that, two prominent law-and-order figures in Spokane
County are among those asking that the sentencing judge extend
Crabtree some lenience.

That would be a serious mistake.

Spokane Police Chief Roger Bragdon and former Spokane County
Prosecuting Attorney Donald C. Brockett have submitted letters that,
according to Crabtree's lawyer, support a lesser prison sentence than
the five years asked by the prosecution.

Crabtree's offenses? He has pleaded guilty to four charges of
delivering illegal drugs and two of possession of cocaine - crimes
committed while he already was awaiting trial on a vehicular assault
charge to which he also has pleaded guilty.

It certainly isn't the norm but it's hardly unheard of for law
enforcement officers sometimes to cross the line, especially those who
have worked narcotics duty. Crabtree is one.

To complicate his case even more, the vehicular assault charge stemmed
from a collision with a car driven by sheriff's Sgt. Earl Howerton.
Crabtree once worked for Howerton, whose injuries may limit him to
light duty for the rest of his law-enforcement career.

Yet, when Crabtree appears before Superior Court Judge Greg Sypolt
next week, it will be with the influential support of Bragdon,
Brockett and others to go easy. Bragdon and Brockett reportedly acted
at the request of Crabtree's father, a former Spokane police captain.

Exactly what Bragdon wrote is unknown, because the Police Department
is keeping it under wraps. Brockett's letter notes that Crabtree would
be at special risk in prison because of his status as a former cop.

No doubt that's true, but it's all the more incentive for police
officers and sheriff's deputies to honor meticulously the law they are
sworn to uphold.

If Sypolt does accede to the plea for lenience, however, it sends a
troublesome message, namely that police officers, instead of being
exemplars of respect for law, are entitled to preferential treatment
arranged through their connections in the field.

Such an implication undermines public faith in the impartiality of the
law and erodes the foundation of an orderly society. Neither the
law-abiding public not law enforcement profession deserve that.

Those whom society entrusts with the life-and-death discretion to
enforce the law must adhere to a higher, rather than lower, standard.