ARRESTS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT HEGE'S PRIORITIES

Something smells rotten in the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. And the
stink starts with Sheriff Gerald Hege. The high sheriff looked rather
crestfallen Wednesday as he spoke about the arrests of three of his
vice-narcotics officers on drug trafficking charges. An Archdale police
officer also was charged. Hege was not implicated in the alleged crimes.

The arrests came Wednesday after an eight-month probe by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, State Bureau of Investigation, The U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.

During a press conference in Lexington, Hege said the officers had compiled
excellent performance records and were well liked. And he commented that
vice-narcotics officers are vulnerable as they perform their duties.

"This is the thing that you fear as a sheriff because of the way vice is
operated," Hege said. "There's really no monitoring system. And they're out
there in the midst of temptations and evils."

Yes, it's true that there are plenty of bad things out there to tempt a
vice-narcotics officer. But if as Hege says, "there's really no monitoring
system," then that's the sheriff's fault.

The actions of vice and narcotics officers can be planned and monitored
internally by a well-organized law enforcement agency in order to greatly
reduce, if not prevent, the kinds of activities in which Hege's three
deputies are alleged to have participated. Other law enforcement agencies
do. Why can't Hege's office do it, too?

Yes, occasionally, we hear of a single law officer in an agency going bad.
But it's more rare to find a group of law enforcement officers - especially
outside of the nation's larger cities - involved in some kind of conspiracy
to commit serious illegal acts such as trafficking in drugs.

The allegations that lead to Wednesday's arrests say the drug trafficking
operations had been going on for a year, at least. That indicates a lack of
administrative oversight by the sheriff.

Perhaps Hege spent too much time during the last few years polishing his
celebrity image. Maybe the sheriff spent too much time posing for his
"Happy Ramadan" card that drew negative attention to Davidson County by
insulting Muslims and others. Or maybe Hege slipped in his sheriff's duties
while he devoted too much energy to his television show on Court TV.

Perhaps the sheriff spent too much time shopping at Army-Navy surplus
stores for military items he used this year in redecorating his office like
a war-zone bunker. Or maybe he's just simply spent too much time zipping
around Davidson County in his spider car acting the part of a tough guy.

If allegations against Hege's three deputies prove to be true, Hege has
failed to maintain adequate administrative and supervisory control over the
personnel in his office. That's a violation of the public's trust, and
Davidson County's voters should say so next election.