Editorial: Arrests of public officials are all too common
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Very public investigations and arrests in recent years demonstrate the complexity of law enforcement that involves public officials.
On a national level, the most obvious example is the various state and federal cases involving former President Donald Trump. There are also the charges announced recently against U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y.
While some news organizations paint these situations as historic and earth-shattering, they are not at all rare. They are just the latest and the most powerful.
Such investigations, allegations, arrests, pleas and convictions happen regularly in all levels of government. They are all too common with local and state officials.
We have seen it with municipal secretaries, ambulance and fire companies, district judge offices and district attorneys. A corruption arrest in DuBois is threatening a consolidation effort that has been pushed for decades.
And the state government has been rife with examples. The conviction of state treasurer Budd Dwyer in 1987 led to his very public suicide in a televised press conference. Kathleen Kane didn’t finish her one term as attorney general because she was sent to jail. Can we even count how many legislators have had to step down?
But there may be no harder pill to swallow than when police officers, the people we are asked to trust in our time of need, are called into question.
This month has been a series of falling dominoes for Ligonier Township. On May 4, the police station was raided by state police and federal Homeland Security agents. Chief John Berger’s phone was seized. So was his police vehicle. He was placed on administrative leave. On Tuesday, he was fired. There are still no details in the investigation.
That is frustrating. It’s only surprising because of the very public nature of Berger’s job. Investigations, especially those that coordinate multiple agencies, can take months, if not years. While the people of Ligonier deserve answers, that has to be balanced by not threatening the building of the case and generally not defaming the target. While the law must consider someone innocent until proven guilty, the neighbors never wait to rush to judgment.
What is alarming is that Ligonier is not alone in the shock of seeing a top cop investigated. In January, Greensburg was surprised by the sudden arrest of its chief, Shawn Denning, on drug distribution charges.
It isn’t fair to the communities to have their trust so broken while being left in the dark about what is happening. But is that the fault of the law enforcement agencies doing the investigation, or the civil servants at the heart? Unfortunately, that’s up to the courts to determine.