In summary: The city’s crackdown on errant police officers should boost the department’s integrity.
The sad, sorry saga of Lincoln Brooks is over, at least as far as the Anderson Police Department goes. On Tuesday Brooks, a one-time decorated officer, submitted his resignation.
Of course, Brooks still has to answer for multiple alleged felonies— including residential entry and strangulation and misdemeanors of battery, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief — that led to his downfall.
Many things can lead to a police officer’s departure from the force, but breaking the laws he’s sworn to uphold is one of the most egregious. Whatever demons possessed Brooks in his run-in with the law earlier this year, it’s obvious that APD cannot tolerate rogue officers.
Brooks hasn’t been convicted of anything yet, but after an investigation, APD and Mayor Ockomon’s administration decided that Brooks had been given more than one opportunity to conform to a code of conduct that he seemingly couldn’t uphold.
APD handled the Brooks case in the right manner. When the accusations surfaced, he was suspended with pay. After an investigation, the pay was taken away. Then, when the prosecutor’s office filed charges, Brooks resigned.
Earlier Ockomon said that with all the transgressions APD officers had been involved in as of late — speeding, drunken driving and Brooks’ brushes with the law — APD was looking into a policy of zero tolerance. Future lawbreaking by APD officers will apparently be dealt with harshly.
On Thursday, Ockomon said he and APD Chief Darron Sparks are working on the details of a zero-tolerance policy.
The Anderson Fraternal Order of Police should be eager to go along with this because officers who break the law threaten the integrity of all officers and the city that employs them.
If the public perceives lawbreakers on the force, many people will assume most officers are like that when just the opposite is true. Most APD officers are professionals who conduct themselves with integrity. But a few bad apples can indeed spoil the whole barrel.
That’s why it’s important for APD to show zero tolerance toward officers who stray to the other side of the law. It sends a message that the department comes first, and also that police officers have higher standards of conduct they must meet.
In the end, Brooks decided, somewhere along the line, that he was above the law or the law didn’t matter. Either way, he can’t be a member of the APD, and the department’s leadership made that clear.
Opinion
Editorial: Zero tolerance needed at APD
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