ramblings of a {sys,net}admin…

The Bedford Times-Mail ran an article today entitled “Former officers sentenced for fraud”, which describes the effective “slap on the wrist” given to two former officers of the Mitchell (Indiana) Police Department for committing fraud.

Feel free to read the full article for all the details, but in a nutshell: John Flynn, a dispatcher for MPD, hit a deer in his truck. Assistant Police Chief Michael Brewer falsified a crash report for Flynn, lying about the date of the incident, giving Flynn time to obtain full coverage insurance from Progressive Casualty Insurance Company.

This pisses me off majorly for two reasons: first, as a former resident of Mitchell, I’m all too aware of how all the law enforcement and public officials “look out for” one another; secondly, my vehicle insurance is through Progressive. It’s shit like this that makes MY insurance rates go up. Anyways, the fact that the officers got off with a suspended sentence (that means NO jail time whatsoever) is a huge disservice to all of us citizens. I felt so strongly about it that I composed a letter to the editor, shown here:

After reading “Former officers sentenced for fraud” (Times-Mail, 03/02/06), I was awestruck at the sentences imposed on the defendants in this case. This seems like just another case of law enforcement looking out for their own.

The defendants in this case — both employees of the Mitchell Police Department when the incident occurred — received 180-day suspended sentences and one year of probation each. Brewer and Flynn received the equivalent of a 10-minute “timeout” that parents often give their children. I’ve seen harsher sentences handed down for MUCH lesser offenses.

Those involved in prosecuting this case have committed a huge injustice to all of us as citizens. This case had the opportunity to be a huge lesson to those that we trust “to serve and protect” and present a major deterrent in case others have the same idea of abusing their power in the future. It could have caused them to think twice before violating the ethical code and high moral standards that we uphold them to.

Unfortunately, the officers involved are not the only ones who have done us wrong. The prosecutors of this case should be held accountable for not prosecuting this case as fully as they could have. Indiana Code 35-44-1-2 declares “Official misconduct” to be a Class D Felony, punishable by up to three years in prison. I’ve reread the article many times, but nowhere did I see any mention of a conviction for “official misconduct”.

Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps an investigation by the Indiana State Police and an admission of guilt from one of the involved parties was not sufficient evidence for a conviction for “official misconduct”. Then again, perhaps it’s just another clear cut example of the “good ol’ boy network” that dominates our local governments.

Kudos to Mitchell Police Department Chief Mike Hardman, who contacted the Indiana State Police to initiate an investigation in this matter. Perhaps there is at least one person in local government that us citizens can depend on.

As a paying customer of Progressive Casualty Insurance Company, you can bet your socks that I’ll be contacting them as well to encourage them to pursue this matter to the fullest. It’s fraud like this that causes all of our insurance costs to rise.

Brewer	Flynn