Saturday, September 8, 2007

Cops charged as criminals? This has to stop

First Canton Police Officer Bobby Cutts is charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend.

Now it's Summit County Sheriff's Deputy Stephen Krendick ... and in addition, four of his fellow deputies face serious prison time for their alleged roles in the death of an inmate.

What gives?

There's still so much we don't know about both cases, so I can't speculate as to their innocence or guilt.

But somewhere, someone, somehow we've got to turn this sucker punch around as a community. It only takes one incident like this to fuel anti-police sentiment ... now we've had two local cops charged with murder in just a few month's time. And remember, they're some in the community who are still distrustful of APD following the Demetrus Vinson case (note: both an internal review and a special prosecutor cleared the Akron officers involved; Summit County Prosecutor has yet to give her ruling on Vinson).

If you can accept that police officers are held to a higher standard as community role models, then accept that it only takes one officer crossing the line to tarnish the image of the whole force. So how much damage is done when officers are indicted for murder?

Imagine being the family members of the hundreds of people (men and women) who are tonight confined to the Summit County Jail. How worried must they be for their loved ones' safety?

On the flip side, imagine how difficult it must be for the remaining jail deputies who are doing their best in a profession they love while the community microscope begins to focus hard on them. How tough will it be come Monday when they'll be looking at five of their fellow deputies in orange jumpsuits?

While it's commendable that the system holds all of us (police officers included) to the standard of the law, it's not fair that the rest of our local police officers pay the price for others' bad choices.

Somewhere, someone, somehow we have to turn this around.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Only takes one bad apple to ruin the basket. Very non-bias way of putting it Mr. Mansfield. I know some really nice officers but, there are still 8 of the origional 13 that were going to be indicted. Good Luck on taking over the story with Mr. Thomas on vacation.

Anonymous said...

It is really sad that the image
of all policemen and women are
tarnished when something like this
happens. Its also sad when people
join the police force to feed
their own egos, and need for unquestioned authority and control.
And any reasonably intellegent
person knows that a percentage of people who become policepersons, do it to feed some sadistic piece
of themselves. Its all about their
finding a legal way to be the sadistic, controlling, autocratic,
evil people that they really are
deep down inside. When they finally
get caught being the jerk they really are, and get into serious
trouble legally, its just because
their ego, their meanness, the evil
in their heart, and their mistaken
thoughts of being "all that and a
bag of chips", convinces them that
they can do ANYTHING that they choose, with no repercussions whatsoever. Sort of being "legends
in their own minds".
And too, they usually have prior
incidents in their files that are
indicative of the exact kinds of
persons I mentioned. Its kind of like child molesters in that, by the time they get caught at it, they have probabaly molested 20 other kids already, and this time things escalated and got out of
their control, or they just got to
cocky, and then careless, and then
caught. This cop was bad inside already. Being a policeman was the
perfect way for him to be who he
really was, and literally "Hide in
Plain Sight".
His being capable of killing someone who loved him, respected him, bore a child for him, and was pregnant with a second child with him, was not a spur of the moment thing. No "heat of the moment",
no "jealous rage", no "mental
breakdown", no PCP induced rage,
and no accident. Just him being HIMSELF. Just him being the self
absorbed, self centered, lying, cheating,autocratic, mean, egotistical, hardhearted, evil
person he has been most of his life, I'm sure.
His being a policeman didnt make
him like that. It just gave him a way to do it out in the open.
And never in a million years, would I ever believe that at least 2 other people, know and have seen the real Bobby Cutts at least once. This guy should spend the
rest of his natural life in a
8 by 6 foot cage. With a door that
is open to the general prison
population for at least 10 hours a day. The death penalty would be
to good for him. He should suffer
the same fear and pain that his
victim did. And he should suffer
greatly for the death of that unborn child. Because he knew that
that child would arrive any day, any minute, and he killed it.
He knew that hurting her, would also hurt that unborn child, and
still, he killed her. What thoughts could he, must he, have had while that was going on.
There is no defense for him. NONE
AT ALL.
And no one should look on the other police in Akron with anything but respect and loyalty.
It was not they that did this evil
thing, it was BOBBY CUTTS, and he
alone, should be shunned, and hated, and distrusted, and deamonized, and disrespected. Not
his co-workers, not the city of
Akron, and not his family. Even
though I'm sure his family was not
as blind to the "real" Bobby Cutts
as they would have us to believe.

Anonymous said...

The case against the deputies will
resolve itself for the good or the
bad a real tragedy for all the people this has affected..maybe the bigger question is
why are so many mental ill people
being housed in our county jails,is
this what they meant by deinstitutionaliztion? Take people who are seriously ill/put them on
the streets? No, the end up in the
jail, over & over. This is an problem with no end in sight, and unless community leaders step up and find appropriate long term treatment facilities for our mentally ill history is bound to repeat itself......

Anonymous said...

Regarding the five charged deputies: Most of the info we see and hear on the news is from the victim's family because the accussed officers and their families are told not to talk to the media. I know the truth will come out in the end, and I hope people remember there are two sides to the story and read between the lines when they see the one-sided stories printed in the paper.

susieque said...

to the first anonymous poster:

I hope you or your loved ones never need the assistance of the police...
but if you do please call the candy stripers. at least they aren't evil, sadistic, controlling and autocratic.
good luck going thru life with those rose colored glasses.