I often tell people who work here not to do anything I
can't publicly defend them on.
That's the position Wilmington's police chief finds
himself in this week. Chief Ralph Evangelous has said a botched police sting last
year on prostitution and drugs is a mess.
There are questions about what went down, how the money
for the operation was used and what happened to a camera police used to record
these activities. It's gone missing. Making it worse, no one spoke up for
months. The chief calls it a code of
silence.
Unfortunately, with some people, there's already an
inherent distrust in police officers, and this doesn't help.
But, the chief's hands are not tied here. He can and should say more about who was
disciplined and how, plus show what the department's internal investigation
revealed on how this operation failed.
There's a state law that allows municipalities to release
this type of information if they need to maintain the integrity of the
department.
It's been my experience that the absence of the facts
only fuels the rumor mill. And in most
cases that information is more damning than the truth. Chief Evangelous and our city leaders should
consider that.
That's my turn. Now it's your turn. To comment on this segment,
or anything else, email me at yourturn@wect.com.
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