MuskogeePhoenix.com, Muskogee, OK

Editorials

Discussion

November 23, 2009

Troopers’ character the issue

We respect the job that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and troopers do in our state.

However, we do not respect a few of the decisions made in the last year by the law enforcement agency.

Most recently, the OHP ruled that Troopers Daniel Martin and Tommy Allen did not use excessive force in a controversial Oct. 3 arrest near Holdenville. The OHP made the announcement while also releasing two minutes of the arrest video captured by a OHP dashboard camera that some estimated was as much as 45 minutes long.

The first question comes naturally — why did the OHP not show more of the tape?

Martin was involved in a much-publicized May scuffle with an ambulance paramedic that ended with Martin suspended for five days in July. It shouldn’t have taken more than two months to suspend Martin. And given Martin’s belligerent and harsh physical reproof of the paramedic for a gesture Martin only suspected, Martin should have been fired.

Earlier this year, OHP also decided only to slap the hands of three troopers who falsified time logs at the governor’s mansion, claiming hours they were not at work.

The falsified logs and Martin’s erratic behavior are not simply human error. They show serious character flaws.

Oklahomans should require high, not mediocre, standards from its law enforcement personnel. OHP seems satisfied with the latter.

Text Only
Editorials