
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 1, 1993                   TAG: 9310010339
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INDICTED MAN TAUGHT NARCOTICS INVESTIGATION

A former Roanoke County Police Department employee who resigned this week after being named in a federal drug indictment taught a narcotics investigation course last year at Dabney Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge.

Kevin Meredith was hired by Police Chief John Cease three years ago despite a previous guilty plea in a marijuana case nine years ago in West Virginia.

Meredith was hired last January as a temporary fill-in to teach the narcotics course by Dabney Lancaster administrators, who assumed if he worked for a police department he had a clean criminal record, college President John Backels said.

A spokeswoman for the college said Meredith taught only half a semester of the course, "Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs."

A student, who asked not to be named, said Meredith had cautioned students that "they would never be hired by the Roanoke County Police Department" if they had a drug conviction.

"I think it was kind of hypocritical," the student said.

Despite revelations about Meredith's background, Backels said he had the necessary academic credentials to teach at Dabney Lancaster.

"It was logical to assume he had a clean criminal background," Backels said. "If you work for the Virginia State Police, you would have a clean criminal record."

Dabney Lancaster was not the only Western Virginia college to put faith in Meredith, who has a master's degree in public administration from West Virginia University.

In August, he began teaching an introductory criminal justice course at Radford University as an adjunct faculty member.

Meredith had been instrumental in coordinating an internship program between the college and the county Police Department, said Paul Lang, the head of the school's criminal justice department.

Since his indictment, Meredith has been suspended from his teaching job with pay until his criminal case is concluded.

Steve Pontius, the dean of the university's College of Arts and Science, said Meredith's hiring may cause some tightening in background checks given to temporary faculty members.

"We want to review procedures," Pontius said. "It's certainly something I want to discuss with the department chair and faculty."

Backels said Dabney Lancaster will go through a similar review.

by CNB