
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994                    TAG: 9406020009 
SECTION: FRONT                     PAGE: A16    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Medium 
DATELINE: 940602                                 LENGTH:

NEWPORT NEWS POLICE PROBE: ACCOUNTABILITY ESSENTIAL

{LEAD} The ill-conceived sting that cost Newport News police Officer Steven Rutherford his life in January has now cost police Chief Jay Carey Jr. his job. It could hardly have been otherwise.

The attempt to catch the perpetrators of a series of pizza-delivery robberies was poorly planned and hastily executed. When it went fatally wrong, the chief called the bungled affair a textbook operation and did not institute a credible departmental investigation.

{REST} That was left to the initiative of the City Council and City Manager Ed Maroney and an investigative panel named by Gov. George Allen. In announcing the firing of Mr. Carey and the disciplining of seven other high-ranking officers, Mr. Maroney faulted the chief for negligence in the planning and execution of the operation. But he was harshest concerning the failures of communication within the department and with members of the local government and the public. He also cited the failure by some members of the department to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Mr. Carey said many of the flaws in the operation and its subsequent investigation were ``beyond my control.'' But he also conceded that any police chief is inevitably accountable for what happens on his watch.

Mr. Maroney announced the appointment of William Corvello, the retired superintendent of the Virginia State Police, as acting chief until a replacement can be hired. But this doesn't put an end to the episode. Mr. Maroney suggested that two other officers may still be disciplined and criminal charges might even be filed against members of the department.

This case revealed a department with flawed management, but also one reluctant to face up to its own errors and shortcomings in an effort to correct them. To begin repairing the damage, Carey had to go. But Corvello will have to complete the process of identifying weaknesses, disciplining those at fault and installing procedures and personnel capable of preventing a repetition.

Loyalty has to run down as well as up. If officers are expected to place their lives on the line, they have to know that their superiors will give them the fuillest backing possible. And if one of their number is killed and superiors are seen to be evading responsibility, that sends a message to the rest of the department that it is not wise to stick one's neck out. And the public safety suffers.

by CNB