Let’s not forget this fact: In the dark and cold of a holiday overnight, some 75 dedicated law-enforcement officers searched intensely for a lost 3-year-old boy.
And they found him.
They brought to bear their experience, training, equipment, professionalism and dedication. There was a boy who was missing. His family was frantic.
And the cops saved him.
That’s what really matters in this situation. The cops were given a mission, and they accomplished it.
The other stuff is relevant, but it is not salient. It needs to be dealt with, but not fixated upon.
You’ve heard the back story. The little boy’s father – one of several adults at a loud and belligerent Thanksgiving party – is an investigator with the Rochester Police Department. Many of the officers involved in the search believe that the father was drunk. They also believe that the situation of the “missing” boy arose when the father drove the boy home and left him there alone asleep in his bed.
And they, seeing what they believed was intoxication, believed that the father was on the hook for one or two DWIs – one of them a felony – as well as a charge of endangering the welfare of a minor.
So when the deputy chief of the Greece Police Department sent everybody home without so much as a ticket, they were miffed. They felt that a “professional courtesy” had been done, and some looking the other way had occurred.
They may not be right.
But they sure were pissed.
Pissed that the integrity of their profession and badge was apparently besmirched by the actions of the missing boy’s father and the deputy chief who seemed to give him a pass.
So they contacted me.
Multiple officers, from multiple agencies.
Because they are stool pigeons? Because they are disloyal? Because they are whistle blowers?
No.
Because they believe in doing what’s right. And because they know that sunlight kills germs. And that, just in case something unethical happened, they wanted public scrutiny of it.
That is a refutation of the belief that cops cover for each other. It is a demonstration of just the opposite, in fact. Each of these officers was willing to risk trouble from bosses in order to make sure the right thing got done.
That is an integrity-based action.
So why did I publish the information they gave me?
Am I anti-cop?
No, I am pro-right.
That is my job. We all have a duty, and I try to do mine. I try to stand on the side of right. I drop the ball often, no doubt, and I am a pretty failed individual personally. But I try to do my duty.
Even when that pisses people off. As my column on this matter has pissed people off.
Some officers think I backstabbed them or their department. Some officers think I am against them.
Neither thing is true.
But I can’t be worried about whether or not officers understand that. They don’t go to work to kiss my ass, and I don’t go to work to kiss their ass.
Here’s my opinion on this matter: The cops are heroes.
I think the Rochester Police Department, whose officers thought to search the father’s home, was standup throughout this matter. RPD officers came in force and quickly when summoned. They worked hard and smart and they got the job done. The RPD has nothing to be ashamed of in this matter.
Even though it was an RPD investigator who was the seeming cause of all this.
His actions are his. And his motives are his.
Most believe he drove his son home, put the boy in bed, drove back to the party, and then blacked it out – because he was intoxicated.
Was he being a son of a bitch, or was he being a drunk? A son of a bitch, I can’t understand. A drunk, I can have some sympathy for.
In terms of him, he's suspended with pay and facing an internal investigation. Was he driving a take-home car drunk? Did he have his gun? Did his refusal to cooperate with searching Greece Police Department officers violate the regulations of his own department?
And is he a bad cop, or is he a guy with a bad problem.
While I'm pissing off cops, I might as well say this: The Rochester Police Department has a drinking problem. Everybody's favorite brand is self-medication, and officers who face hell on every shift are drinking themselves half to death when they're off shift.
Is that an overstatement? Yes. Is it also a real problem that endangers even the best officers? Also yes.
Is that this guy's problem? I don't know. But you've got an officer who is a recent Investigator of the Year and he forgets where he put his little boy. If that's not a problem, I don't know what is.
The RPD needs to access him, and save him, if he deserves it, or flush him, if he deserves it.
What about the Greece Police Department?
Go back to the first couple of sentences. The Greece Police Department got a call of a missing boy, and by sun up that boy was found and safe. That's a win. Period.
Are there lessons that could be learned? Of course. Just like every human undertaking every day.
But did the brass get it exactly correct?
No.
The deputy chief who decided to end it all with no charges was surrounded by officers whose professional judgment led them to a different conclusion. That doesn't mean the deputy chief is wrong, but it does mean there's room for discussion.
Further, the department's subsequent statement that it couldn't charge the off-duty Rochester cop and the investigation was closed is unsatisfactory and inadequate. It lacks transparency and seems hasty.
The deputy chief should publicly discuss his decision, and the department should detail its investigation into the matter.
Did the Greece PD review surveillance cameras along the route between the party and where the boy was found? Was plate-reader technology and data reviewed for any vehicles associated with the party or the boy's family? Did Greece officers share the belief of other officers that the boy's father was drunk when he went out driving, looking for the boy?
Is there any GPD body camera footage of the father, that might give insight into his possible inebriation? Do the boy's father and the Greece deputy chief know one another -- are they friends? Will the GPD release the video that shows a man leading a child from the troubled party?
Also, on the matter of the Greece Police Department, given its history, the phrase, "We don't know who drove him home," can never be used again when the issue of police integrity is being asked.
This will anger the Greece police chief.
And that's too bad.
But it's not anything I can pay attention to.
I don't play this to be liked, and I can't pay attention to who does or doesn't like me.
Personally, I believe the Greece police chief is a man of integrity, professionalism and personal goodness. I have sought his advice on personal matters in the past, and I would do it again.
But his department needs to step back and look at this again. And even if it comes to the same conclusions, it needs to present them, and the justification for them, in a fashion that is transparent and promotes public trust.