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 SBI guilty of poor law enforcement
by Tom Campbell
August 12, 2010
Prosecutors, defense attorneys, out-of-state criminal investigators and even law enforcement officials have complained for years about investigative practices at the State Bureau of Investigation. It took two high-profile verdict reversals and knowledge about a damning investigative series in The News and Observer before Attorney General Roy Cooper took action by replacing the Director of the SBI and suspending the bloodstain pattern analyst’s unit.
These revelations are the latest in a series of misconduct, corruption and ethical violations in state government. The public is weary of problems in the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Highway Patrol, the State Board of Elections and now the SBI. It helps explain why citizens of this state hold a low opinion of state government in general.
We find it unconscionable that one person suffered 17 years in prison and another 14 years in confinement because of poor SBI work. How many more innocent people are behind bars in our state because of “junk science,” prejudiced investigators or lazy and fraudulent investigations? More than one District Attorney is questioning whether shoddy investigative tactics by the SBI might have impacted their homicide cases. They have every right to be concerned and it would be reasonable, although time consuming and expensive, to review every capital conviction in North Carolina.
It is also reasonable to ask what action will be taken against the agents, supervisors and SBI Director whose shoddy work, poor oversight and lax management cost at least two men so much of their lives. The public will forgive honest mistakes but it appears there were deliberate attempts to cover up or, worse still, manufacture evidence. When complaints were lodged, management turned their collective heads.
The state will no doubt pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation to these two and perhaps others who have been wronged, but the greater cost is the further loss of confidence in law enforcement. Our pursuit of justice should include those in the SBI who are guilty of crimes of omission and commission. Not only do we hold those in law enforcement to high standards but we should also hold them accountable for their actions. Getting fired for knowingly putting an innocent person in jail for 17 years seems too small a price to pay for the crime committed against this person.
The larger question is what our leaders will do to restore confidence? Business-as-usual responses about people needing more training or reassigning those involved to another division are not acceptable. This is a time when leaders must do three things. They must acknowledge the failures, tell the public what actions they have taken to fix the problems and offer sufficient transparency to demonstrate these sins will not occur again. This accounting must also report personnel actions taken. If we cannot trust those in law enforcement who can we trust? |
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