Patrol potholes

A comprehensive investigation of the Highway Patrol is necessary. But it should be absolutely independent

Governor Easley is doing the right thing -- and frankly, there's not much more he can do at this point -- in calling for a review of State Highway Patrol hiring and supervision of the ranks. The Patrol is in a mess with regard to its image, and it needs to be cleaned up quickly.

Case in point: Whatever possessed some members of the Patrol to conduct themselves in a manner that makes "Desperate Housewives" look like wholesome family entertainment?

The latest embarrassment came to light with a ruling from Administrative Law Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter that the firing of a trooper in 2003 was unfair. The trooper, Monty Steven Poarch, based in Alexander County, was fired for having extramarital sex with a woman in his patrol car and at a district station.

Lassiter declared that Poarch was entitled to be reinstated with back pay. The reason ought to be nothing less than a humiliation for the Highway Patrol. The judge -- who actually agreed that the Patrol had grounds to fire Poarch, but didn't use them -- found that other troopers had engaged in similar or worse behavior and had been allowed to remain on the force, and therefore that Poarch was wronged because punishments of others over behavior comparable to his had not been as severe.

(In fact, she'd made a similar ruling four years ago, when she said a trooper caught in a prostitution ring ought to be reinstated because two other troopers engaged in worse activity weren't fired.)

One trooper in the summer of 2002 had sex with his ex-wife while on duty, and had made threatening phone calls to her. He was demoted by then-Patrol Commander Richard Holden. Another trooper, also in 2002, had sex in a woman's car and put his pistol under a seat, and a court order said the loaded pistol later was discovered by children. He was suspended for five days without pay by Holden. In April of 1999, a trooper was having an affair with the wife of a subordinate and met her while on duty. Holden demoted and transferred the trooper.

Holden, by the way, made the call that Poarch should be fired.

Easley has said he will not allow Poarch to return to the Patrol. His administration has good reason to appeal Lassiter's decision on reinstatement, although of course the state will be bound by the law when all is said and done.

It appears that since some of these incidents covered in court documents occurred, current Patrol Commander Fletcher Clay has tightened guidelines for troopers and made it clear he will have no tolerance for this kind of behavior.

And although Patrol leaders stress, no doubt accurately, that this behavior doesn't reflect the conduct of the vast majority of troopers, these episodes as revealed in records and other incidents of late -- including the trooper who was pulling over a disproportionate number of young women on patrol in Wake County -- cast a sorry shadow on the organization.

The standards of behavior for people entrusted with this kind of authority and power are, or ought to be, even higher than those for other public servants.

Unfortunately, in calling for a review of Patrol practices, Easley has made one serious misjudgment, naming Patrol Commander Clay and his supervisor, Bryan Beatty, secretary of the department of Crime Control and Public Safety, to head the effort. It should be handled by an independent panel free of political ties to the governor or the Patrol, and Easley should reconsider this part of his decision immediately. Clay and Beatty, atop the Patrol's chain of command, don't need to be in the position of essentially reviewing themselves.