In Police We Trust
Any police department is most effective when it has the trust of the people it serves. But one of the quickest ways to erode that trust is for members of any law enforcement agency to disobey the laws they are sworn to enforce.
An incident in Chelan County earlier this month is especially troubling. A sergeant with the Seattle Police Department was arrested on a charge of fourth-degree domestic violence assault. To make matters worse, the sergeant is a member of SPD’s domestic violence unit.
On October 15 about 11:45pm, Ronald Lee Murray and a female companion were walking toward a shuttle bus stop at Octoberfest in Leavenworth. According to police, the woman (who appeared to be intoxicated) became upset that Murray had given away $20 in beer tickets. Officers on the scene reported seeing Murray dragging the 44-year old woman by her hair and the back of her jacket through the parking lot.
Murray was arrested without incident and was later released on bond. The woman was uninjured but was described as hysterical following the incident. The sergeant will likely enter a plea in his criminal case later this month, but is expected to receive an “investigatory transfer” out of Seattle PD’s domestic violence unit while an internal probe is launched. The department’s Office of Professional Accountability will also initiate its own investigation into the matter.
Such behavior, even from a single member of a police unit, has the potential of greatly undermining the entire unit’s perception in the community as well as its effectiveness. Fairly or not, law enforcement personnel are held to a higher standard of conduct than the average civilian – especially when it comes to avoiding the very criminal activity that a given unit is supposed to be focusing on.