Newsbrief:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
3/4/05
This week has been a quiet one on the police corruption beat. Of three officers featured this week, two appear to have been only drug users, while a third may or may not have been doing some dealing on the side. Such behavior, while hypocritical, does not rise to the level of corruption, except in the sense that when officers sworn to uphold the law violate those same laws, they have a corrosive impact on the legitimacy of law enforcement. Here we go, not so much with corrupt cops as cops on dope: Bridgeport, Connecticut, Police Detective Jeffrey Streck was arrested on February 25 on charges he conspired to possess and distribute oxycodone, the active ingredient in the opioid pain reliever Oxycontin. Streck was overheard talking in code about Oxycontin on cell-phones wiretapped as part of an ongoing drug investigation. The 11-year veteran is one of seven defendants arrested in that case and faces up to 24 years in prison. Streck has been off-duty on injury leave for six months. His attorney told the Connecticut Post that he has a serious back injury suffered while apprehending a suspect. While Streck's attorney argued that his role in the conspiracy was limited to attempting to obtain pain pills, some of the recorded phone conversations suggest he was being enlisted to "encourage" a late-paying customer's payment and that he had distributed drugs. He has been suspended without pay and is free on bond. He will appear in federal court on March 16 for a probable cause hearing. Galveston, Texas, Police Officer Price Padgett was charged Monday with possession of Ecstasy after what looks to have been a bit too much celebrating on New Year's Eve. Padgett, 33, an 11-year veteran, rolled his car late that night, and police on the scene allegedly found the drug in his vehicle as they investigated, the Houston Chronicle reported. He faces up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. Galveston Police Chief Kenneth Mack refused to tell the Chronicle whether Padgett had been suspended pending completion of an internal investigation. Ross Township, Pennsylvania, Police Officer Michael Baird, 37, was arrested along with three other people February 25 at a meth lab bust at his home in nearby Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. They were awaiting arraignment. Baird was hired as a Ross Township policeman in 1997, but reportedly had not been on active duty for several years. His landlord, Thomas Chianelli, told the Tribune-Review he did not conduct a background check on Baird. "I figured I didn't have to do much checking up on a cop," he said.
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