Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez issued this statement after the arrest of a Durham police officer.
Stephen Patrick Commander Jr., 31, of Oxford, was charged Friday in connection with a November home break-in in Wake Forest. (Read Thomasi McDonald's story here.) He is also accused of threatening the homeowners.
The arrest comes on the heels of the arrest of a former Durham cop. Sherrod Peace was indicted on charges of selling cocaine while in the possession of a firearm. He left the force in December.
Both arrests follow the overtime scandal that cost Deputy Chief B.J. Council her job after an officer she supervised was accused of claiming more than $60,000 in overtime. Council took early retirement at the end of last year. An investigation in that case continues.
Here is Lopez's statement:
As chief of police for the City of Durham, I am deeply disappointed in the recent arrests of Officer Stephen Commander and former officer Sherrod Peace. These arrests are in no way reflective of our officers who work hard and serve our community every day.
I understand that alleged misconduct on the part of law enforcement officers can damage public trust. That is why the Durham Police Department takes allegations such as these so seriously.
Our officers undergo ethics training as rookies and duringy early in-service training classes. Officers are held to a higher standard and I expect them to live up to their oaths of office and serve and protect th ecommunity. Our officers are expected to know the department’s general orders and abide by them on and off duty. The general orders include sections on ethics, legal issues and professional behavior.
All allegations of police misconduct are investigated thoroughly by our Professional Standards Division. Any allegations of criminal misconduct are also investigated by our Criminal Investigations Division.
In these recent cases, please keep in mind the officers are entitled to due process and the cases are still under investigation and nothing has yet been adjudicated.
I want the community to rest assured that the Durham Police Department is committed to providing the best service possible with professionalism, integrity, pride and dedication to the community. These are the attributes that define our department, our officers and our profession.
Comments
For all you highly informed
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 09:28 — charlesw62For all you highly informed "hill-folk" I'm Black and the KKK would NOT be sending me an application. I have NEVER been arrested by hispanic, white or black cops...not even a traffic citation in 48 years. I too have worked with hispanic cops in NYC and I know for a fact they bring their culture with them. They think nothing of taking a dollar or two here and there to help their "people". The Chief is RESPONIBLE for the actions of ALL his officers and therefore should be taking the blame. I find it hard to believe that in such a small department, he did NOT know whats going on. I've been to mexico to retrieve high value persons and its unbelievable how much security we needed to move around...the place is a cesspool of drugs, murder and corruption with the police involved. I hope Lopez's background was investigated VERY thoughly as well as his family's too.
"In recent weeks, every high-level head of the most violent drug hauling gang, headquartered in Sinaloa, has been captured or killed, by Mexican police" and guess who took their place...Mexican police officals!!!! Oh gee, my heart bleeds for the mexican police...boo hoo. We need to close the border and shoot anyone who attempts to cross illegally. We need to send the Marines into these border towns and wipe out the drug lords and their corrupt allies. As far as "outstanding lawmen" here, I hardly think Andy Griffith and Barney Fife are considered outstanding. They Keystone cops would be better at law enforcement here. FYI: I KNOW what "U.S. agriculture-based operation" you are referring to and I would hardly consider that "functional", but rather a "front" for other reasons which I will not go into publicly. Also, those who undercover work are the ones who are facilitating the drugs lords free reign. You cannot trust them, that is why this needs to be a military operation with the expressed objective of discouraging illegal border crossings and the total annihilation of drug lords and their crops.
Officer Commander Higher Rank?
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 19:42 — watchtowerIsn't a Commander above a Chief in the chain of command? Maybe not with cops I guess. Does Durham force their officers to take on new names, granted to them by Sarah Palin? Commander, Peace, Elmo, Pigman....etc....
holtonfb
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 18:43 — holtonfband it might be pointed out that the two officers the chief was referring to are anglos, as is the retired deputy and the overtime cheat ... I really think Charles' problem is that he's run afoul of some honest Hispanic cops that arrested him ...or maybe, just maybe, he just a good old fashioned bigot!!
hispanics in law enforcement
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 18:35 — holtonfbhey charles .,. post your address, the Klu Kluz Klan wants to send you an application.
as for your feelings about Hispanics in law enforcement .. who the hell do you think are sent to do under coverwork in the border states and mexico?/ It sure ain't red head, blue eye Irishmen ..x ..o
When a JackAss Brays,Consider the Source.
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 15:59 — bigsurmac"This is why hispanics should NOT be running a US police department"
ITEM -- BOTH OF THE CHARGED INDIVIDUALS WERE HIRED INTO THE DURHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT BEFORE CHIEF LOPEZ ARRIVED.
ONE WAS TERMINATED AFTER CHIEF LOPEZ ARRIVED.
Charlesw62 needs to get his head screwed back on -- rather than his present mental condition of being "Screwed up."
Because the U.S. is providing the earth's biggest and most profitable drug market, Mexico has a serious drug trafficking problem.
REALITY -- Every day in Mexico, working policemen, military personnel, prosecutors and judges confront DEATH battling the Columbian Drug Cartel's transport contractors in Mexico.
More Mexican law enforcement people have died in their war to keep drugs out of the U.S. just in the past year -- than the total numbers of U.S. officers killed fighting drugs in the past ten years. Try telling the children of the police officers, prosecutors and judges who have died in this fight -- just how corrupt their fathers and mothers were.
Charles -- you are a completely irrational idiot.
Anyone who opposes the Columbian Drug Lords and their confederates in any nation becomes a target.
In recent weeks, every high-level head of the most violent drug hauling gang, headquartered in Sinaloa, has been captured or killed, by Mexican police.
Some years ago, I worked with a U.S. agriculture-based operation out of Los Mochis, Sinaloa.
Every day, we worked with local police. I have never met a more professional group of officers in North Carolina -- and we have some outstanding lawmen here.
Not "all the cops in Mexico are rife with corruption, murder and drug dealing,"
just as not all the cops and deputies in Robeson County were guilty of the misconduct which resulted in major charges just a few months ago.
When an unmitigated racist bigot shows his head, we best remember --
THIS IS HOW THE NAZIS STARTED IN GERMANY IN THE EARLY 30s, by screaming lies and repeating them.
Really?
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 15:02 — MrKnockoffNice. Your comments are most illuminating.
Unbelievable.
This is why hispanics should
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 14:27 — charlesw62This is why hispanics should NOT be running a US police department. Look at all the cops in mexico...rife with corruption, murder and drug dealing... and they get away with it...get rid of him and his mexican drug lord mentality