Let's Go To The Videotape! | Thanks For The Help, Judge!

The Stars Are Shining In Dallas

In an event that has taken place annually for the past seven years, the Dallas (TX) Police Department paused last October, to recognize and applaud the 2001 recipients of the Shining Star Award.

Funded by the Maguire Oil Company, the award is intended to honor officers whose voluntary actions went "above and beyond" in terms of ethics, character and service to others. Senior Corporal Darvin Hill, for example, was recognized for using his vacation time on two missionary trips to Zambia and South Africa where he worked helping children in a refugee camp. He also paid school tuition for more than 60 orphans, and delivered toys to the families of children who had suffered through war and famine. As part of his volunteer work, Hill conducted seminars encouraging people to resolve family and tribal problems without violence.

A second award recipient, Senior Corporal Dianna McLuckie, worked to put the son of a dead officer in touch with other relatives. When the 10-year-old boy's father died of a heart attack in 1998, she traveled across Texas to create a scrapbook of pictures and information about his father. She was even able to put the young fellow in touch with his late father's stepbrothers and stepsisters. As McLuckie pointed out: "I did it out of love and concern and because he needed a connection to his father. I couldn't bear someone not knowing about their father." (Dallas Morning News, October 24, 2001)

Let's Go To The Videotape!

As the recent National Football League season wound down to an exciting conclusion, many fans were glued to their televisions watching the final decisive games. Included among that number, it seems, was at least one police officer assigned to Denver (CO) International Airport.

With airport security at its highest level ever and the Winter Olympics only days away, a Denver TV station videotaped an officer entering a windowless break room during a playoff game, and leaving hours later. Another officer was clocked spending four hours of an eight-hour shift in that same location.

According to the Associated Press (February 6, 2002), the chairman of the City Council's airport committee was outraged. "I went to the moon," he said. "How do you explain that you've got police officers, sworn to serve and protect, spending five hours watching football instead of watching the airport?"

Thanks For The Help, Judge!

When the police around Finleyville, PA, began to wonder why their investigations into illegal gambling kept running into dead ends, they didn't have to look very far for the source of the problem ... a local judge was tipping off the operators of illegal video poker machines about search warrants he signed. According to the New York Times (February 6, 2001), a Washington County district justice was convicted of conspiring to operate a gambling operation, running a gambling business and attempting to obstruct police.

The judge, who had been in office since 1988, received $10,000 in payoffs from video gambling machines at a coffee shop. Suspended with pay for two years while the case was being investigated, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

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Let's Go To The Videotape Do you feel confident about "tightened security" at airports around the United States? And are all police officers doing their best to keep us safe when we travel?

Thanks for The Help, Judge! When investigations fall short, it is always important to find out why. Sometimes the failure can be traced to unusual - and surprising - sources.

Cartoons & Pictures Check here to see how Calvin and Hobbes use their typically wry wit to provide insight on ethical issues. In addition, peruse pictures of recent classes and ethics programs. Continue...