Meet Police Chief Dexter Yarbrough:
While the sudden suspension of CSU Police Chief Dexter Yarbrough last month came as another shocking challenge facing a transitioning administration, several campus officers say his absence comes as a breath of fresh air to the department — putting what several independent sources called his “reign of terror” on hiatus.
Listing numerous accusations of improprieties ranging from falsifying police documents, to mandating the special treatment of student athletes, to teaching students illegal police tactics, several timid police officers say the President’s Office had plenty of alarming evidence to take action long ago but turned a blind eye to a handful of alleged abuses of power.
This guy is clearly Colorado State University’s answer to Scalia’s new professionalism.
In one classroom lecture in spring 2008, Yarbrough advised his students — including many aspiring police officers — to provide illicit drugs to informants as payment for information.
…
“Let me tell you what I would do: You give it to them, but you let them know that, hey, if you get caught with this, you know, don’t say my name. Or if they get sick or something, I never gave them those (drugs).
“Didn’t I tell you guys that sometimes the police lie? Didn’t I tell you guys that? If I didn’t, there you go.”
Here’s my favorite part of the story:
In a later lecture, the chief, who was a Chicago policeman prior to entering academia, said sometimes excessive and violent force against a suspect is a “reality of law enforcement.”
“If there’s a news conference going on, I can’t get in front of a crowd and say. ‘He got exactly what the f*** he deserved.’ You know the police should have beat him, you know. I used to beat ass when I was in Chicago, too. I can’t say that.
“I’d have to say, ‘Well, you know we’re going to have to look into this matter seriously … all of our officers, we like to think that they operate with the utmost integrity and ethics … All of that sh** sounds good. That sh** sounds real good, but in the back of my mind, damn. He got popped. If he would have done it the way we used to do it in Chi town (Chicago), man, none of this sh** would have happened.”
Second City Cop (from whom I stole the title of this post) sums it up for us: “What a mope.”
(Hat tip: Rogier van Bakel)
Update: The rumor mill in the comments at Second City Cop fills in some of Yarbrough’s background.
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