Brickbat: It Takes a Thief

Former Trenton, Ohio, police officer Michael D. Gillen has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to theft in office and unauthorized use of property. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said Gillen had improperly profited from his work at the city impound lot.

Comments

[Snark Plissken]

Handsome is as handsome does.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If he had only beaten a fellow citizen he'd be officer of the year, but I suppose when one is assigned to the impound lot, one does not get many opportunities to receive those commendations.

[db]

He was probably one of the "good cops," being punished with a boring, do-nothing, low-visibility post for speaking out against some internal corruption. He saw the only way out was to get back into favor by abusing his office to show he.was ready to play with the big.boys, but.he underestimated something.

[Pathogen]

Or.. Or, he was a chronic, and habitual fuck-up, whose career ended in a moment of tragic hubris... Look for him, working a drive-thru or 7-11 near you...

[db]

I like to make.up fun stories. Yours is.just depressing.

[Pathogen]

Look on the bright side, that's one less underfunded pension liability that Trenton's on the hook for...

[Pathogen]

..He's giving back to the community.

[Pathogen]

"I don't want a large Farva! I want a goddammed literacola!"

[sloopyin??]

"Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?"

[invisible furry hand]

Thirty days for two felonies is terribly hard time. Let's pray for this thieving glorified car park attendant

[Ted S.]

Defense ought to use cop punishments, or the lack thereof, in sentencing hearings.

[Ted S.]

Er, defense attorneys.

[sloopyin??]

They make special crimes out of actions carried out against cops (assault of a police officer, etc) that carry special and enhanced penalties. Should the same not apply any time "under color of authority" or " official misconduct" is added to a charge? I'd say enhancing the penalty by 50% might get would-be lawbreaking cops to think twice.

Oh, and special prosecutors to be picked from the pool of local defense attorneys every time a cop has been accused of a crime.

[Ted S.]

As long as the special prosecutors have access to the DAs' budgets.

[db]

A spokesperson for DeWine's office in November said Gillen's indictments on theft in office and tampering with evidence stem from allegations he improperly profited in his role overseeing the impound lot.

Jones said a disgruntled worker - no longer with the city - accused Gillen of selling property out of the impound lot years ago, but those initial allegations were proved to be false.

That's some hard-nosed, crack.investigative reporting, right there.

[sloopyin??]

I'm shocked. Shocked to find thievery going on at a police impound lot.

Seriously, if you've ever had a car towed to an impound lot run by the city, I'm sure your experience included either a lock popped, a window forced down and almost all of the possessions of value missing. It's happened to me twice.

[sloopyin??]

And by "twice", I mean both times my car has been towed for illegal parking. And on one occasion, they towed me improperly but still refused to reimburse me for the impound fee or tow bill because I directly paid the tow company even though it was a city-run impound facility.

[invisible furry hand]

They needed the Supertramp 8-track to go with The Eagles 8-track they took the first time

[sloopyin??]

And the Credence.

[Steve G]

That'll teach him to not get caught next time.

[sarcasmic]

Jones said a disgruntled worker - no longer with the city - accused Gillen of selling property out of the impound lot years ago, but those initial allegations were proved to be false.

Disgruntled worker. So that's what they call whistle blowers these days.

[Radioactive]

if you disgruntled workers, can you have gruntled workers? and if so how do they act?

[Slammer]

but those initial allegations were proved to be false true

[db]

That, or "traitor."

[sarcasmic]

grun?tled
?gr?ntld/
adjective
humorous
adjective: gruntled

pleased, satisfied, and contented.

https://www.google.com/#q=gruntled

[Rufus J. Firefly]

But he's a good man. A good cop. He made a mistake. And always made it home.

[Scarecrow Repair]

Well, he won't make it home for 30 days now.