Pennsylvania State Troopers’ Misconduct

The following was posted by “M.”

PA Troopers’ Asian Sex Trips Surface in Lawsuit

Two thumbs up for the “First and Finest.” The Pennsylvania State police has been in service since 1905 and boasts a rank of over 4,000 Sworn personnel. After reading this article which recently broke regarding misconduct among the ranks, one can’t help but wonder if these thugs are actually sworn to “uphold the law” or to break it. Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between, but one theme seems to ring clear as a bell when it comes to police misconduct, lack of consequences and reprucussions.

The assigned task of “Internal affairs” and “Bureaus of Professional Responsibility” are the ones charged with the responsibility of intense and thorough investigations regarding ANY allegations of alleged misconduct. This begs the question of, “Who is watching the watchers?”

While it is true that a few good apples shouldn’t spoil the bunch, it seems that this agency has a fondness quite sexual in nature. Just look back to 2003…and farther…

Sexual Misconduct – Pennsylvania State Police

Over 150 Pennsylvania State Troopers Have Been Arrested Since 1994

Despite three separate incidents in February involving disgraced Pennsylvania state troopers, the public outrage has been minimal. While these troopers are not the first to run afoul of the law in the Keystone State, the short time span between these incidents, as well as several other high-profile incidents in recent years, suggests that there is something most definitely wrong with our state’s police force.

The PSP’s latest woes began on Wednesday, Feb. 2, when the body of suspended state trooper David Alan Lynch was found in a wooded area in Conyngham Township, Columbia County. Lynch’s death, which was ruled accidental, took place during the week in which the suspended trooper was scheduled to go on trial for resisting arrest, and a DUI (driving under the influence) charge stemming from a domestic disturbance in 2009.

(Shamokin News-Item, Feb. 9, 2011) On the same day, a Cumberland County jury found Trooper Barry Tangert, Jr. guilty of obstructing a child molestation investigation. Tangert is scheduled to be sentenced in March.

(Associated Press, Feb. 2, 2011) On Feb. 15, Pennsylvania State Trooper Douglas N. Sversko, of Lewisburg, was arrested after allegedly sending sexually explicit videos to an undercover agent from the Child Predator Unit posing as a 13-year-old girl. Sversko faces at least two felony counts. (Shamokin News-Item, Feb. 17, 2011) The conditions surrounding Sversko’s arrest are nearly identical to an incident involving another Pennsylvania state trooper which took place in Delaware County in 2008. Pennsylvania State Trooper Albert Silvari was arrested and convicted of criminal solicitation to rape, statutory sexual assault, and other charges. Silvari was caught in a sting while attempting to solicit two girls, aged 8 and 10.

Other incidents involving Pennsylvania troopers include the 2010 arrest of Daniel Freeman, a Washington County trooper involved in an arson plot, and the 2010 arrest of Christopher Miller, a Pennsylvania State Trooper who was caught on tape assaulting a 72-year old man near Greensburg. In 2009, trooper Kevin Foley was arrested and subsequently found guilty of killing a dentist in Blairsville, PA. Shawn Dillard, a state trooper in Harrisburg, was convicted in 2009 for aiding and abetting a child prostitution ring. In 2008, a state trooper named Kevin Coleman faced federal charges for protecting the very same child prostitution ring near Harrisburg. A Philadelphia-area state trooper named John Travis Lane was charged in 2003 with a string of burglaries in Chester County. Lane’s arrest in 2003 came a week after a state police report indicated that nearly 100 Pennsylvania state troopers had been arrested over the past decade for crimes ranging from incest to rape.

According to the state police study completed in 2003, a whopping 82 state troopers were arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges since 1994. The same report also revealed another 25 state troopers arrested for summary offenses such as disorderly conduct and harassment. After the release of the 2002 report, then-governor Ed Rendell vowed to fix the problem. In the meantime, residents of the Keystone State will be left to fend for themselves against the uniformed menace sworn to protect us.

This is a text book example of the very motto of Cop Block which is “badges don’t grant extra rights”… and they shouldn’t, but apparently they do in Pennsylvania, which is alarming considering these are public servants like any other and have taking the same oath to uphold the law and Constitution. Just maybe, the possibility exists that a secret oath was taken and perhaps a secret handshake was learned which enables these thugs to be able to also violate that same law they swore to protect and uphold. In other words, this is simply “par for the course.”