Posted: Wednesday, 25 March 2009 11:42AM
Somebody Call The Cops
Steve Corbett Reporting
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
As a veteran law enforcement officer, Lackawanna County Chief Deputy Sheriff Dominick Manetti should know the difference between right and wrong.
But, seasoned or not, Manetti might be a little too salty for his own good as well as for the taxpayers he’s paid to protect.
Old Forge police on Tuesday charged Manetti with criminal mischief for allegedly damaging a political campaign sign. The sign belonged to Lackawanna County Deputy Sheriff Chester Cipilewski, who is challenging incumbent Sheriff John Syzmanski for the Democratic nomination.
Two witnesses identified Manetti as the person who unlawfully took the sign last week, according to police.
Understanding what’s legal and illegal shapes the core of a good sheriff. And when that sense of duty is marred even by an accusation of criminal wrongdoing, system guardians must move quickly to prevent any further damage to the public trust.
When I spoke briefly to Manetti last week, I asked him if he had been cited for stealing a campaign sign.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
Looking back, I realize that what Manetti said was true. Manetti hadn’t yet been charged. But he offered no additional detail about the political campaign sign stealing, acting as if he had no idea what I was talking about. Maybe he didn’t know. But maybe he was playing cute and being disingenuous by letting me hang up under the impression that nothing of the sort had happened in Old Forge.
Either way, he’s now charged in a criminal action that has been filed before a magistrate.
Manetti will either plead guilty or ask for a hearing.
Either way, his career is at stake.
I also spoke briefly yesterday with Syzmanski.
I asked him about the charge against his right-hand man.
“No comment,” said the sheriff who has held office for decades and wants people to trust him enough to re-elect him for yet another term of office.
“Will you suspend Manetti?” I asked Syzmanski.
“No comment,” he said.
He hung up the telephone as I was in the middle of asking another question.
That question was about whether Syzmanski believes the people of Lackawanna County deserve answers to serious questions about Manetti, a man who carries a badge and a gun and who works for Syzmanski in a position of authority and responsibility.
Syzmanski clearly believes he owes us nothing.
Instead of disrespecting the people he serves, Syzmanski should suspend Manetti without pay pending the outcome of the charge.
If Manetti pleads guilty, Syzmanski should terminate him. Taxpayers will have lost no money and a wrong will have been righted. If Manetti is absolved of the charge against him, he can be reinstated with his back pay.
Sometimes justice is as simple as that.
But Manetti remains on the job, supervising the man whose political campaign sign he is charged with damaging. Cipilewski said on “Corbett” yesterday that he and his supporters have already felt retribution for his campaign against Syzmanski.
As of now, Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola – who Cipilewski claims is a friend of Manetti - has no involvement in the case that will be decided at the magisterial level. If the case is tossed, however, Cipilewski should ask Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett – no relation to me – to open an investigation into the entire matter, including allegations of political retribution and conflict of interest.
The charge against Manetti might only be a summary non-traffic citation but it goes to the heart of the system that is designed to protect our rights. The people are truly lost without faith in the system and in those who are duty-bound to uphold the law.
Credibility matters immensely.
And as of now, Manetti has little. Neither does Syzmanski.
We’re in big trouble in Lackawanna County.
Will somebody please call the cops?
And I mean real cops – not the thousands of bogus honorary deputy sheriffs that Syzmanski has sworn in over the years as a way to firm up his political base.
I’m talking real cops – people who truly know the difference between right and wrong.
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