Many read with interest the Charlotte Observer's report "Sunlight doesn't reach N.C. personnel files"
The article went on to say:
Former police officer Marcus Jackson is in jail, charged with sexually assaulting six Charlotte women while he patrolled the city's east side.
When Charlotte-Mecklenburg police fired him in December, they called a news conference to spell out the women's allegations against Jackson - which Chief Rodney Monroe called "despicable" acts.
What Monroe didn't say then was that Jackson had a domestic violence complaint against him before he was hired, or that Jackson had twice faced suspension for other issues during his first year on patrol....
While over at the New Bern Sun Journal a story titled "Hiding in Plain Sight" has run on Saturday.
The story was:
Former state Trooper Michael Steele is serving at least six years in prison for a crime that abused the public’s trust.
In August 2008, Steele cruised Orange County in his patrol car, looking for Latina women who he suspected were here illegally and therefore unlikely to report his attempts to coerce them into having sex with him. Steele forced three women from their vehicles and into his patrol car before he was caught.
The public will probably never know whether there were warning signs about Steele’s character during his training and time on the job, because state officials won’t make that information public. They cite the same reason that has time and again barred the public from learning little more than the most basic details about the employees whose salaries they pay:
“The information contained in the file is protected by state personnel laws,” said state Highway Patrol spokesman Everett Clendenin.
But about half way down each story, these two parallel universes begin to merge:
Charlotte Observer:
A barrier to employers
The law has become such a barrier that even governmental agencies are being shut out.
School districts are citing the personnel law in failing to share information about teachers who behave badly, and then quietly move on to other districts, said Katie Cornetto, a lawyer with the State Board of Education. She said the result is known as "passing the trash."
The Sun Journal:
A barrier to employers
But the law has become such a barrier that even governmental agencies — and those they hire to examine personnel problems — are being shut out.
School districts are citing the personnel law in failing to share information about teachers who behave badly, who then quietly move on to other districts, said Katie Cornetto, a lawyer with the State Board of Education. She said the result is known as “passing the trash.”
The Sun Journal:
Investigating police
The state Highway Patrol has had more than two dozen cases of trooper misconduct since 1997, many of them sex-related. Two years ago, the patrol spent nearly $100,000 for an independent consultant to evaluate the patrol’s hiring, training and supervision of troopers. But the consultant, Kroll, never looked at misconduct cases, because the personnel law prohibited an examination of those files. The patrol continues to keep a tight rein on information involving misbehaving troopers.
The Charlotte Observer:
Investigating police
The state Highway Patrol has had more than two dozen cases of trooper misconduct since 1997many of them sex-related.
Two years ago, the patrol spent nearly $100,000 for an independent consultant to evaluate the patrol's hiring, training and supervision of troopers. But the consultant, Kroll, never looked at misconduct cases, because the personnel law prohibited an examination of those files. The patrol continues to keep a tight rein on information involving misbehaving troopers.
Foget for a second that these two budget constrained media giants are "sharing" work, what is interesting is that the Sun Journal story is part 1 of 3 while the Charlotte Observer story is a one installment.
Strange stuff indeed.
2 comments:
That is really strange. Looks like a lot of copy and paste. I'd guess that Observer is using the News and Observer's story to write a local flavor.
The Observer is dead and just doesn't know it yet. I would regret the loss of a daily newspaper except that they have become so rife with shallow reporting and editing with a blind eye that they are barely worth the time or money invested by the reader.
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