Because of the enormous power they wield over their fellow citizens, the behavior of elected public officials and police officers must be beyond reproach. Enormous damage occurs when they abuse the public’s trust — as has allegedly happened in Prince George’s County, where the county executive, his wife, and members of the police force face serious charges of public corruption. Under our constitutional system, the accused must be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but some preliminary observations are in order. County Executive Jack Johnson — who along with his wife, Council member-elect Leslie Johnson, was arrested and accused of witness tampering and destruction of evidence — may have a perfectly reasonable explanation for why he was allegedly caught on an FBI wiretap telling his wife to destroy a $100,000 check from a developer and to hide tens of thousands of dollars in cash in her bra while FBI agents waited on the couple’s doorstep. We can’t wait to hear it.
Then, just days after federal agents escorted the Johnsons from their Mitchellville home, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein announced the indictments of three Prince George’s police officers on charges that they were paid by the owners of the Tick Tock Liquor Store in Hyattsville to escort untaxed cigarettes and alcohol across state lines. Federal court documents allege that $3.5 million was deposited in 84 different bank accounts, and 25 properties and 13 vehicles were involved in the tax evasion scheme, so many other people had to be connected.
In a separate indictment, another Prince George’s police officer was accused of trafficking at least 500 grams of cocaine hidden in coffee cans as far as New York, and agreeing to help his partner in crime purchase a .50-caliber handgun. Rosenstein, who told reporters that “We don’t do fishing expeditions,” added that the arrests represented “the tip of the iceberg” of public corruption in Prince George’s County. This means that the pay-to-play mentality and outright criminality appear to be endemic, and are not limited to just a handful of bad apples. Public corruption is the worst kind of corruption because it directly undermines democratic institutions and the rule of law upon which both public tranquility and private prosperity are based. If these allegations are proven true, those involved deserve extended jail stays.
