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Aidan Gscheidle
Lock Haven
Some months ago, I submitted a Letter to the Editor insisting that if local law enforcement is going to assist ICE, they should do so via a proper 287g agreement. This was not to voice approval for ICE's recent actions (far from it!), but rather to demand integrity from our local law enforcement.
Since then, Pennsylvania has surged to one of the top four states with active 287g agreements. And even still, we are witnessing troubling behavior from our local law enforcement.
Yesterday, the Penn Capital-Star broke a story reporting how Mahoning Township's police chief Frederick Dyroff III -- one of the presiding chiefs in the Sept. 2 immigration raid in Danville -- gave a false statement about his department's involvement in the raid. Dyroff originally said that his officers were only conducting routine "traffic stops," which happened to involve individuals wanted by ICE, and that these individuals were handed over to ICE, who were "in the area at the time." When asked if his officers had been intentionally targeting anyone, Dyroff answered, "No."
However, further investigation found that the police had in fact worked in highly coordinated maneuvers with ICE, even using drones to stalk their targets. When Dyroff was confronted with this evidence, he reneged his original statement and said that, yes, Mahoning Township police HAD been involved in targeting individuals. Furthermore, fellow chiefs Greg Watson (Danville Borough) and Kerry Parkes (Riverside Police) told reporters that it was Dyroff himself who asked them to cooperate in the raid, and not ICE.
I know that Danville is almost 60 miles away, but still, they are close enough that many readers may personally know people taken in that raid, the officers involved, or even Mr. Dyroff himself. If Mr. Dyroff is reading, to him I say: shame!
I want integrity from our local police, or frankly from anybody who purports "to protect and to serve." Despite being a young liberal, I do not share my fellow progressives' value of defunding the police. I have many family members and neighbors who have worn the uniform, and as such, I value the service that these brave men and women perform for our communities. I am aware of the complex duties they are asked to carry out.
That's why I am very concerned by the widespread willingness to engage in corruption, which I am defining here as "stepping out of integrity." The strength of our law enforcement (and our laws and elections) rests on integrity: doing what you say you'll do, telling the truth, and paying the consequences if you don't. Every lapse in integrity erodes public trust, leading to lawlessness, division, and civil unrest. Whenever law enforcement acts without integrity, I think, no wonder some people want to defund the police! This is a dangerous situation.
There is already enough corruption on the federal and state levels to worry about. My hope is that America will patch herself up on the local level. I believe that, blue or red, all of us want to live in a safe, trustworthy country.
As such, I am calling for Mr. Dyroff to resign. I am calling for my neighbors to demand integrity and accountability from all our elected officials, near and far.
The truth is complicated and painful enough as it is. We do not need anybody -- certainly not police chiefs -- telling lies.