Officers may feel need to protect the institution's reputation, not just the campus community
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comPenn State scandal puts campus police in spotlight
Seeded on Thu Nov 17, 2011 6:26 PM EST (msnbc.com)
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Yet more coverup. In 2007 Penn State lobbied to have the the state constitution altered to keep their records sealed. They knew. In July Joe Paterno sold his house to his wife for 1$. He knew. The new President of Pedo State stated there will be transparency ... yet CNN reports Penn State refuses to share any records of the incidents with the press... or anyone. He knew. The interim head football coach has been at Penn State for 30 years and says he never heard anything about this.... He's lying. He knew. The judge that released Sandusky with no leg moniter... no money needed... was a board member of 2nd Mile. Is every person in Pennsylvania brain damaged and morally challenged?
To paraphrase Burt Lancaster in Judgment at Nurenburg ... "They saw it happening, but did nothing...They heard the pleas for help, but again did nothing....They knew...and said nothing. Were they all Blind? , Deaf? DUMB?"
Peg...You are right. And, now 2002-2003 record of Sandusky's charity are mysteriously missing. How convenient is that? Good quote...very appropriate to this case.
Money, profits and name was more important than doing the right thing, and this is why Panterno was fired. He put the PSU and profits before the protection of these kids.
I hope he and Sandusky both get 100 year sentences and all others involved should not only be fired, but as well receive at least a 50 year sentencing a piece.
Tear down the damn PSU is what needs to be done imo.
And let's also believe the Pedo State Board of Trustees will conduct an honest investigation with no cover-up. Yea right.
Agree with Peg - everyone has been building their "plan" of protection except McQueary - he's been left out to bounce under the bus wheels
Agree peg....the plot thickens....the ex Atty. Gen of the state in now the governor (Corbett) of the state and he knew nothing? He contributed to the Sandusky charity and he knew nothing of the biggest state school in Pa. having a child molester coach?. I saw him on ever talk show this weekend covering his ass.
The district atty. goes missing and they find his car by a river and his computer in the water with the hard drive removed. Murder, deceit and pedophiles abounding in Penna, this will make for a good book of non fiction. This whole thing is mind boggling.
How is it that the heir apparent for the head coaching job at PSU suddenly falls off the radar in 2003? He just "retired?" Really? At age 55, still in the prime of his career and poised to take over the best coaching gig in the country? And poof, he's just...... gone?
Yeah, people knew.
All this uproar is based on what McQueary said and did after the incident. As every day brings more revelations, his credibility gets shakier and shakier. First, he was the only one who expressed concern for his job. Second, he said he ran home to talk to Daddy, then goes in the next day to tell Paterno with Daddy. Now, we hear he called his Daddy and then called Paterno. Paterno says he never gave the lurid details he later gave the Grand Jury, and so does the A.D. McQueary now says he went to the police and stopped the attack. I think everyone should stop blowing off their outrage and paranoia until the whole story comes out.
Sometimes police do cover-ups. It doesn't matter if it's campus cops or not. There are always instances of corruption.
now I understand why the office line was so good. They were going to get cornholed if they weren't fast enough
Campus police usually fall into few categories. 1. guys that can't make a regular police force. 2. Older cops who took their pension and now want a paycheck and pension check. 3. guys looking to build up a resume so they can leave when a regular cop job comes up. 4. Guys that can't hack it on the street anymore. Campus police have one job. Protect the university. First and foremost. For years schools have covered up the real crime statistics. Even after laws were passed that made it harder for them to do so. I say that after working 11 years at a major university in Chicago.
My issue with with campus police is that they can potentially be strongly influenced by powerful administrators and icons (such as Joe Paterno). In fact, at the Big Ten media days this year, Joe Paterno appeared to be nostalgic for the days when the campus police would help keep player infractions under wraps:
"I used to get a telephone call from one of the campus cops would say, Hey, coach, you better come up here and get ahold of Mike. Too much to drink, making a lot of noise. I'd go up at 2:00 in the morning, grab Mike, put him in bed, get him up at 5:00 in the morning, run his rear-end off for a week. You guys never heard about it."
If the campus police had already established a pattern of behavior where they helped look out for Penn State "family members", it doesn't seem improbable that the campus police knew more about the Sandusky situation than they are letting on (even if no official records of this knowledge exist, i.e., an official report related to the McQueary event).
Agree with Pegasus - seems like Penn State (officials) doing everything possible to "continue hiding this monstrous crime & the monster". But EVERYONE at Penn State involved in the coverup is as guilty as the monster. The only way to clean up Penn State is to terminate everyone who knew (rumor or actual knowledge) officials/professors/administration, staff ( a clean sweep to clean up) & never went to police. Listening to week's news it appears to me that Penn State is trying to make McQueary a "scapegoat" - as Penn State (officials, police) "lose/don't remember" reports, papers, actions. Clean up your act Penn State!!!! Your reputation is sinking fast & we're losing our respect for the people & school.
I went to Edinboro University of PA and the campus police back in the late 70s and 80s were idiots. My husband and I were accused of starting some guys engine on fire because we told him to turn down his blasting country music. The campus police finger printed us and treated us like felons. It was so obvious the guy was mentally ill and we were not even living on campus but right off campus in an apartment. The idiot who blamed us for his engine fire was an obviously mentally ill man 25 years our senior. It was a night mare and it still frightens me 30 years latter to think about how we were treated.
I've been employed at 3 very large public universities over the past 38 years. One of the things I realized about campus police is that they are not only enforcing laws... but they will fold under pressure from university leaders like Spanier, Paterno, etc.
Not hearsay folks... that is the way it is. I spent 16 years of my career at Penn State. Its real...
Stop
Sandusky from collecting a pension! Call your local State Senator to vote yes
for Senate Bill 1290 which would prevent State and Municipal employees who are convicted of a sex crime against a minor from
collecting their public pension. State Sen. Larry Farnese (D-Phila.) has asked
to fast track his legislation.
Find your State Senator
Well well, how the mighty have fallen. I guess the assistant coach Sandusky who used to force little boys to play "tight end" in the showers at Penn state will now be playing the "tight end" himself in the state Penn! I guess the victim is now a "fag", but Sandusky will now be a "prag" once in the prison system.
He'll come out of the joint as a "wide receiver".
Sandusky does need to be stopped from collecting a pension, but then, so does Paterno. Unfortunately, I do not see this happening.
Obviously the officials at Penn State have no qualms about giving pensions to a child rapist and his accomplices.
Starting to sound like the catholic church
How many nittany lions does it take to cover up the rape of children? More and more and more.
University Police departments across this nation should be outlawed. They don't do anything except cover up bad press for the university. Penn State's police department needs to be dismantled and the people there sued and/or put in jail for aiding a child rapist and interfering with a real police investigation into child abuse and rape.
So, if this true of university police departments then what would be different if any other police department were in charge? The problem is the professional standards by which police departments operate in the community they serve. At some point administrators (city, state or county) feel the need to weigh in on the scope police investigations they oversee in their environment. The policies and procedures police department follow should be implemented by people who understand what's a stake and not by people who want to protect themselves from ridicule.
Penn State needs to lose it's football team until they grow up and can show they can act like responsible adults.
Why should the players, who have absolutely nothing to do with this, be punished? They were in elementary school when this happened.
Football is just an f-ing game. Rapists and child molesters shouldn't get a pass just because they play on or coach a sports team. Someone on the team has been raping children? Replace them with someone else. I'm pretty sure there's a ton of people out there who want nothing to do with people and teams that have conspired to keep sexual predators on our streets and out of prison.
It's crazy for anyone to value a recreational game over the psychological well-being of children.
I hope Penn State has to pay millions and millions in fines, lawsuits, settlements, etc.
Their hubris and greed blinded them to the sickening things that went on in Penn State properties.
Joe Pa thought he was above the law and I think that many at Penn State still think they are above the law and have done nothing wrong. Heads must roll and I hope every victim comes out and presses charges against Penn State and their football program both in criminal and civil courts.
Amen...Amen...brothers and sisters...AMEN...AMEN
Protect the reputation of what? Football has become not a sport but a religion, one that is as radical as Islam. Doesn't matter what happens to anyone that gets in it's way. If "in house" is protecting a pedophile then so be it.
When repuatation is put above human life because of football, that tells you where the mind set of our universities is at. "In house" ALWAYS means COVERUP at all costs.
Pete Rose should be brought into the Hall of Fame on a golden chariot.
...and dropped into a vat of mold-covered dog sh*t.
The man bet on baseball game while he was a manager. He doesn't belong in the hall of fame. What Jerry Sandusky did in no way changes this.
Penn State covered up Michael Mann's research corruption. Penn State covered up Paterno's athletic department corruption. The University must be punished! The Big Ten should boot them out. The NCAA should suspend their participation in sports for ten years! The Feds need to shut down all funding for research! The cover ups need to be resolved. Who, what, when, why! The criminals need to be put in jail. Then Penn State can be returned to University status - but not until the corruption of academics and athletics as been revealed!
this article's heading is BS. ANYONE/EVERYONE with any idea that this took place is equalIbly at fault GUILTY an deserves incarceration and their numbnutts removed forever.
Let's hope that everyone in the Penn State system, from governor on down to all campus officials and employees, are thoroughly investigated for everything that went wrong during their time in office from 1970 onward. And, let's hope that the Pennsylvania legislature has the wisdom to make the university subject to the Open Records - Right to Know laws.
Irish, it's a nice thought, but here's the big question: Who's gonna do the investigation? Who's gonna investigate the Governor? Who do you trust in that whole system to be honest and have no dog in the fight?
Hell, the majority of the Pennsylvania legislature is probably made up of Penn State graduates!
'Hang em all' !!!!!!!
Seems the whole State of Pennsylvania is DIRTY !!!!!!
Sooooo, where is the NCAA during all this? Probably destroying hard drives and shredding files.
If a student athlete so much as gets free chicken wings, the NCAA is right there doling out fines and punishment to the student athlete saying they are protecting the integrity of the sport but when a football coach rapes a child and the football program lies and sweeps it under the rug, the NCAA is silent.
Where is your integrity now NCAA?
I don't think McCreary is being completely honest. While he probably saw what happened in the shower I don't believe he communicated any specifics to Joe or the AD and VP. McCreary didn't do anything to stop it and now he is saying he made sure it stopped. He never told the Grand Jury that he spoke to the police yet he now claims he did. The information that started the AG investigation was that a coach saw something and didn't report it. McCreary has a guilty conscience because he didn't actively stop what he saw and didn't provide any details at the time and he sat on it all these years. I think he was too concerning about his position to want to make the details known so he gave some vague general information. I do not believe that Paterno was told the guy was seen in the shower actually sodomizing the kid, either that or Joe is just an evil person and didn't care about kids being raped and I simply don't believe that.
McQueary is fighting for his career, his coaching, his reputation. He blew all three with his initial testimony where he clearly stated he did not do anything but rush off to call his daddy. Then dad tells him to come to his house. The two McQueary men discuss the options . . . likely discuss how to salvage a coaching career for Mike McQueary and they decide to take the path of least resistance and least harm to Mike's future and career. Mike tells Paterno the following day, 12-24 hours after the young boy is raped by Sandusky, and then goes on with his life. No call to law enforcement. No call to child protective services, nothing. Life goes on. About 10 days later McQueary is called to talk to the VP and AD and he gives them the same story of the incident he provided to Paterno. One of the two is the supervisor over the campus police. It goes nowhere else. The young boy is forgotten. He is left to struggle with trust, healing and self-worth. Mike McQueary goes with Sandusky to a fund-raiser 4 short weeks after the rape. Another couple months later Mikey goes with Jerry to yet another event. Mikey finishes his graduate studies and Paterno gives Mikey a job . . . now Mikey, and his dad, John, are so relieved that Mikey didn't take the facts to the police or to anyone else. From March 1, 2002 forward Mike McQueary goes about his life with little care and, yet, a young boy is floundering out there not understanding how he ended up being sexually assaulted and raped by his mentor. None of the men had trouble sleeping but I bet the victim had many sleepless night fearing the return of the pedophile, Sandusky. Prayers for all the victims.
Kampus Kops at every institution that didn't allow them to pack heat cried that the Va. Tech massacre proved that Kampus Kops should be allowed to bear and use deadly force. The truth is that, at the time of the Va. Tech. massacre, Va. Tech's Kampus Kops were armed. On campus possession of firearms by students was prohibited, and remains so.
Cover up, ya thunk??? Many people knew, period, period, period.
A wealthy, beloved pillar of the community / serial pedophile with a likely
network of associates, a front charity to lure victims, a suspicious DA who
disappears into thin air and a complete failure of protocol at all levels in
administering the justice of crime deemed completely and utterly heinous by even
the most hardened of criminals. Let’s face the facts, he couldn’t have gotten
away with this for so long without support and a little bit of the proverbial
sweeping under the rug.
Damn!! Sounds like a Showtime series. Where is Dexter Morgan when you need him? His code is so cost effective for such situations. SanDouche would surely be on his table.
I can’t believe SanDouche had the nerve to open his mouth. His interview with
Costas was one of the most appalling displays of lying I have ever had the privilege
to listen in on. If you haven’t had the chance, it’s pure train wreck, you want
to turn away, but you just can’t. Then your jaw hits the floor. SanDouche is
not a good liar. He and his lawyer are so entrenched in lying, they just don’t
get it. No one in their right mind would even entertain the idea that a serial
pedophile is beyond reproach when it comes to lying? It is just so unreal. He
actually thinks he is going to be able to talk his way out of this. Totally and
utterly surreal, I am sure SanDouche just thinks, “Well, I've been bull@!$%#ting
people for years, they believe anything I say.” In the interview he tries to
come across like, “what’s the problem?, horsing around, snapping towels,
showering naked with a ten year old boy, touching his legs, just not sexually,
perfectly reasonable, right" OMFG! Did he even think that pseudo admission of pedophilia through? That interview will surely be administered into evidence by the prosecution when this goes to trial. Earth to SanDouche and his lawyer…… it is a well known fact among moral, law abiding individuals that the only person who would willfully take someone else’s child to a secluded private location, proceed to shower naked with them and go so far as to touch them in any way is surely either a serial pedophile or a serial child molester. Take your pick. Case closed.
Penn State is not any different than most colleges in the America, the campus police chief serves at the pleasure of whoever is running the institution. Therefore, all campus police departments are hypersensitive politically. If you throw in the fact that colleges have deep pockets and invite lawsuits, whoever is running the police department had better be VERY smart to stay in good graces with the administration.
So, how does campus police chief survive in an environment where they are only appreciated when a crisis happens? The answer is fairly simple...do not do anything without asking permission first. In every case, you can bet that if the police department knows a crime might have been committed, then so does the administration. In the case of any sex crime, the fastest way for a police chief to get fired is for a reported sex crime to go without a complete investigation and the administration doesn't get informed so the "wagons can be circled."
Now, here's what happens to make it easier for the police chief and the administration to avoid the current issue at hand..the records retention schedule is very short for police reports...let's say seven years, for example. Now, when 12 year old allegations and recriminations show up, it would not be surprising that there are no records (they were all shredded at seven years). Of course, we all know who has direct input on university record retention...the administration.
You can bet there is not going to be any police officers at Penn State willing to throw away a career for "remembering anything not supported by documentation", so that's how justice is denied. This is very predicable and wholly preventable.