Bright Spot in Brotherhood of Blue

Let me refer in general to the Trooper Plaster affair that, by now, is probably familiar to all who read, listen to radio or watch TV. Looking this case, in which a trooper may have used unreasonable force in handling a relatively docile citizen, the affair from one angle looks like a low point of policing for Vermont. But there is another angle that throws a sharp focus on what I would call a bright spot in what some writers have termed the “Brotherhood of Blue.”

The spotlight is on the police officers who honestly and forthrightly came forward and had reservations about Plaster’s behavior during an arrest last year. Several attitudes of those involved could, at the least, be read from between the lines in the Plaster case affidavits. These police officials obviously answered questions honestly.

 There has been no cover up for Plaster’s alleged behavior. In fact, the age old question of “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” or who shall keep watch over the guardians? has been answered in this case. Our police are policing themselves – apparently effectively.

Maybe I’ve read too many mystery stories and seen too many unrealistic cop movies, but it is highly reassuring to see, in such a highly public way, that most of the police are doing the right thing. No doubt force is provoked and necessary during some arrests. It’s a given fact that police don’t routinely deal with the most mannered segment of society. But when violence and force aren’t necessary, it’s clear that we, locally, have some police who clearly know what is appropriate. That is good. That takes a whole lot of the sting out of having a Vermont State Trooper in the news for wrongdoing.

So, if Trooper Plaster (already absent from the scene and apparently gone from Vermont) is ultimately found guilty and hypothetically goes on VSP’s Wall of Shame, it’s interesting that simultaneously someone else who

 reported Plaster’s behavior belongs on the opposite wall with that imaginary list of quiet police heroes.

So, it’s back to the movies for the moral – good has triumphed in Lamoille County.