# Hypothetically: The Chief of Police commits and admits he commited a felony...\[Edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607 "2011-06-07T07:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/41 "2011-06-07T21:36:27Z")
If a LEO believes there is probable cause the chief of police committed a crime, the chief should be duly arrested, charged, etc. It doesn’t matter what kind of crime it is. And the chief should be held to the same standard – not more or less – than anyone else suspected of the same crime. But you also mentioned that potentially muddies the issue: > [@](#): > > the law [for this crime] is rarely enforced, ergo the average person usually isn’t charged for committing it. Are you saying it is rare for a person to be \*arrested \*for this particular crime, even when there is ample probable cause? And it’s a _felony_? :dubious: I guess I have never heard of a felony treated this way. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/42 "2011-06-07T23:24:01Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > But for now it is on the books, it is a felony, and a prominent law enforcement official publicly admitted to violating this law. He was not arrested, he was not prosecuted, he was not removed from his position, and he did not resign. > > My opinion is he should have resigned in lieu of being fired or charged and that should have been the end of it. But nothing happened to him. Therefore I feel he has no credibility as a law enforcement officer. > > But I wanted to see how others felt. Has he taken any action in order to have the law changed? Can you say (without, if you must keep this up, saying what the actual crime was) what tone his confession took? Was he remoseful, or did he flaunt his actions? What was the general public reaction? ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/43 "2011-06-07T23:49:34Z")
For crying out loud just tell us what the actual felony was. Are you aware of Kohlbergs stages of moral development? Right now you seem to be at a solid ‘4’ out of 6, ie ‘the law is the law’ stage, regardless of how stupid it would be to enforce that particular law. > **[Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_development)** > > Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development constitute an adaptation of a psychological theory originally conceived by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Kohlberg began work on this topic as a psychology graduate student at the University of Chicago in 1958 and expanded upon the theory throughout his life. > The theory holds that moral reasoning, a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for ethical behavior, has six developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to moral dilemmas t... Is it being enforced for other people? Or is he being singled out for enforcement? Is it a law that will likely fail on constitutional grounds but just ruin his life in the meantime? Those would be some fairly important details for a start. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/44 "2011-06-07T23:56:40Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Yes. It’s ok to commit a felony if, for example, it is an archaic law that hasn’t been enforced in decades. There are still sodomy laws in some states. Are you saying that a police chief in those states should have to resign if the chief is a man who had sex with another man? There have been Supreme Court decisions that probably nullify those laws so maybe technically they don’t count but they are still on the books. If Top Cop did somebody in the butt, and it was consensual, the question is moot. The Supreme Court struck down all such laws several years ago. Nobody but nobody gets prosecuted for that any more. Right? I’m racking my brains for any felony still in effect that is ignored by law enforcement. Some old blue law? Whiskey on a Sunday? 😕 \*\*WhyNot \*\*had an excellent argument: If it’s a bad law and needs to be repealed or struck down, and the legislature won’t play ball, let somebody take one for the team. Get arrested and convicted, then appeal it up and get it struck down. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/45 "2011-06-08T01:23:05Z")
I would only want laws I agree with enforced. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I think my views of the law should be what the law is If the Chief confessed to a felony I disagree with, then it shouldn’t be enforced. I would think he has MORE credibility if he doesn’t resign, because I automatically think that people who agree with me are smarter than people who disagree ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/46 "2011-06-08T03:59:55Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Except that, yes, in the eyes of the law… the Chief of police IS Joe Sixpack. Or Jane Sixpack. This is simply incorrect. The average person cannot be charged with _Misconduct in Public Office_ (THAT, by the way, is **NOT** the crime the OP is talking about). But my point of this specific post is that the Chief of police is in a unique position and is not the same as the average citizen. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Are you saying it is rare for a person to be \*arrested \*for this particular crime, even when there is ample probable cause? And it’s a _felony_? :dubious: I guess I have never heard of a felony treated this way. Yep. And while the idea behind the law is archaic, the law itself isn’t buried in some old musty volume somewhere. In fact, it’s in the anecdoted copy of the state statute book that every squad car in Wisconsin is equipped with. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/47 "2011-06-08T04:07:32Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is simply incorrect. The average person cannot be charged with _Misconduct in Public Office_ (THAT, by the way, is **NOT** the crime the OP is talking about). But my point of this specific post is that the Chief of police is in a unique position and is not the same as the average citizen. > > Yep. And while the idea behind the law is archaic, the law itself isn’t buried in some old musty volume somewhere. In fact, it’s in the anecdoted copy of the state statute book that every squad car in Wisconsin is equipped with. [Moderator Note]You supposedly started this thread as a vague hypothetical, but you keep bringing in specific details from one particular case. Either stick to the original op and keep it hypothetical, or drop the “hypothetical” part of the OP and give with _all_ the details posters are asking for.[/Moderator Note] ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/48 "2011-06-08T04:13:29Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Moderator Note]You supposedly started this thread as a vague hypothetical, but you keep bringing in specific details from one particular case. Either stick to the original op and keep it hypothetical, or drop the “hypothetical” part of the OP and give with _all_ the details posters are asking for.[/Moderator Note] At no time did I say this was hypothetical. Someone edited the thread title to say that. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/49 "2011-06-08T04:42:20Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > At no time did I say this was hypothetical. Someone edited the thread title to say that. You didn’t give details so it was a hypothetical. Until you give details, it can’t be anything but. We can’t give you our opinion of a real situation if we do not know the details of that situation. From what little you have given, my answer is that, if the law is not ever enforced against anyone else, then it isn’t really a law, even if it is on the books. This clearly sounds like a politically motivated stunt by someone who doesn’t like your police chief. That is a good reason, in my opinion, to fight back. And hard. But the fact that this is a police chief does not factor into the considerations and I am actually somewhat alarmed that, as a former cop, it somehow does in your mind. Cops are not above the law. If anything, they should adhere even more strictly. A cop that does not obey the law is not a cop, but a vigilante. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/50 "2011-06-08T05:01:17Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You didn’t give details so it was a hypothetical. Until you give details, it can’t be anything but. We can’t give you our opinion of a real situation if we do not know the details of that situation. If I had provided the offense in the beginning Dopers would have judge the law and not the Chief. My goal here was to get the opinions of a police Chief that breaks the law he is sworn to uphold, not as a forum to rant against this Chief. If you go back and read you’ll see I posted that I believed the law to be archaic and should be repealed, that I don’t believe the Chief should have been charged, but I do think he should resign. It is revealing how some simply want laws they don’t like to not be enforced, yet shrug at the idea of having those laws repealed. Is this a distrust of their legislatures to do the right thing? > [@BigT](#): > > From what little you have given, my answer is that, if the law is not ever enforced against anyone else, then it isn’t really a law, even if it is on the books. This clearly sounds like a politically motivated stunt by someone who doesn’t like your police chief. That is a good reason, in my opinion, to fight back. And hard. > > But the fact that this is a police chief does not factor into the considerations and I am actually somewhat alarmed that, as a former cop, it somehow does in your mind. Cops are not above the law. If anything, they should adhere even more strictly. A cop that does not obey the law is not a cop, but a vigilante. You’re all over the map here. You seem to be defending the Chief but at the same time you post _ **“A cop that does not obey the law is not a cop”** _. What?😕 > [@BigT](#): > > as a former cop I’m still a cop. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/51 "2011-06-08T05:21:39Z")
Oh. Lemme guess!! Police Chief Eddie Flynn, in Milwaukee, with the Other Woman. (Chief Flynn admitted to adultery in 2009, a felony in Wisconsin. He also recently slammed a CCW licensing proposal, which you may recall is one of **pkbites** ’s hobbyhorses.) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/52 "2011-06-08T05:34:50Z")
Nicely done, Kimmy. When was the last time that someone was arrested and the last time that someone was convicted for this in WI? I don’t think that anything should happen to the Chief nor should he resign. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/53 "2011-06-08T05:45:27Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Oh. Lemme guess!! > > Police Chief Eddie Flynn, in Milwaukee, with the Other Woman. > > (Chief Flynn admitted to adultery in 2009, a felony in Wisconsin. He also recently slammed a CCW licensing proposal, which you may recall is one of **pkbites** ’s hobbyhorses.) Nope. Sorry, but this ain’t it. Good guess though. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/54 "2011-06-08T05:50:40Z")
😃 Alright, it is. Ya gotta let me a little fun though, eh? Like I posted previously, my opinion is the law is archaic and should be repealed. There are civil remedies for it (divorce, ex-spouses suing for emotional distress, etc.). I also don’t believe that, even though it is a felony, he (or most offenders) should be charged. But my opinion is it does damage his credibility and he should have resigned. How **Kimmy\_Gibbler** tied in CCW to this is beyond me, though. 😕 Current issues being debated are a mere coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/55 "2011-06-08T05:51:05Z")
The DA’s statement: “This is not a crime that is prosecuted,” said Chisholm. “And I know of no case that’s been prosecuted by this office since I’ve been an assistant [district attorney].” A google shows he started as one in 1994. Yeah nothing selective about trying to get that one enforced. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/56 "2011-06-08T14:09:03Z")
Police should be held to a higher standard, _when an offense is connected to their position_, and just like everyone else when it’s not. Now, I believe that cops get away with far too much in this country, and think way more cops should be fired for abusing their position, but where a putative crime has nothing to do with the officer’s job, and especially is never, ever, enforced against anyone else, then enforcing it against the Chief is pure political prosecution (that’s a Bad Thing, by the way). Sure, in an ideal world, the law would be repealed, but this world is not ideal, and I can’t think of a better case for prosecutorial discretion. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/57 "2011-06-08T15:53:36Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > How so? Because repealing laws is a very small part of what a legislature does. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/58 "2011-06-08T16:05:04Z")
Well clearly the DA is also having an affair and the Police Chief knows it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/59 "2011-06-08T23:25:48Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Does it matter? That’s one of the things I’m trying to assess here. As the Chief of police is it okay if he committed one felony but not a different one? How do I know? It depends on what the law was. I’m not going to be outraged if I find out the Chief of Police was part of an anti-segregation protest in Mississippi in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607/60 "2011-06-09T06:27:32Z")
Adultery is a felony? Fuck that. Nobody should enforce it and nobody should be punished over it [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetically-the-chief-of-police-commits-and-admits-he-commited-a-felony-edited-title/584607.md?page=4)