Top Cop Busted in Park

From Cleveland, Ohio, this unfortunate story of a career now perhaps ruined - by the closet:

Olmsted Township Police Chief Charles McNeeley was arrested Tuesday and charged with indecent exposure after he was found with another man in the Memphis area of the Cleveland Metroparks. McNeeley and his companion, Daniel Crown, were both arrested around 8:30am after Metroparks ranger Lisette Gonzalez found them masturbating. . . .

According to a police report, McNeeley and Crown were together in Crown's car when they were approached by the ranger and told to stop what they were doing. . . . McNeeley blamed the incident on the stress of his wife being diagnosed with cancer . . . .

Well, it was a dumb thing to be doing; but I can sympathize with Chief McNeeley, who will no doubt lose his job over something that really ought not to be taken any more seriously than a traffic citation. (Couldn't the ranger have just said, Okay, break it up guys, move along - ?) But of course, that's not how the citizenry will see it, I'm afraid.

So sad, what the closet does to people; that's where the ultimate blame for this lies, in my view.

Interestingly, a Google search turned up this review of a book titled Urban Policing in the 21st Century: A Supervisory Manual by none other than - Chief McNeeley:

Charles McNeeley, always known as a "cop's cop," has spent more than thirty years as an Ohio police officer, first in Cleveland and currently in Olmsted Township. He headed all game day and event security for the Cleveland Browns organization from 1999 to 2002. Throughout his career, he has emphasized both tactical and strategic saftey in law enforcement. As a "hands-on" executive, he carefully blends the intellectual and practical sides of police management and administration with the day-to-day world of policing. He is president of McNeeley and Son Inc., a security-consulting firm.

McNeeley, who graduated with honors from the Police Executive Leadership College, is considered one of the nation's foremost authorities on urban policing. For the past two decades, he has been a student of the assessment center process as it relates to law enforcement and has served as an assessor of police supervisors, including chiefs of police, in more than forty jurisdictions throughout the country. A veteran of the United States army, he holds current membership with American MENSA and the Cleveland Police Historical Society.

He's also the author of Community Policing: Building Inclusive Communities.

Well, after a fine career and excellent service, I hope Chief McNeeley will not be penalized too severely for this lapse in judgment; but I can just imagine what the Righteous Right in Ohio will have to say about it.