Well, dear readers, the week is just zipping right by and the weekend is coming up fast!
Long-time readers of this blog will know I offer the Latin quote, “Quis custodiet ipsoscustodes?” with some frequency, and I really shouldn’t. Law enforcement is entrusted with a lot by society, not just with safety but with honesty. How can those we trust to protect us from criminals engage in crime themselves?
Sadly, we have, all too frequently, seen law enforcement officers engage in the very fraud we would want them to help investigate, catch, and prosecute.
In the long standing tradition of this most humble of blogs, we won’t be naming names, but it appears a former CHP captain was arrested on allegations of workers’ compensation fraud recently. The accused was out on workers’ compensation leave when he was observed engaging in activities “inconsistent with limitations” reported to his treating physicians.
Of course, the typical workers’ compensation claim involves the treating physician asking the injured worker about his or her limitations, and then, under medical reason, imposing work restrictions within those limitations. Those work restrictions often enough preclude continued work which generates the right to temporary disability benefits.
Your humble blogger is not jumping to any conclusions about this particular case, but such fraud robs the citizenry of their tax dollars through unwarranted benefits. When such fraud is the result of actions by law enforcement, that raises a question: is this particular law enforcement officer credible and honest?
When the LEO is not honest – when a court determines that he or she has engaged in fraud – it raises a question that is not as applicable or devastating for a common civilian’s fraud: how many convictions were obtained by statements or testimony from that particular law enforcement officer? How many convicts can now challenge their convictions and demand new trials based on this “new evidence” that the officer who testified in their trials should not have been trusted by Judge and Jury?
Your humble blogger hopes for a swift investigation and that the truth is discovered through our adversarial legal process. But this instances serves as a reminder for us all – we must be vigilant in all instances. Hopefully, the fallout from such cases imposes upon all law enforcement officers their obligations and duties and how critical that trust is that we put into them every day.