Traverse City Record-Eagle

Opinion

THE ISSUE

-Deputies fired

Our view
-The law applies to everyone

Related Story:
Deputies pay price in Soffredine case

May 9, 2010

Bensley and Schneider did what the law demanded

----

There's a new sheriff in town, and on Thursday he sent a message: The law applies to everyone, even cops.

Tom Bensley fired Grand Traverse County deputies Robert William Sillers, 29, and Mark Robert Noffke, 25; Bensley said they neglected their duty by giving Traverse City police officer Joe Soffredine preferential treatment in a Feb. 7 incident.

It was a harsh sentence, but no less than what taxpayers — and justice — demanded.

For much too long, area residents have fumed while police officers have avoided the kind of penalties average citizens could expect in similar circumstances.

In fact, if it hadn't been for a couple people coming forward to publicly say what they saw that morning, the Soffredine incident would have been swept under the rug like so many others.

After a night of drinking with other police officers — three bars over five hours — Soffredine was driving home on Cedar Run Road when he missed a turn and slammed his SUV into a snow-filled ditch at 3:20 a.m.

He revved the engine so much in an effort to get out that it caught fire.

When Sillers and Noffke arrived on the scene they didn't give Soffredine field sobriety tests or a preliminary breath test and didn't cite him for having expired license plates on his truck. Police gave him a ride home.

Authorities last month charged Soffredine, son of longtime Traverse City police chief and current city Commissioner Ralph Soffredine, with drunken driving.

Sillers and Noffke were charged last week with neglecting to perform the duties of a public officer, a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. They both pleaded guilty and admitted in court they failed to investigate Soffredine and gave him preferential treatment because he was a police officer.

We all remember a string of incidents in recent years — from drunken driving to domestic assault — in which law enforcement officers have been given breaks regular citizens would not get.

This time, however, prosecutor Alan Schneider and Bensley did exactly what the public expects of them.

Both said they would investigate and, if they found wrongdoing, act. And they did.

The public can't fairly judge all police officers based on this or any other single incident. And we can't say the bad old days are yet behind us. Officers who saw Soffredine that night at various bars claimed they never saw him with a drink in his hand; people outside of law enforcement, however, said he smelled of alcohol, was weaving when he walked and slurring his words.

What we can say — and applaud — is that in this case the law was applied as it should be, police officers or not.

That's progress.

Text Only