No surprise here: The Rev. Jesse Jackson looks like he might be heading back to Lima to lead a protest or demonstration or something in the aftermath of the Joe Chavalia trial.

So, for all the law-and-order types, I hope the celebration of the acquittal was fun. The city is likely to lose the civil lawsuit the family of Tarika Wilson filed (and the city should lose), an officer’s career likely is over, Jackson is probably coming back to Lima to highlight the problems here, and this country continues to spend billions each year to make drugs more dangerous than they need be. (We also did this with alcohol last century, but got over the Puritanical urges after 15 years; something about crime, gangs and the problem not going away.) But, hey, you put a drug dealer in prison for a couple years.

The news about Jackson, from The (Toledo) Blade:”LIMA, Ohio - The Rev. Jesse Jackson Thursday called the acquittal of Lima Police Sgt. Joseph Chavalia ‘an injustice,’ and said the organization he founded, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, plans to intervene under the leadership of Lima’s Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance.

Lima ministerial group to discuss action regarding police shooting verdict

“Sergeant Chavalia was found not guilty Monday by an all-white jury in the Jan. 4 shooting death of Lima resident Tarika Wilson, a biracial woman who was shot in her home during a police raid while she held her 13-month-old son, Sincere Wilson, in her arms.

“Sincere was also shot in the shoulder and hand and had a finger amputated as a result. “Both were shot in front of Wilson’s five other children who were hiding in an upstairs bedroom while police searched for Wilson’s boyfriend, Anthony Terry, who was wanted on drug charges.

“The Rev. H. Frank Taylor, pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Lima, who is also president of the city’s interdenominational alliance, said the alliance will take action as a result of Sergeant Chavalia’s acquittal. He also said 32 to 40 ministers from black churches in Lima will meet Monday at Shiloh Missionary Church in the city to determine the course of action.

” ‘We will see what we need to do to show our displeasure,’ Mr. Taylor said. ‘Whether that will result in a march or some other action will be determined after our meeting Monday… We want to bring the attention of people across the nation to the injustice that was done here.’ “ 

So Lima police Sgt. Joe Chavalia has been found not guilty of two misdemeanor charges for the Jan. 4 shooting death of Tarika Wilson and the shooting injury of her 1-year-old son. Pardon my boredom, but no big surprise there.

Chavalia is (was) a police officer. The law is stacked in their favor. Trying to crucify Chavalia wouldn’t change the problems that exist in the Lima Police Department and many other law-enforcement agencies, namely that police are above the law. If anyone kicks in your door and shoots you, that person goes to prison. Few questions asked. Now, say police are going in to seize a low-level drug dealer (whose offenses would have netted him an entire three years in prison, plenty of time to learn to be a better criminal from seasoned professionals) and, well, all bets are off. If you are in the house, you are a fair target if the police officer in question isn’t sure.

So, Wilson, who reportedly was crouching in a bedroom confused Chavalia. What more reason did he need to unload. He’s a cop, after all. He might have been in danger, so Wilson and her children (who did nothing other than being in a house police broke into) were fair game. The cops were doing their jobs.

Rather than trying to nail Chavalia to the wall for a bad decision in a raid that never should have come, this community ought to be questioning his superiors, right up to the police chief and the mayor. A police officer shouldn’t face jail for doing his job, but his job shouldn’t involve the shooting of bystanders and children. Rather than arguing about whether Chavalia should have been found guilty or even stood trial (no and no, in my opinion), we should be talking about whether the Lima Police Department and other police agencies should be so removed from human thinking that any time they choose to go in blazing, it’s just police doing their job.

The policy needs changed.

But, of course, we’ll hear Wilson put herself in that situation. And her 1-year-old son? What was his crime to lose his finger, all you law-and-order-at-any-costers? What if the police hit the wrong house, and someone else dies? What if a parent is shot to death for what his son is doing. All part of proper police protection, or a screwed up police state that needs changed? 

Let us not forget what Allen County’s chief megalomaniac had to say about Lima Police Department officers back when CNN brought the camera to town:

“I’m biased and you know our agency … we’re a sheriff’s office, but we work actively in the city of Lima. The reception of our officers in the city of Lima is very good. Part of the reason for that is we hire an older officer, a more mellow officer, one that is more mature and one not so quick to make decisions.”

Let’s see what the front page of The Lima News says on Wednesday:

“OTTAWA - An Allen County sheriff’s deputy with a history of violence that once cost the county $75,000 to settle a lawsuit has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for assaulting his 6-year-old daughter.

Zane Ditto is scheduled to report to the Putnam County jail Friday, Sheriff Jim Beutler said.

Ditto was convicted of aggravated menacing, a reduction from the charge of domestic violence. Both are misdemeanors.

Ditto was given a 180-day jail sentence but the judge suspended all but 10 days. Ditto was fined $500 with $300 suspended. Both suspensions of jail and the fine were on the condition Ditto stay out of trouble, serve one year probation, complete anger management counseling and perform 20 hours community service.

Ditto remains employed at the Allen County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in corrections in the jail. Sheriff Dan Beck said he would collect information on the case, review it and make a determination on whether to punish Ditto.” 

2 Ohio men sentenced in cocaine scheme

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A former police officer and a former hospital security guard have been sentenced to 6½ years in prison for scheming to steal cocaine from a Columbus drug dealer and sell it in the eastern Ohio town of Zanesville.

Federal Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. reduced the sentences for 32-year-old Trevor Fusner and 30-year-old Chad Mills II because they assisted in the investigation.

Fusner is a former Zanesville police officer. Mills is a former Genesis HealthCare System hospital officer. Both pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy drug and gun charges.

They were arrested last year with Zanesville officer Sean Beck, who also has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the same plan.

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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

Another dog runs into Lima canine justice:

From The Lima News

Jogging officer tases dog

An officer who has previously shot two dogs while jogging used a Taser on a dog while jogging Thursday morning.

Officer Robert Sarchet used a Taser on a dog that charged him while he was jogging on East Edwards Street, according to a police report about the incident.

In October 2006 and April 2007, Sarchet shot two dogs in their heads in separate incidents while he was jogging and off duty. Sarchet was cleared both times but caused a community debate about his actions and aggressive dogs running at large. After the second incident, the Police Department made available to him a department Taser as a less lethal means of protecting himself while jogging.

Another case of police never abusing their authority — and being held accountable if, you know, hypothetically, if they ever did.

Arbitrator says fired Warren officer can get job back

WARREN, Ohio (AP) — The city wrongly fired a police officer accused of lying to investigators who were reviewing his conduct in a traffic stop, according to an arbitrator’s ruling released Monday.

Officer Richard Kovach won his grievance against the city and will get his job back and lost pay.

Kovach made a traffic stop last August in which a driver claimed he was surrounded by nearly a dozen officers with their guns drawn, ordered to the ground, stepped on and had his wallet removed from his pocket.

Kovach was fired in December after providing a written statement to investigators that was self-serving and riddled with dishonesty, according to Warren Safety-Service Director Doug Franklin.

But the arbitrator said Franklin didn’t have the authority to fire Kovach.

In an unrelated case, Kovach was given a 60-day suspension last November over his use of a stun gun on a handcuffed woman outside a bar.