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| NEWS > 20 September 2007 |
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 Article sourced from
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Muncie Star Press - Muncie,IN,
20 September 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Muncie Police Department, IN
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Muncie PD: Incidents involving
MUNCIE -- A Delaware County grand jury will decide whether Muncie police officer Jeff Leist committed a crime when he struck Robert D. McCallum in the head with his gun, which then discharged.
"Because of the increased attention in this case, it is better to let a grand jury decide," Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney said on Wednesday.
Leist, 52, remained on administrative leave with pay as Muncie police investigated whether criminal charges -- specifically, battery with a deadly weapon, a class C felony carrying a standard four-year term -- are warranted. In a call to 911 dispatchers Sunday morning, Leist said he struck the 24-year-old McCallum with his gun after finding the Muncie man in the company of the officer's 26-year-old daughter. The incident occurred in a bedroom of the daughter's southside mobile home.
On Wednesday, the case was handed over to McKinney, who said the recommended felony charge also warranted a look by a grand jury made up of local citizens.
The prosecutor on Sept. 13 -- three days before the Leist-McCallum incident -- filed documents asking Delaware Circuit Court 3 Judge Robert Barnet Jr. to convene a grand jury. Its members are scheduled to be impaneled on Sept. 28.
Integrity questioned
The Leist case, the latest in a series of potentially embarrassing incidents involving local law enforcement officers in recent years, has drawn a great deal of attention from local Internet posters and other citizens, some of them raising questions about the integrity of the Muncie Police Department.
Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle made it clear Wednesday that he has been consistent in disciplining MPD officers who committed crimes or broke rules since becoming chief in 1996.
More than 100 officers have been disciplined in the past 12 years, according to MPD records, and six have had their employment terminated because of criminal or unprofessional conduct.
The most high profile criminal case targeting a Muncie police officer came with the 2002 arrest --and later conviction -- of Tyrone Haskins for dealing drugs while on duty.
"The record shows that we have addressed the criminal and internal problems," along with being consistent in handing out discipline, Winkle said.
Police officers, like other citizens, have a right to due process under the law, according to James Hendricks, who chairs Ball State University's criminal justice and criminology department.
"They are innocent until proven guilty," said Hendricks, who is a former county sheriff's chief deputy.
While the public might see police in a bad light because of the incidents, Hendricks said most police officers were "decent, hardworking" people.
'We would be in jail'
Some members of the public have questioned whether police officers facing allegations are treated the same as average citizens accused of a crime.
"If that was you or me, we would be in jail," said Bill Brandenburg, a retired government worker, who said Leist should have used more common sense in his dealings with McCallum.
Harold Holding, a local landlord, said Leist was guilty of human error.
"We are all human beings, and we are subject to making lots of mistakes," said Holding, whose nephews are county sheriff deputies.
The relationship between police and the public has changed, according to Lue Joiner, a home health care worker.
"A long time ago you could call the police and they would help you," she said. "You call them up now and they will liable to beat you up."
No preliminary charges
Winkle said he made a judgment call in not having Leist arrested at the scene Sunday, just as he made when patrolman Jason Lyons crashed his police car with three Ball State University students inside on Aug. 28. Lyons later resigned, and now faces criminal charges from that incident.
"He is not a flight risk," Winkle said about Leist, a 28-year MPD veteran.
And no preliminary charges were lodged against Leist, the chief said, because there were differing stories between the suspect and his alleged victim.
Leist said he did not know McCallum, and said the Muncie man was approaching him in an offensive manner. McCallum said he was simply getting up to put his shoes on after confronted by Leist in the bedroom of the officer's daughter.
Hendricks suggested Wednesday that occasional incidents involving officers should not be a surprise, given that Muncie has a relatively large police department with 112 officers. Less than five percent of all police departments in the United States have as many officers, he noted.
"I think those guys have a pretty tough job," said Hurley Goodall, a retired firefighter and former lawmaker. "I am always reluctant to criticize public safety."
However, Lisa Young, McCallum's mother, said Wednesday that Leist should have never threatened her son with a gun.
"It does not take a rocket scientist to know that a crime has been committed," Young said.
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