There's an old saying absolute power and corruption. We're not sure that's the case with former Redmond police lieutenant Larry Prince, the man charged with stealing and then selling guns from the Redmond police armory, which Prince, according to court documents, ran with little to no oversight for more than a decade. Perhaps it was that lack of accountability that caused a lawman to fancy himself above the law as he pulled guns and accessories out of the armory seemingly at will. Prince, who was removed from the position last year during a "reorganization," not only steal weapons that he was entrusted to safeguard, but he apparently sold those weapons back to the city, thanks to the help of a local gun dealer who aided Prince with his scam by falsifying receipts. Perhaps most amazingly some of those guns that Prince allegedly pilfered from the city then bought back with the city's own checkbook were sold to Prince's fellow officers, including interim chief Dave Tarbet, who bought a scope for an assault rife from Prince.
We'll take Tarbet and other cops at their word that they didn't know about Prince's scam, but this the kind of story that makes Redmond look bad for its slip shod administration (Here's a real quote from Mayor George Endicott, "It was a bad situation and it probably wasn't being managed as well it should." No shit, Sherlock. Tell us something we didn't know.), and reflects poorly on cops on general. And it looks bad not because of the actions of one disgraced officer, but because so many others failed to ask the most basic questions of their fellow cop. Seriously is this a small town police department or an episode of The Shield? Where's Vick Mackey? Wtf.
Settings
