Citizens have right to expect the equal application of law

If it turns out that Officer Donald Korda of the Mill Creek MetroParks Police Department was correct when he wrote in a report that three men flashed their deputy sheriff badges and IDs during a traffic stop in May, Mahoning County Sheriff Randall Wellington will have a lot of explaining to do.
Wellington has ordered an internal investigation of a complaint against at least one deputy, Michael Wilson, 25, of Austintown. The complaint was filed by Alexis Smith, 21, of Liberty, who says the rental car she was driving was damaged during an incident in the parking lot of an Austintown nightclub.
Wellington was supposed to meet with Smith Friday. She has said that while she and a friend were getting into her rental car, Wilson and two other men were getting into his car, that was parked next to hers. One of the three accidentally hit Smith's door with his door, but when Smith confronted him about it, he kicked the car door into the door of her car.
Wilson then drove off quickly without the headlights on and the women followed, calling 911 in Austintown and Youngstown to say that Wilson was driving recklessly through the township and city. He was stopped at Wendover Circle and Kirk Road by Officer Korda, who saw him driving without his lights. The rear plate was obscured with an "FOP" emblem.
Here's what Korda wrote in his report: "Upon speaking to the driver of the auto I had stopped, the driver identified himself as one Wilson, Mike a deputy sheriff with Mahoning County and showed me his picture ID and badge. When asked about not having his headlights on he stated that he had just picked up his friends at The Wedge and was talking and did not notice he had them off. Both other occupants also showed deputys IDs and badges."
Smith, who had stopped her car behind Korda's cruiser, and her friend, Erika Jackson, 21, of Liberty, saw the officer speak to Wilson. Jackson told a Vindicator reporter that Korda let Wilson go "almost immediately."
Wilson denies that he and the others showed IDs and badges and said only one of the other two individuals in his car was a deputy. He claimed that the man who kicked the car door -- Wilson said he did not realize it had happened -- is not a deputy.
Discretion
While Korda did not return a call from the Vindicator reporter seeking his comments about the traffic stop, Lt. Bruce Emery of the Mill Creek Metroparks Police Department said it is at "the officer's discretion" whether to cite someone or let him go.
Since when did enforcement of the law become discretionary? What standard is used by the officers? If a deputy sheriff driving at 1:55 in the morning without his lights on gets a pass, how about John Q. Public? How often would he get a similar courtesy?
Is the "officer's discretion" rule embraced by all law enforcement agencies in the region? What about the severity of the violation? Does that matter?
Deputy Wilson told The Vindicator that he had been drinking, but could not remember how much he had consumed that night. Did Officer Korda not smell alcohol on his breath? Why wasn't a field sobriety test conducted?
As for Sheriff Wellington, he needs to find out if Wilson flashed his badge and ID, and whether the other two occupants are members of his staff. Beyond that, the sheriff, who is embarrassing the county through his managerial ineptness, should let the public know what his policy is with regard to his deputies using their badges and IDs when they aren't on duty.
The criminal justice system in Mahoning County has already been labeled "dysfunctional" by a federal monitor of the jail. It does not need another black eye.
Citizens have a right to expect the equal application of the law.