A short month in Liberty

A short month in Liberty

Just short of a month ago, we ran an editorial suggesting that Liberty Township officials were slow to react to what the public clearly saw as an outrage: the death of an elderly Liberty Township woman on her own porch. She had died of hypothermia after being locked out of her home most of the night. She died even though a neighbor had called police twice to report hearing a human voice crying out, apparently in pain.

Police cars cruised up and down the street, but no officer got out of the car to investigate or to go to the address from which the two calls were made.

The editorial suggested that the township should have sought an independent investigation immediately, but said it was good that the township had, after four days, acknowledged that an investigation into the death of Mary Rush was necessary.

Liberty Township Trustee Jack Simon was quick to respond. To criticize the township, he wrote in a letter we ran May 5, was “not fair and is irrational journalism.” The newspaper, he scolded, was quick to jump to judgment. “If I have learned anything in my 10-plus years in office, it is to gather all the facts before you pass judgment.”

He even implied that the private citizen who made the two calls should have had the presence of mind to tell the dispatcher that an elderly neighbor had had mishaps in the past.

Haste makes waste

“The officers involved here have impeccable records and have never given us reason for concern of their job performance in the past,” Simon wrote. “Making hasty decisions at this point could be counter productive.”

Having been rebuked, we — like the rest of the community — were awaiting completion of the investigation, which is being conducted by law enforcement officials from Kent State University.

So imagine our surprise this week when Simon joined Trustee Gary Litch in telling Police Chief Tony Slifka to resign by June 9 or be fired.

Litch said there were three reasons Slifka’s resignation was being sought, but the “No. 1 reason was ... [Slifka’s) failure to do anything to discipline the officers involved and, in fact, defending the officers.”

Slifka may deserve to be fired, but Simon better hope that the other two reasons — lack of progress in an investigation of a theft at the township post office and allowing a case of alleged officer misconduct to drag on for seven months — are grounds enough. Because, frankly, a few weeks ago Simon was willing to cut the officers in the Rush case every bit as much slack as Slifka was.