Affirmative Action or Declining Standards?

Officer Lavar Horne is a Dallas police officer. As Steve Blow says in his column in last Sunday's newspaper, "Officer Horne, 29, is a product of that era when the Police Department lowered its standards in a push to expand and diversify the force."

Would you like to know how Officer Horne "diversified" the force? To begin with, he failed his entrance exam and interview. He reapplied 18 months later. He was hired on the condition that he pay off $1207 he owed in traffic fines. Already sounds like a fine candidate for a police officer to me. A year later, Officer Horne was fired because a routine check showed that his drivers license was suspended (I suppose as a result of the traffic fines). At any rate, he says he didn't know it was suspended. The department must have believed him, because after a review, they put him back on the force.

Then last year, he got into a little trouble. He had used up his sick days, and didn't provide the required doctor's note for the additional days he took off. No problem, just a clerical error -- officer Horne later brought in the required notes. But this year, when the notes were reviewed, it turned out they were forged. Oops! Given his record, I would have fired him, but he remains on duty.

Then a couple of months ago, undercover officers about to conduct a raid on a club in Dallas saw Officer Horne there. One of the officers gave him a heads-up and told him he should get himself out of there. As Officer Horne left, the undercover man saw him speak to the doorman who began text messaging, other text messages were being sent and received all over the club, all the illegal activity was swept out of sight, and the manager who was the target of the raid disappeared.

Yes, I can see where we need more and more of this diversification business! It's doing SO much to improve our society!