Tyrone Police Department and Greg Ray Termination

[Christy]

I feel that I must respond to feeling sorry. You obviously know everyone involved, however you seem to know very little of the facts. The Chief did look into some allegations and rightfully so. It is how those allegations were received or obtained that is in question. The investigation was turned over to the Attorney General's Office for investigation. In the end the Attorney General's Office and the Blair County District Attorney's Office determined that the "criminal investigation was unfounded" against Greg and "that there was no reliable evidence that criminal wrongdoing was committed". The Borough still terminated Greg. Just to clarify, this means that there was no evidence regarding these allegations. As far as the allegations themselves, when officers drop charges, some serious, to obtain fabricated statements against someone and then turn them over to another law enforcement agency to investigate, this is illegal. All three that you mention were involved in this. This is a fact and there is evidence of that. I will not elaborate on the other allegations made against the three you mention. Read the lawsuit that was filed in Federal Court. It is all laid out. The Borough terminated Greg on their own private investigation, that they bought and paid for. Greg and Jessica were the only targets. There were allegations of misconduct revelaed in the private investigation against the other three, but you do not see them being disciplined or have their employment jeapordized. The Borough's reasoning for terminating Greg is that one investigation has no bearing on the other. This will never fly. Again, I appreciate your halfhearted supportive comments towards Greg but feel that you do not know all of the facts. Anyone that really knows Greg knows that he did not do the things that the Borough accused him of. Actually Greg still doesn't know in detail what the allegations are. He was given very vague allegations with no detail as to whom, what, where, how and when. There has never been any legitimate hearing of any type and no evidence has ever been presented and there has been no oppurtunity for Greg to refute the evidence because he really was never given any details. Everything will bleed through in the end. It is obvious that you know Greg and it is a shame that you have not contacted him to get his side. You must not have thought Greg to be a criminal as you spent personal time in his company.I hope your brothers in blue never turn on you.

[feelingsorry]

Dear Christine.....
I am sorry for the BS that you and your loved ones are being put through. It is a shame that this whole mess has been put in the public areana for all to see and hear.
I have talked to all parties except for Greg and should but I also am defending him too. I am also defending Lutz, Franks and Joe against some of the things that have been said about him. I just can not believe that hey would go to these extremes in drudging up these so called rumors. I have known all of you and have had fun with all you can not make any sense of it. In all my dealings all involved I have NEVER seen anyhting that would indicate the type of behavior involved on both parties. It is a shame that was a fun and exciting Department............ I hope it all works for everybody. GOOD LUCK 655

[banksy]

NOTE: I know none of the facts in this case.

That said, is Pennsylvania an at-will employer state? I live in Ohio and I know that we are, which in affect means that you can terminate employment without cause so long as it wasn't for sex, race, etc. This also means that the employee can also terminate their employment without cause as well.

[Bill Latchford]

NOTE: I know none of the facts in this case.

That said, is Pennsylvania an at-will employer state? I live in Ohio and I know that we are, which in affect means that you can terminate employment without cause so long as it wasn't for sex, race, etc. This also means that the employee can also terminate their employment without cause as well.

As you are right about Pa. being an at-will employee state, with a union though it is not the case. The Borough has two unions, one for its Non-Uniformed Employees and one for its Uniformed Employees. Thus if an employee were to be terminated or have any other type of issue with the Employer, I am pretty sure they would have some recourse through the union via the grievance process. Just thought I would give you a bit of background on the Borough's standpoint on the at-will state. Local, County and State Governments are all effected by this I believe.

[Wreck2107]

"Feelingsorry" I absolutely agree with you.
Every one of the Tyrone officers I have dealt with have been courteous, helpful and did their job as it is expected of them.
I believe that all the people involved in this matter, including the officers, chief, council, mayor, etc. are all good people and they are all trying to do what they think is best for our community. They are just doing what is required of them, whether they like it or not....whether we like it or not....because that is what they are there to do.
As in everything, there are two sides to this situation and I'm sure there were wrong doings by both sides.....nobody's perfect. While I do not always agree with decisions made by council, I do believe when they make those decisions, they do it because they feel it's the right thing to do. These are not stupid people sitting on this board, they are not going to cause problems for themselves and the borough just because....they have some reason for their decision, we just don't know their side yet.
What bothers me the most about this whole thing is the way some people (not everyone) have taken it upon themselves to pass judgement on others. I believe everyone has the right to their opinion and I believe those of you supporting Greg have a right to be upset, but, that doesn't give you the right to say some of the things that I have read posted on this site. Again, I know this is not everyone who has posted, but there are a lot of messages I've read that I am surprised Rick allows to stay posted. Your words can come back to haunt you.
Attacking someone's character and questioning their religion just because you don't agree with them - what does that say about you?
Matthew 7 tells us not to "pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless of course you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own....Wipe that ugly sneer of your own face and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor...."
I'm sure everyone has heard that simple rule-of-thumb guide for behavior - Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them!
You want everyone to hear your side and not judge you or call you names or question your religious convictions...however, many of you so called "defenders of Greg" are doing just that to the others involved.
I don't have anything against Greg personally, but there are many people on here who are not helping his case because of their ugly behavior. We often judge people by the company they keep and there are people that are making things look bad for Greg (and I will repeat again...not everyone, but a lot of posters here).
Maybe you should spend more time trying to build Greg up, rather than tear others down.
I'm happy with the way Chief Beachem, Officer Lutz, Officer Franks, Sharon Dannaway, the mayor, the council are handeling this situation. To the best of my knowledge, personnel issues are never discussed in the public, executive sessions are always called.....why do you want special treatment?
Bill, I applaud you for trying to answer whatever questions you can. I think it would take a lot of patience to not lose your cool when people are constantly asking for something you can't give.

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

[newcouncilmember]

sorry to disappoint you but some people have no idea of what is really going on.

[Christy]

Well wreck2107, when you have Greg and several other officers stand up and say that the allegations against Greg are false, have several citizens, with first hand knowledge, stand up at council meeting and state how the allegations were obtained, have people that gave statements say that they lied for preferential treatment or to get criminal charges dropped and have a determination from the Attorney General's Office and District Attorney's Office that the allegations were "UNFOUNDED"; what is a person suppose to believe? And your happy with the way council handled the situation? Get a grip! You need a lesson in reality. This is not some make believe fairy tale where you think the person that is suppose to be doing the right thing is doing the right thing. This is a very complicated issue, none of which you are apparently informed of. You can say what you want to say on the issue, unfortunately you are wrong.

[Christy]

Oh, I forgot wreck2107, if you would like to message me I would gladly have you to my residence and allow you to observe some of the evidence first hand. Then you can make an educated conclusion. There is lots of it!

[banksy]

Bring back Barney Fife.... what was the name of the cop we called Barney Fife when we were in school... the long faced guy.

[BeachBiker]

Bring back Barney Fife.... what was the name of the cop we called Barney Fife when we were in school... the long faced guy.

Long faced guy?

Younger or older? Was he fairly tall?

[feelingsorry]

Well wreck2107 I do agree with some of your statement about Lutz, Franks, Beachem and that the type of behavior by some of Greg's supporters are not helping his cause, Also I believe that the type of company that Greg is hanging around is not helping his cause and please do not take it the wrong way, I have met a lot of Greg's freinds and they are good people,but there are some, and you know who I mean that do not look good to be around right know. The one thing that I do strongly disagree on is the way that council has handeled this, that is all I am going to say. Hey kudos to Latchford though for having the very large meatballs to be on here and answer any questions because it hasn't all been good. It does seem that he is commited to the people of the Boro, I hope.... Also the burden of proof is alot diffrent for the Boro to show in the firing of Greg, then the Burden of proof for the AGs office to file any criminal charges. The term CONDUCT UNBECOMING OF AN OFFICER is an ugly and broad term to be used. It encompasses a very broad range of issues and conduct. The issues that were brought up and investigated by the AGs office might not even be the issues why GReg was fired and they probally are not even criminal but just might violations that Greg commited of the Departments Policy & Procedere manuel. If that was the case though there wouldn't be many working there(656)... Ooops my bad. I shouldn't have put that there. :devil:

[feelingsorry]

After reading my last post I do haft to say though I do support Greg and that from what I saw in the past he was one of the most punctual officers on the the firearms instructer, handled uniform allowance (but not always dilligent ha ha) , did the schedule and at the time pretty much removed himself from any of the inner office bickering. He did alot of administrative duties that he was asked to do. Everybody for the most part got along ant that was even when Franks , Lutz were there and the Chief. I don't know but it is a shame because everybody involved is a d*mn good officer and trust all of them with my life and have done soo......

[Tapout9947]

[quote="feelingsorry"]Let me start by saying that I am not posting this reply not to bash anyone involved in this unfortunate mess but I am just going to state some facts that I have personal knowledge of first hand. Almost 6 years of it.

First I feel the need to state that Chief Beachem is a very good freind and that some of the statements made here are untrue. As the Chief of the Department he has an obligation to follow up on any information that is given to him or obtained by him about the possibility of one of his own officers illegal activity. He then investigates to see if there is any probalecause in pursuing those allegations. The Chief then has to let Danaway know of any personnel issues with-in the Department and she then makes the determination to bring outside investigators to followup. As a Chief to the Boro of Tyrone Police Dept. he has an obligation to you the citizens to do these type of investigations like it or not. Trust me, he is not enjoying this. """






First I need to state that Greg Ray is a very good friend of mine, and the allegations about him are untrue. As a Chief of a department BEACHEM has an obligation to the community to follow up on any information of one of his officers involved in illegal activities , but he does not have the right too fabricate stories, let criminals off the hook if they agree too sign false statements, pose as a constables,
and among many other things give Jess and Matt P. a hard time cause they didnt join in on his little SCAM..And as for WRECK2107 while I do agree everyone is entitled too there own opinion the problem I have with the mayor and council is when it comes too having an"OPINION" too a matter for the community they should look at all the facts before they make any DECISIONS.You keep talking about everyone on here is just hearing one side of it, well now THEY know how Greg feels..He didnt get a chance too show his side of the story before they Fired him.. Council Members stated how they were not informed enough on the situation so they just went with what Dannaway Advised them too do...So they didnt have there own OPINIONS , yet they took away a guys life off of someone else OPINION...That is why we need a change in COUNCIL and the Mayor come this election.We need to vote for people that have enough BACKBONE to have there OWN OPINION....And trust me when this Lawsuit is over with and Greg takes this town for every nickle it has, The CHIEF and COUNCIL are not going too be enjoying much of anything other than hopefully an early retirement..................

[newcouncilmember]

Well feeling sorry instead of contacting Greg just read the lawsuit the writing is on the wall. As for officer Barlick and Plummer they were brought into this whole situation because they would not lie for Beachem. If you are questioning Gregs friends and you admit to being friends with those three what does that say about you. Ive heard that there has been some harassing things done towards Officer Barlick which have not been looked into. Beachem has always had his favorites and this time he just picked the wrong favorites. This situation never started until a certain one came into this town.

[feelingsorry]

Well about the constable thing. I have heard 3 diffrent renderings of this allegation by 3 diffrent people that are supporters of Greg. Which story should be the truth. Nobody from the Boro stated anything about this. They all state that it will be told at the right time. So as far as that story is concerned I will not make any judgement concerning it.
My judegements about everybody involved are made from my own personel dealings with them. I do not believe the allegations that have been brought against Greg. But I also do not beilieve that Beachem, Franks and Lutz would not fabricate anything that has been said due to my past dealings with them. They are good officers with high energy and a pro-active attitude, well at least they did until all of this BS. I do haft to say though that I would not put all my trust into statements made by any junkies or anyone that states that their charges were modified due to statements that they may have given for lesser charges. We all haft to understand that this type of action has been going on for quite sometime and yes they do lie. So why would the Greg camp put all their faith in these people when they recant their stories and said they lied to the police. How do they not know if they are not lying know?
I do agree with Tapout about no information was given to Greg about the reasoning of the firing and I think you are correct in lobbying that come election time there does need to be a chang made upstairs. Maybe Greg can fill one of those seats come election time.