Chief Moose book deal
causes police 'disgust'

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose's defiant campaign to cash in on fame he gained from leading the Beltway sniper case is hurting police morale, police union officials here say.

"There's a general feeling of disgust," said Walter E. Bader, president of the 1,034-member Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police.

He says the rank-and-file think Moose – by pursuing lucrative book and movie contracts, in spite of ethics rules against them – has brought disgrace on the department.

Discontent boiled over late last month when transcripts of Moose's pleadings in a closed-door hearing before the Montgomery County Ethics Commission revealed his motives to be almost entirely financial.

"It really is a once-in-a-lifetime (opportunity)," Moose said of the book deal, worth at least $170,000. "I just, like I said earlier, I never fathomed that I would have this opportunity. But also, even with this good fortune, I don't fathom that I'm going to get a second opportunity.

"It's really different," he continued. "It's really not something that I ever thought was gonna happen. I guess that makes it in the category to come here and ask for a waiver, ask for consideration, because it is once in a lifetime."

Bader told WorldNetDaily it looks as if Moose, who complained about his wife's and son's unpaid law school bills, is attempting to "cash in on others' misfortunes," referring to the 10 people gunned down by the snipers last fall.

"Let's hope that 10 more people won't die to give him another 'once-in-a-lifetime' chance for fame and money," he said.

"I sure bet those victims' families wish their loved ones had a 'lifetime' at all," Bader added. "You think Mrs. (Linda) Franklin would have liked a 'lifetime' with her husband in their new house? I know (retired Montgomery County Police) officer (James L.) Buchanan (Sr.) wishes he could share part of his 'lifetime' with his son, Sonny."

Franklin, an FBI analyst, was shot in the head in a Virginia Home Depot parking lot after she and her husband had bought items for a home they had just bought. Sonny Buchanan was shot in the back while mowing a lawn in Maryland.

"They are not opportunities," Bader said.

Besides, he says he and other officers aren't sure what Moose "did to solve anything" during the sniper investigation, which was plagued by miscues and missteps.

"Many intense investigations take months or years to resolve, yet police officers don't do it with an eye toward personal financial gain," Bader said. "Officers feel rewarded when citizens just say, 'Thank you,' which is a small token often overlooked."

Responding to Bader’s comments, Montgomery County Police Department spokeswoman Lucille Baur said, "I don't believe the feelings he's espousing represent the entire sworn and unsworn police force."

Moose's officers also are upset that his wife has tried to turn his ethics battle into a racial issue.

During the hearing, Sandy Herman-Moose, who is white but claims to be part Cherokee, complained about the "institutionalized racism" her black husband has allegedly suffered throughout his 28-year career. And she told the five-member ethics panel that he just wants a "fully white group to give him the permission to make some money."

In a subsequent press conference, she compared Moose to Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela in their struggle for equality. After the panel refused to let Moose profit from the prestige of his office, he sued the county in federal court for allegedly violating his civil rights. He claims to be denied free speech and expression, even though the county is only barring him from profiting from the book, not writing it.

County Executive Doug Duncan, who hired Moose in 1999, has endorsed his book and movie deals before the ethics panel.

Growing dissension in the force over Moose's relentless pursuit of the deals follows on the heels of an acrimonious battle between Moose and the police union during its most recent contract negotiations.

The union accused Moose of withholding information about the sniper suspects, both black, from detectives and patrol officers while trying to completely rule out white suspects. Bader demanded management add to the contract a safety provision requiring Moose to relay look-out information on future dangerous suspects as soon as he gets it. The union got the clause written into the contract over Moose's vocal objections.

At the same time, Moose fought a healthy pay raise the union requested to keep up with skyrocketing area housing costs. The union lost its bid, and had to settle for a meager 2 percent cost-of-living adjustment.

Moose, meanwhile, remains the highest-paid county official, earning more than $160,000 a year.

Previous stories:

Antique-less Mrs. Moose begs for book deal

Mooses set up biz 4 weeks after killing spree

Moose's officers compare chief to Rev. Al Sharpton

Police union probes Moose

Police tried to make eyewitness doubt initial ID

Pizza guy ID's snipers on Day 1, yet cops ignore info

Secret sniper stake-out puts lie to Moose claim

Cops: Chief Moose withheld look-out on sniper suspects

Moose denies blocking police pay raise

Beltway sniper likely foreign

Related column:

Race-conscious chief may have cost lives