ROCKVILLE, Md. — The wife of Montgomery County Police
Chief Charles Moose compares her husband to
civil-rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King.
 Chief Charles Moose |
But some of his officers say he’s more like the Rev.
Al Sharpton, the controversial political figure
dismissed by critics, including some blacks and
Democrats, as a hustler.
Sandra Herman-Moose, a lawyer, made the comparison to
King at a news conference last week in equating the
chief’s ethics row over selling his planned book on
the Beltway sniper probe to the great civil-rights
struggles of the last century.
 Rev. Al Sharpton |
In a stunning act of defiance by a public official,
Moose has hired a First Amendment lawyer to fight the
Montgomery County Ethics Commission decision to deny
him a waiver to profit from the book deal, which is
worth more than $100,000.
Herman-Moose insisted her husband is fighting for
ideals, not money.
“He’s no less of a man than Dr. King, Nelson Mandela
and any great person that stood for principle,” she
said.
Her comments have sparked outrage among the officer
ranks.
“It is an insult to great men who made significant
contributions to their fellow man,” said a Montgomery
County police officer. “If she compared him to Al
Sharpton, I could see the similarities.”
The officer, who wished to remain nameless, added that
the chief is acting as if “he is above the rules,” and
is “single-handedly destroying the honor and
reputation of the department for his own personal
gain.”
Walter E. Bader, president of the Fraternal Order of
Police’s Montgomery County lodge, said many officers
found the remark “disgusting,” and are upset that
Moose insists on cashing in on the prestige of his
office in spite of the ethics ruling.
But some point out that other members of the
department have written books about the job, such as
former officer Tracy Sparshott, who penned the book
“Trust Me.”
Difference is, Bader notes, Sparshott was retired when
his book was published, and he was not in senior
management.
Moose and his lawyers declined comment.
In appealing the ethics panel ruling, lawyer Jamin
Raskin argues that the county violated Moose’s free
speech and expression rights.
But the panel disagrees, arguing that its opinion is
backed by a recent conclusion by the U.S. Office of
Government Ethics that barring federal employees from
profiting from writing that relates to their official
duties is consistent with the First Amendment.
“That federal prohibition is limited to services that
relate to the employee’s official duties, unlike the
broader federal honoraria ban that the Supreme Court
struck down on First Amendment grounds” in 1995, wrote
Montgomery County Ethics Commission Chairwoman
Elizabeth K. Kellar for the panel last month.
Previous stories:
Police union probes Moose over sniper info
Police tried to make eyewitness doubt initial ID
Pizza guy ID’d 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 immigrant
Related column:
Race-conscious chief may have cost lives
