Village Idiot of the Week, July 2-July 7, 2009: Tim Escola, Janine England, Charles Hall, Perry Township Trustees

For most of the time I Hate Canton was summering on the edges of Ohio's frontier and was hence, offline, hell bubbled over in Perry Heights. To whit: the romantic antics of (now former) Perry Police Chief Tim Escola and his probationary Deputy Dawg, Janine England:

She tugs at his shirt sleeve with her teeth. He caresses her right cheek.

They smile.

Officer Janine England rests her head on the shoulder of her boss, then-Police Chief Tim Escola, as they travel together in the front seat of a police cruiser June 2. They went to the Cincinnati area to bring a burglary suspect back to Stark County.

Due to the time that's gone by since this story broke, I Hate Canton will not reiterate the unappetizing and salacious details. You know them anyway. Just go to the Rep's search engine and type in "Escola." Here, though, is the video of the frontseat event that was released to the Rep. (so far, it has over 75,000 hits!) It's only 2 minutes long. Being salacious ourselves, I Hate Canton would love to see the rest of the 7 hour tape to confirm our feeling that Chief Escola is indeed THAT boring at the wheel or anyplace else.





Back in the old days this tryst wouldn't have been news except around election time. Canton and Stark County cops hung out in brothels, blind pigs, gin joints, and gambling dens. If you needed a cop, you went to Cherry Street or Rex Avenue, not the doughnut shop.

Back in the old days, a reprobate cop would have been busted by a reformist do-gooder with a Bible or a Guide to Good Government in hand.

Today our constabulary is forced to take vice where it can...from its own ranks... in the front seat of a police cruiser...on a road trip... with Ms Hottie Cop.

Today, the reprobate busts himself by technology gone awry.

I Hate Canton loves the idea of the "on" button being pushed inadvertently by the passionate bump of a stray knee, hand, or forehead during that ride up from Cinci. We expect, though, it's not that clumsy or fun.

There has been much speculation that Escola was straight up set up by Perry Heights professional Escola haters, though how this might be accomplished is a bit fantastical. Last night's Stark County Political Report, gives a more plausible explanation of how the smoochies were caught on CopCam. Martin Olson, summarizing one of his unnamed sources,writes of what he has dubbed Perrygate:

As a parenthetical, an area law official tells the SCPR that this is an unusual arrangement. First, chief very rarely go pick up prisoners, and, second rookie officers are not normally chosen for the task either.

Obviously, with the publication of a video on line showing Escola and England kissing, someone had turned on the camera recording inside the police car activities. The Report's source believes that the person was Ms. England. However, the turn-on is not thought to be purposeful, but inadvertently (she did not understand exactly how to operate the camera).

From there the tape, upon routine review, made its murky way to Perry Township Trustee Anna Capaldi, who had a "problem" with the chief. As quick as you can say Marion Berry, Escola proffered his resignation.

This makes a lot more sense to us than a merceneary Deputy Dawg England surreptitiously taping herself and her boss making whoopee driving down the road in a police cruiser with a prisoner snug in the backseat. A confusing career move to the top of the cop heap in Perry, especially after her sexual harassment and racial discrimination suit against the Montville Township (Medina County) police where she was employed previously.

We cannot let this go without commendation. We were first tempted to award Officer Escola the Blue Ribbon he so justly deserves, but the prize really needs to be shared with Deputy Janine England, Perry Law Director Charles Hall, and the Perry Township Board of Trustees, who for their own eccentric reasons haven't removed England from her job:

Law Director Charles Hall said Wednesday afternoon that England was “under direct command” of her boss. And, he said, both officers were engaged in similar behavior.. “I don’t think I can reprimand her for a department violation when he’s there and engaging in the same activity,” Hall said....Unless new and compelling information surfaces, Hall said he sees “no reason to continue” with the investigation...Hall said England remains an officer in “good standing” despite her actions, and continues to serve her one-year probationary period that is standard for new Perry officers.

In other words:

• It's OK to monkey around on the taxpayer dime if the other monkey is your boss.

• It's OK to monkey around on the tax payer dime if both monkeys are agreeable

• It's OK to monkey around on the taxpayer dime if one of the monkeys resigns

• It's OK to monkey around om the taxpayer dime if we say it's OK
  

We, therefore, grant Officer Timothy Escola, Deputy Janine England, Charles Hall, and the entire Perry Township Board of Trustees the Village Idiot of the WEEK award, July 2-7, 2009

We also issue our warmest congratulations to now former prisoner Matthew Ruble (he was released upon return to Stark County and all charges dropped) for remaining calm during what must have been a cruel and unusual punishment experience.