Haymarket Police Chief Wants to End 'Soap Opera'

By Theresa Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 12, 2006

Haymarket Police Chief James E. Roop called it his "Paul Harvey."

Harvey, the famous radio broadcaster, often said, "You know what the news is. Now you're going to hear . . . the rrrrest of the story!"

And so, over a cup of coffee at a Haymarket diner last week, Roop gave the "rest of the story" -- allowing his views and frustrations over the town police department's towering troubles to spill onto the table.

"People just can't keep beating us up," he said. "I'm thinking, 'What the hell am I doing here?' You try working under that."

In a letter to the public, which he dropped door-to-door March 3, he wrote that it was time to make a choice: "Do you want a professional police department and town with a good reputation? Or do you want a soap opera?"

So far, the soap opera's plot has gone a bit like this: Brother turns against brother. A sexual harassment investigation follows. Then a domestic dispute case. An officer is fired. Rumors abound. Infighting increases. Political sides emerge.

The department, which once had nine law enforcement agents, stands at only three -- Roop, Sgt. Gregory Breeden and Officer Bart Kenworthy.

Of the others, one was fired, one quit and four fell under the ax of a Town Council decision to suspend the auxiliary police program.

Former auxiliary officer Charlie Proffitt has been vocal against the chief. Proffitt says Roop runs the department without consideration for what's good for the town. He and the three other auxiliary officers who worked as volunteers without pay received a letter dated Jan. 27 saying the Town Council was suspending the program.

"It's a good ol' boy system," Proffitt said. "I don't believe in corrupt cops and them doing stuff illegal."

He and others, including former auxiliary officer Tim Benjamin, said they think the department was whittled down to eliminate all those who have spoken against Roop. Roop and Breeden were each suspended for 15 days without pay after a sexual harassment investigation initiated by a former officer's complaints.

Roop says he wants back pay for those 15 days. Plus his name cleared and his attorney's fees reimbursed. Although he used to drop "dear" and "sweetie" when he spoke in that southern drawl way, he said he now finds himself swallowing those sentiments.

"That's no way to live," he said. "You're living like a parasite. You're being micromanaged to death."

In his letter to the public, he wrote that he has allowed the drama to disrupt his life and the loves of the officers. He said that during the days that his former employees and a council member were calling him a liar and saying they hated him, he had to deal with his daughter being diagnosed with a "rare terminal illness," his wife's multiple sclerosis and the funerals of two in-laws and a friend.

"They have tarnished my name as well as my sergeant's name and made Haymarket and this department the joke of the community," he wrote. "These same men are currently planning to run for your Town's Council as well as position of mayor."

That is where politics comes in. In the May 2 election, Benjamin is running for mayor. His wife, Vicki, and a recently fired officer, Robert A. Hoffman Jr., are running for council seats. The council recently voted to fire Hoffman, who had prompted the sexual harassment case against Roop and who was charged in December with standing guard at an illegal poker game in Fairfax County.

Roop said he fears for the future of the department depending on the election results. The political overtones are evident in his letter.

"THE TIME HAS COME to decide where your priorities and loyalties lie," he wrote.

Roop, who has 30 years of law enforcement experience, threatened to submit his letter of resignation at a Monday board meeting, but the council didn't accepted it. Several residents spoke in support of him.

On the back of the letter, Roop lists his cell phone number, a fact that he proudly points out. "Everyone in town has my card," he said.

In old Paul Harvey fashion, he said there were a few things he wanted to clear up. To claims that he works only two days a week, he said that's true and that he's using up his accumulated comp time.

To claims that he put in for overtime when his job title prohibits it, he said it is allowed because he was spending more than 20 percent of his time as a police officer, not an administrator. But, he added, "Here's the deal. Don't pay me. I don't care."

To claims that the auxiliary officers wrote more tickets than him, he said, "I only hope they've given that many breaks as well."

"You have to know when to give a break and when to not," he said.

Finally, to the claim that Breeden used an ax to beat down his estranged wife's door, Roop said it was a hammer. And it was not the front door, he added, it was the garage.

Roop ended his letter asking Haymarket residents to support and forgive him.

"The personal attacks on me have caused me to loose [sic] focus on the importance of my role in this community, and for that, I am sorry," he wrote. "I will no longer allow this to happen."