Whitewater Police investigator Larry Meyer, now retired, has been at the center of two controversial investigations: Star Packaging and that of a local landscaping company. The latter investigation has led to a federal civil suit against Meyer. On August 2nd, The Week, under Donna Lenz Wright’s byline, ran a story on the lawsuit, entitled, “Expert Witness: Investigator Led Crusade Against Businessman.”
Here is a key portion of her story:
Meyer “obviously had more than an objective, professional law enforcement interest in the activities of Steve Cvicker,” wrote Dennis Waller, a police expert hired by Cvicker. In his opinion, Waller said Meyer failed to objectively investigate Cvicker’s now ex-wife because he allegedly had a personal interest in her and mounted “what appeared to be a personal crusade against Mr. Cvicker.” “This crusade, which can be likened to a personal vendetta, negatively impacted Mr. Cvicker’s marriage, business and personal freedom,” Waller wrote in a May 14 opinion.
Meyer’s defense team did not list an expert witness to combat Waller’s opinions….Upon reviewing most of the court documents filed in the case, Waller noted that Meyer didn’t answer “a plethora of questions” during depositions, claiming there was still-ongoing investigations into Cvicker’s activities. “Surely it is reasonable to believe such claims have been resolved. Investigator Meyer’s responses to those questions are anticipated,” Waller wrote, noting his opinions could be amended upon reviewing additional information.
(The defense claims that Meyer’s investigation caused no financial harm, because Cvicker’s business was failing, anyway.)
What can we say about this update?
1. Chief Coan has, repeatedly, defended Meyer as professional in his, Meyer’s, investigations. It’s more than a defensive posture to protect the city from litigation; Coan has gone out of his way to praise Meyer, as he did on Police Day this year, and he’s done so in print, too. Coan might have said less as a defensive tactic, but he’s taken a more assertive approach in support of Meyer.
What would Coan say now? It’s a rhetorical question: He’ll say what he has always said.
2. As of the dateline in The Week’s story, Meyer had not even offered an expert, legal justification for his police methods. He’s taken, apparently, the narrow, technical defense that you can’t injure a business that is already (mostly) failing. That’s a predictable technique to defend against a claim for monetary damages. His defense attorney may be scrambling for an expert now, but if Meyer were so clearly professional, why wouldn’t he have that professionalism as the core of his defense strategy?
3. For citizens of Whitewater, the most important question should be the conduct of the officer or investigator. What sort of investigator was this, and how was he coached, supervised, and managed while he wandered about town, dropping in on businesses, and chatting people up?
4. Perhaps Meyer hasn’t offered a justification for his methods because they are hard-to-impossible for rational people to comprehend and support. After all, former Assistant District Attorney Krueger signed an affidavit that Meyer destroyed evidence in the investigation of Cvicker’s business. (Krueger subsequently left for a position with the Attorney General in Madison.)
What else has Meyer done?
5. Meyer has a friend in Coan in Whitewater, and other friends in Elkhorn, too. Coan’s over-the-top loyalty is almost beyond parody. What though, of the city? There are far more than a few people who have met Larry Meyer, and who can tell you a story about how unimpressed they were. (I have no personal connection with Meyer; I’ve just watched his official, public efforts embarrass himself, our city, and anyone who’s shameless enough to defend him. That’s enough for anyone: Meyer should have been censured and later fired long ago, not given retirement recognition. This is a group that will defend its own at the expense of the truth, all the while insisting that their selfish defense is the very model of propriety and professionalism.)
6. Is now-retiree Meyer’s investigation still ongoing? That’s what Meyer seems to have said in his deposition. It’s a predictable answer from him; doubtless Larry Meyer will do what’s best for Larry Meyer. What of the city, and its police force? Are they really still investigating Cvicker, or is it just a way to provide cover for Meyer? I don’t know, but where are the independent, honest publications in this town, beyond FREE WHITEWATER, that have the civic-mindedness even to ask the question?
7. Where’s the Register in all this? That, too, is a rhetorical question. The Register is where real journalism dare not go. I have not noticed a story on Meyer in the pages of Register like the one in The Week. Not anywhere in the Register: not above the fold, below the fold, or even on the back page. There are lots of advertisements for out-of-city businesses in the inaptly-named Whitewater Register, but no stories about a question that goes to the heart of supposed police professionalism in this city. The Register’s great at fawning and flacking for a town clique, but only at the expense of true good government, true professionalism, and ordinary fairness.