Pre-judging Amy : The Playing Field And The Players

MPD officer Amy F. Fisher

Former Muncie MPD Officer Amy Forshee Fisher swore an oath – to serve and to protect the people of Muncie, Indiana – 2 November 1998. It was an oath she upheld. Amy didn’t become a law enforcement officer on a lark – it was her dream since childhood. She knew the possible dangers involved and she knew she would never get rich, but it was what she wanted to do with her life and, to that end, until the day her life as a serving line officer came to an end. In the next blog, Amy will answer the questions most often asked and she will share her life with the public, as it is the extreme opposite – as portrayed by the article in the Muncie StarPress. With a Q&A session, as well as sharing photos of her life, the public will meet the Amy Forshee Fisher it was never meant to know.

All anyone in any workplace wants is a level playing field. In the areas of public safety, it’s more than a ” want. ” It is an imperative. You have to have a fighting chance to do your job, to do it well and to be treated fairly and with respect, at least within the ranks. Amy Forshee Fisher didn’t have a level playing field upheld the oath from the day she sworn in as a police officer with the Muncie Police Department until she was publicly terminated in the Muncie StarPress.

From the moment she began her assignment to work on The Drug Task Force, her clock on her career began to tick away. From the moment Officer Fisher began gathering information about the illegal forfeitures, the so-called ” level playing field ” became an either a very slippery slope downhill or a tough climb up the worst possible mountain any officer of the law could climb…it depends on your point of view. Perhaps it became both.

While working with The Drug Task Force – the DTF – Officer Fisher began to question that particular department, as she was filing solid cases, which were not being prosecuted, as filed. Inevitably, her arrests, filed as Class A Felonies were downgraded to Class D,  often not being filed by then Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney, period – and the seized property of those arrested were not returned to the owners. While this was news to Officer Fisher, she had landed in a department which had been under scrutiny to at least 1999, when it was said to be under scrutiny for ignoring a state law requiring cash and proceeds from the sale of other property seized from drug dealers to be deposited in the general fund of the governmental unit employing the DTF officers, according to state examiners, the SBA – the State Board of Accounts.

Alarmed at what was happening, Officer Fisher refused to break the law regarding forfeitures and took the matter to the new Administration and worked with them to acquire evidence showing that the DTF was not adhering to Indiana law. It was already an open secret and had been virtually ignored by the previous administration. However, the Administration of Mayor Sharon McShurley would not ignore the situation and Officer Fisher continued working with DTF, only this time, she was meeting with Prosecutor McKinney – ” wired. ” From March 2008 through April 2009, Officer Fisher was in truly in the line of fire, more so than ever before.

Mayor McShurley filed a complaint against McKinney with the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission on 19 May 2008. McKinney, in a petition filed with the Indiana Supreme Court on Friday, indicated the process of handling forfeiture funds through the DTF had been approved by an Indiana Attorney General’s opinion and a written response from the Indiana Judicial Qualifications Commission.

Judge Dailey pointed out the SBA never approved the practice, repeatedly informing city government that the money had to deposited by court order in local government general funds. Attorney Michael Alexander, who represents several defendants in forfeiture cases, insists police were guilty of converting seized property and money for DTF and other law enforcement use.

McKinney, as deputy prosecutor before his 1996 election as prosecutor, received nearly $100,000 in attorney fees over the past decade handling civil forfeiture cases, and also prosecuted criminal cases. The prosecutor and the drug task force used confidential settlement agreements, negotiated without court orders, to disperse hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and property for the DTF’s use.

Citing state law that proceeds from drug forfeitures should be placed in local government general funds and common school funds after law enforcement costs have been paid. The DTF had its own accounts under city government, and also maintained an off-the-books checking account that it used to spend money on its operations and various other expenses, including equipment for a city police gym, donations to youth charities and carpeting the prosecutor’s office last year. The State Board of Accounts shut down that checking account last year in 2007.

It’s a long, crafty and well – crafted story with alot of math and even more questions. By then, Amy was well on her way back to patrolling the streets, while trying to, quite literally, stay alive – in terms of career, as well as her private life. It’s no secret Officer Fisher cooperation was an integral part of the DTF scandal. Some may think of her actions as ” breaking ranks, ” but in truth, Officer Fisher was upholding the law and refusing to do something she knew was in violation of state law. Ethics…duty…a promise made, a promise kept.

A great deal was happening in her life, personal and professional – but, that must wait until Amy Forshee Fisher Speaks, which will be, for the first time, a very public and personal statement about the consequences of staying true to the sworn oath. It will also define The Playing Field and the hypocrisy involved within the hierarchy of the MPD, as well as the Police Merit Commission. The effect on her career and her personal life has been devastating.

Meanwhile, in coverage regarding the DTF scandal, it was reported that Delaware County Prosecutor Mark McKinney and Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman used confidential settlements or affidavits to seize and disperse the money and assets of alleged drug dealers. While state law requires that such money be placed local government and school funs, the DTF maintained separate city accounts and checkbooks in which they deposited and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past decade and equipment, vehicle, charitable donations and other expenses.

In the political war now being waged against Mayor McShurley’s administration, there were  constant attempts to divert attention from the DTF story, stating it was all about revenge on McKinney, because he failed to employ Ms. McShurley in his office, sometime before the election. On the sidelines, but perhaps more lethal and more destructive, were the Attacks On Amy Forshee Fisher, using every possible tactic, using as well as civilians ( non – MPD personnel ) to chip away at her life, her peace of mind, her character and her job.

The level playing field had never been more uneven. MPD personnel who had also found themselves on the pages of the StarPress found their roads to be easy to walk, even if their actions were found to be questionable and, quite often, in direct violation of the law and ethical behavior. Then again, they weren’t helping to expose illegal activity within the DTF and the Prosecutor’s office. They might have overlooked the episode in which an off duty MPD officer pistol whipped a daughter’s boyfriend or been involved in off-duty public drunken behavior and assault, but they kept their jobs and they never saw The Police Merit Board. They were somehow ” washed clean. ” After years of harassment and threats, the stress on Amy Forshee Fisher was becoming more and more obvious – it was time to hit her hard, even if it mean breaking more laws.

Enter the reporters, who failed to report the truth. Enter a Nurse Practioner at Ball Memorial Hospital / IU Health, possibly for her own reasons, but without a thought to The Patient Bill of Rights and HIPAA codes. Enter high-ranking police officers who failed one of their own, obviously without conscience…obviously without The Code of Ethics. Enter The Police Merit Board, who should hold themselves responsible for helping to perpetuate a series of lies and revenge.

Enter Deborah King – Eichholz, who had read an obvious ” story ” and shook her head, thinking ” This isn’t journalism or even news. It is character assassination. ” I was contacted by a friend of Officer Fisher – to dig a little deeper, please and I started digging. In ” Amy Speaks, ” we’ll be talking with Amy…asking the tough questions and reporting her words accurately.

The people of Muncie pay the salaries of people who have disgraced law enforcement and who have tried very hard to destroy a woman whose purpose in life is ” to protect and to serve. ” In a city where we bury many things – this is one thing we cannot afford to bury – the truth and the life of a police officer who served this City well for 14 years.