In support of Riverside cop

Riverside officials’ support of a decertified police officer has several sides to be considered, and the well-written article by Jake Sheridan points out many of them (“Riverside rallies in support of officer,” Aug. 23). The officer was young, poor and did not have clothes when she took a $14.99 T-shirt. After a conditional discharge, the charges were vacated and expunged.

The Cicero Police Department hired her in 2021, and she completed the Cook County sheriff ’s office police academy. She served the town of Cicero until she decided to join the Riverside Police Department, where she was hired and put into field training.

However, the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board decertified the officer, which will prevent her from being a police officer elsewhere in the United States.

This officer served well in Cicero, and Riverside sees her as an excellent addition to its department. Why didn’t the standards board try to prevent the hiring by Cicero? Why destroy the logical, fair purpose of the law that allows certain charges to be vacated and expunged? That purpose is to let people who made a minor mistake go forward as good citizens. Such people may be superior candidates when compared to older people who break laws with little chance of reform.

Before retirement, I successfully represented at least 40 police officers, which gave me inside knowledge of how law enforcement is administered, how officers act and think, and what to expect from an honest judge. This case should result in completion of Officer Zenna Ramos’ hiring. The argument that in the future she might be questioned by criminal defense lawyers in court about her T-shirt theft could be used by prosecutors to show how desperate the defendant is.

No qualified judge is going to dismiss a criminal case because the early years of an officer’s adulthood include vacated and expunged charges.