Sheriff Harold Franklin Cassell

In 2006, Sheriff Harold Franklin Cassell and 17 members of his department were
arrested on drug and other charges. The accusations involve them stealing cocaine and
marijuana, distributing steroids and weapons on the street, and possession of ketamine
(often used as a “date-rape ” drug) at a location that sheriff’s deputies used for parties
and extramarital trysts. Cassell was the sheriff of a county in Virginia that only had a
population of 58,000 residents. • We hear of corruption in major metropolitan police
departments; are you surprised to hear of this level of corruption in a smaller jurisdiction?
• How can we prevent police corruption when illegal drugs provide so many temptations
available to even a small town police officer?