Police officer became FBI informant
Dr. Kardasz: "Lamplighting" also known as "Whistleblowing" is one of the most difficult things a law enforcement officer can do. Reporting the misconduct of peers can be a trying experience. The following story describes the brave work of an honest cop.
For more information on this subject see: http://www.kardasz.org/Whistle_Blowing.html
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Police officer became FBI informantBy Erin Rickert, The Daily Reflector, June 24, 2006
(North Carolina) As a rookie cop just two months out of basic law enforcement training, Winterville Police Officer Katie Russell said she never guessed she would be involved in an undercover operation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
But for nearly 18-months, the 23-year-old Oak Island native served as an FBI informant after witnessing the illegal activities of Fayetteville Police Officer Jared Parsek in the latter part of 2004.
During these months amid her daily patrol work in Winterville, Russell met with FBI agents to record phone conversations and assist in the recovery of weapons she said Parsek discarded.
"It takes a great amount of courage to do any kind of undercover work," Winterville Police Chief Billy Wilkes said in a news release about Russell. "The fact that she undertook this assignment with only four months of police experience under her belt against a crooked cop for 18 months speaks volumes about her integrity and guts."
Russell said she developed a friendship with Parsek in September 2004 at a drug enforcement training program in Wilson. At an outing in the mountains a month later Russell said she noticed something out of the ordinary.
"He was in a room with a bag of guns taking off the serial numbers and sawing them off," Russell said by phone Wednesday from her parents home in Oak Island.
Russell said she subsequently was in a car with Parsek watching him throw the metal pieces of the guns off the side of a mountain in Watauga County.
"The whole time, I just remember I was thinking about who I was going to tell," Russell remembered.
Russell turned to a former professor at Pitt Community College to discuss her information.
"He told me I needed to call the FBI," Russell said. "He got them on the phone and I sat there (in his office), and told them everything I knew."
Russell said it was during this conversation she discovered the FBI was already investigating Parsek's activities.
She said some of the guns were used in robberies of homes in Fayetteville, Raleigh and Beech Mountain Parsek was directing men to rob. Parsek had learned through police duties the homes were unoccupied, she said.
To help the FBI secure evidence against Parsek, Russell agreed to continue exchanging e-mails and phone calls with him, which agents reviewed during the 18-months. Russell said she even took FBI agents to the mountain to help locate the gun parts Parsek threw over the mountain.
"The whole thing is hard to believe, but I am glad they finally did get him," Russell said. "They told me without coming forward it would have taken a lot longer."
Parsek pleaded guilty in federal court in March. He is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
At an informal ceremony at the Winterville Police Department this week, FBI Supervisory Special Agent T. Flynn presented Russell with a certificate of recognition for "outstanding cooperation and assistance in connection with an investigation of great importance."
Russell — who has been with the Winterville Police Department for about two years — said the experience has inspired her to return to school to obtain a four-year degree in criminal justice to better prepare her for the investigative police work she plans to do.
"We are fortunate to have officers of her caliber in the department," Wilkes said. "She's a real go getter with a long and successful career ahead of her."
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