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Health & Fitness

Police Chief Nathan Harper's Rise and Fall

A Sad Day for the City of Pittsburgh and the Region

There is no gratification to be derived from the fall from grace of former Pittsburgh Police Chief Nathan (Nate) Harper, a man who until recently was almost universally characterized as a humble, decent, honorable, straight shooter, a good man that was competent in his work.

 

Now we are left to scratch our heads as another such individual is found to have been a crook, unable to withstand the temptation of being able to pocket taxpayer money to which he was not entitled, and more astonishingly, to have failed to file four years of federal income tax returns.

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Chief Harper had it all: a six figure salary, a position of enormous responsibility, and the admiration not only of the African-American community, but the community at large.  He could have lived comfortably for the rest of his life with a generous pension awarded for his thirty five years of public service, but instead, he has brought disgrace upon himself and his family due to greed and stands to lose his pension, if not to be imprisoned.  How would a former police chief fare in prison with those he helped to place there?

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Is every public official dishonest?  One does not want to believe that, but it often seems that way.  It also seems that many who serve have no common sense, choosing to embark upon criminal conspiracy with not a thought that they could ever be caught.  How in heaven's name could Chief Harper think that no one could ever discover that he directed a key employee to divert money to him?

 

It is a sad day for the city of Pittsburgh and this region as we recognize that criminality committed by those at the top echelons of government is rampant at the local, state, and national levels.

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