ex-pig Dan Durrenberger thinks Tempe Police Chief Ralph Tranter should NOT be held responsible for his actions. Hell he is a cop!! Cops can't possible do anything wrong. Thats the problems with pigs they are almost NEVER held accountable for crimes they commit! Original Article No fire behind pot smoke (something more about standing up for chief) Dan Durrenberger Special for The Republic Apr. 5, 2006 12:00 AM Last year, Tempe Police Chief Ralph Tranter wrote a letter asking a judge for leniency on behalf of the son of a Tempe City Council member who was arrested for possession of pot. He has written similar letters for others in the past. Last week, critics of the chief decided to dredge up this non-incident and use it to attempt to force his resignation. Shame on them. Their attempt to railroad him out of his job should be universally condemned. To be blunt, the simple-minded people making accusations against him are engaging in unethical conduct. They should resign or be fired. They aren't fit to shine his shoes, because, by any measure, Ralph Tranter is the best chief of police Tempe has ever employed. That's why Tempeans care about their police chief. They like him. They support him. Conversely, they don't like his sophomoric critics or the lazy bureaucrats who seek to bring him down. They won't stand for it. Mark my words, a head or two is going to roll in the weeks to come and neither one of them will be Ralph's. Several years ago, Chief Tranter took me to lunch. We met at the House of Tricks restaurant in downtown Tempe. He said something to me then that I've never forgotten and reflect on often. "My job isn't to enforce the law," he opined. "My job is to enforce the Constitution." That's a verbatim quote. To thinking people, the depth, breadth and ramifications of that comment are considerable. Of all the many chiefs of police that I've known, in Tempe and elsewhere, those two sentences are among the most insightful I've heard. It's a philosophy that sets a respectful tone for the difficult task of law enforcement. It's one of the reasons that, on balance, we have the finest Police Department in Arizona, bar none. Go ahead. Name one that's better. You can't. A lot of thoughtful people have devoted their lives to building a Police Department in which we can take pride. Many have taken personal risk toward that end. Ralph Tranter is one of those people - an honest man of integrity. His professional achievements are beyond reproach. His critics are bottom feeders. I've had the privilege of writing community columns for more than 20 years. In this capacity, I've been privy to a lot of things via voice mails, e-mails, faxes and letters. It's against that backdrop that I'm telling you that the injustice being perpetrated against Tranter is an abomination. I've never felt more strongly on any Tempe issue than this one. The people who seek to force Ralph Tranter's resignation should be called to the carpet for their disgusting behavior. They should also be held accountable for the waste of the $15,000 spent to investigate Tranter's alleged misconduct. Imagine, $15,000 to ascertain whether Chief Tranter should have written a leniency letter. Who can honestly say they care? I don't. Do you? No, you don't. Why? Because the majority of the people reading this column have probably smoked pot, or know folks who have. Furthermore and ironically, occasional past pot smoking no longer disqualifies a person from becoming a police officer. It's time to hold the feet of Tiny Town's pusillanimous hypocrites to the fire and, in so doing, admonish them to leave Ralph Tranter alone. He's our chief of police. He knows this community like the back of his hand. He's a decent guy who did do and wants to continue to do the right thing. As such, we should respect and support him and lay waste to those who seek to do him harm. I would encourage every last one of you to step forward and tell the current administration that you support Ralph and that you won't stand for the orchestrated assassination of his reputation that is currently emanating from the third floor of Tempe City Hall, specifically the office of the city manager and the minions employed therein. Dan Durrenberger is a 32-year resident of the Southeast Valley who lives in Tempe and works in Mesa. He can be reached at DJDurrenberger@aol.com.