'Dark day' for police.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Few developments are more unsettling to a community than allegations of criminal activity within the ranks of its police department.

Police officers hold a position of unique trust. While there is a system of administrative checks and balances intended to monitor and control police behavior, no system and no group of people is perfect, and a few officers will go astray. When that happens, it sends an unnerving signal to the community that there is a fissure of undetermined size and severity in its very foundation.

So it was disturbing to learn this week that Eugene police officer Juan Francisco Lara was arrested and jailed on allegations that he coerced four women that he met on the job into providing him sexual favors over the past two years. Those concerns were underscored by the simultaneous announcement that a second officer, Roger Eugene Magana, is under investigation for similar but unrelated allegations, although he has yet to be charged with any crimes.

Interim Police Chief Thad Buchanan was justified in declaring "this a dark day for the Eugene Police Department and the community we have sworn to serve."

Given the gravity of the allegations - it's the first time that a Eugene police officer has faced criminal sexual abuse charges - it was fitting that Buchanan publicly announced the allegations at a news conference and that he took the unusual step of announcing the investigation of

sexual allegations against an officer who has yet to be charged. Failure to do so would have led to suspicions of indifference at best, or a coverup at worst.

So far, the police department appears to be dealing with the allegations and the officers involved with an appropriate sense of seriousness and urgency. Both Lara and Magana are on paid administrative leave while the department conducts an internal investigation, and Lara is scheduled for arraignment today on charges including two counts of first-degree sex abuse and three counts each of coercion and first-degree official misconduct.

Buchanan was also right in observing that "every police officer is harshly impacted when one of our own violates public trust, casting a shadow of suspicion over the rest of us."

The flip side of that statement is equally true -women in this community are harshly impacted when they are forced live with even the shadow of fear that a police officer might attempt to take advantage of them. These fears are hopefully unwarranted, given that the vast majority of police officers live up to every word of their sworn oaths. But such fears are nonetheless a very real consequence of such allegations and must be recognized and addressed.

Meanwhile, it's important to keep in mind that neither man has been found guilty of the allegations against them, and that Magana has yet to be charged. Both men should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.

Despite unwarranted complaints by attorneys for the two officers of unfair treatment, police officials were wise to take swift and decisive action, and to publicly disclose both cases. Authorities should also disclose any additional allegations against these and other officers as the investigation continues.

Such candor is essential for allegations that Buchanan has rightly describes as "disturbing and disheartening."