David L. Pyle – 2/25/07

This page was last updated on February 25, 2007.

Why was jail report leaked?; David L. Pyle; Beaver County Times; February 25, 2007. An editor’s note alleges, “The writer is a corrections officer at the Beaver County Jail.”

Mr. Pyle wrote at least four previous letters regarding the jail. I critiqued only the most recent two (here and here). His first letter is here and the second (“Misplaced spending priorities,” January 3, 2006) is no longer on the website. All were name-calling rants.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I was highly impressed by Sunday’s article on the Beaver County Jail only to the extent of how much paper The Times used for political garbage and mudslinging. Apparently, the jail is the septic system or doormat of the county. I guess you need any news to sell papers.

“I applaud the commissioners again for wasting more taxpayers’ money by hiring a private investigative firm that did its job - to collect pre investigative speculative information at whatever price, only to be reinvestigated by a governmental agency that will prosecute or dismiss the allegations as reported in the article.

“A report by a private investigator isn’t the same as an investigation by a governmental agency. The legal standards are different. The accuracy and credibility of the report and whether any violations did occur can only be determined by a governmental agency.”

[RWC] What a load of crap!

“I don’t mind washing my dirty laundry in public, but I would like it to be truth, not conjecture and personal interpretation of non-credible sources. I’m not going to try to refute or atone for any of the accusations made in the article, nor will I play Monday morning quarterback in a correctional environment. I will say the jail staff does the best it can within the parameters of what it has.

“Improvement is needed and management skills are lacking due to the overall morale of coming out of a near-privatization venture and the economic restraints imposed (lack of annual training and staff input for changes).”

[RWC] In case you forgot, Mr. Pyle and his friends wrote a bunch of letters saying we shouldn’t hire a private company to run the jail because these allegedly new employees (The existing employees were free to apply.) couldn’t run the jail as well as government employees.

“My question to the taxpayers is why a private, confidential report was given to the paper when it contained information not collected by a governmental investigative agency. What is the political agenda behind the leak?”

[RWC] I get a kick out of Mr. Pyle writing about a “political agenda.” If you recall, Mr. Pyle and his friends believe it is government’s role to provide jobs.

“Give me facts, not speculation. Do the job, not the politics. Voters must read between the lines, not follow the leader to the polls.”

[RWC] You have to be kidding, Mr. Pyle. Your letters to date have been nothing but speculation and rants.

While Mr. Pyle is upset about an alleged leaked report about the jail, I never saw any letters from him complaining about the leaking of national security documents and programs.