Police corruption alleged doesn’t mean police corruption committed.

In a tort claim filed by a former sheriff’s deputy, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office stands accused of a variety of officer misconduct, from a deputy having sex with a girlfriend at a substation to officers stealing evidence to stock a home bar and altering DUI statistics to apply for a grant. As serious as those accusations are, a tort claim, by nature, consists of the unproved allegations of one party, in this instance former Deputy John Lunde, against another.

After the infamous 1991 FBI gambling raid on nearly 60 Silver Valley taverns, then-Sheriff Frank Crnkovich was hit with charges of racketeering, obstruction of law enforcement, and two counts of gambling. A federal grand jury alleged Crnkovich had conspired with owners of video poker machines to operate an illegal gambling ring. FBI agents claimed that Crnkovich had accepted bribes from gamblers and prostitution madams.

Federal prosecutors appeared to have a slam-dunk case. Only they didn’t. A first trial ended in a hung jury. Crnkovich was acquitted during a second trial.

Bonner County Sheriff Elaine Savage hasn’t been accused of personal wrongdoing. But Lunde contends in his tort claim that Savage runs a department with a culture of corruption. He and another former deputy provided examples of alleged officer misbehavior. Rather than take the offensive to defend her department, Savage has refused to comment, citing concerns about pending litigation and personnel matters. She shouldn’t have stonewalled. If she’s convinced that the charges are baseless, she should say so and call for an independent investigation to clear her department’s name.

It’s possible that the FBI, which lists public corruption as its highest criminal priority, is already investigating Lunde’s claims. However, neither the FBI nor Savage would confirm that fact. A thorough investigation by the FBI would be one way to restore credibility to Savage’s office.

By themselves, the charges, if true, reflect bad judgment, favoritism and minor illegal activity rather than outright corruption.

Lunde claims he was fired for issuing tickets to retired cops and telling supervisors that co-workers were spending their shifts watching movies. The 19-year sheriff’s employee made other claims during an appeal hearing, including the charge that a deputy stole cigarettes from a person being arrested and instructed a trainee to pull drivers over without probable cause. Also, Matt Hathaway, another former officer, said in a letter of resignation that he was ordered not to write more than one ticket per day and to have a love affair to occupy his time “while on duty.”

Lunde’s allegations came to light less than two weeks after sheriff’s Lt. John Valdez pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and was ordered to take anger management classes for threatening to harm jailer Ottis “Britt” Hamilton. Valdez’s case, along with the accusations raised by Lunde and Hathaway, indicate that Bonner County residents have a Sheriff’s Office with serious problems, if not one that’s run amok.

Sheriff Savage owes her constituents an explanation rather than a stone wall – and an independent investigation.