HOW WE SEE IT Captain Urged To Be Cautious

Arkansas State Police Capt. Lance King might have broken the law when he accepted gifts from the University of Arkansas football program.

That’s how the Arkansas Ethics Commission sees it, anyway.

King, who supervises Troop L, a state police unit that serves Northwest Arkansas, had been in charge of security for former Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino before the April 1 motorcycle accident that eventually led to Petrino’s dismissal.

(You probably are familiar with the story. No need to repeat the ugly details here.)information came to light following that accident. One thing we learned was that the university had given King season football tickets, as well as tickets to the last two bowl games in whichArkansas has appeared - the 2011 Sugar Bowl and 2012 Cotton Bowl. King also had received a Sugar Bowl ring. The total value of these items has been estimated at $3,111.

Arkansas ethics law generally forbids public employees from accepting gifts valued at more than $100. The Ethics Commission voted 4-0 on June 15 to issue a public letter of caution - but no fine - to King.

By the commission’s standards, this is a very mild response. No criminal charge has been filed against King, nor does one appear to be forthcoming. His employer has not yet decided how to handle the commission’s ruling.

One thing of which we’re certain: King does not deserve to lose his job over this.

Let’s remember it was King who filed the ethics complaint - yes, against himself - that brought forth the commission’s ruling. That’s highly unusual. It shows King wants to do the right thing, even if that means blowing the whistle on himself to get some clarification on the law. And yes, we wish he had thought about this issue earlier, before the Petrino episode pushed it into the spotlight.

Also, while we don’t mean to let King completely off the hook, we note that his actions reflect a certain culture that’s been allowed to develop within the relationship between these two state institutions - the state police and the university.

King could not have accepted the gifts if the university had not been so willing to give them.

It’s puzzling why the university would feel obligated to bestow such presents when the duty of providing security to Arkansas’ head football coach is already considered to be one of great honor and privilege.

The university needs to check its behavior. A spokesman for the university athletic department said school oftcials will review the commission’s report “to determine the appropriate actions to maintain compliance” with the commission’s decision. We sincerely hope so.

And as we’ve mentioned before, the state police should tighten up its own policy on accepting gifts.