15 cops facing dismissal in cheating scandal

State police this morning released a list of 14 Delaware County police officers, and one Chester County cop, who lost their badges yesterday for allegedly cheating on a routine re-certification test in February 2009. The Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission voted for the "permanent revocation" of their certification, which means that they wouldn't be able to work as cops in Pennsylvania. They have 30 days to appeal to Commonwealth Court, according to state police spokesman Jack Lewis.

What's strange about this scandal, which I wrote about in July 2009, is that the Act 180 exam administered by MPOETC is extremely easy, as it's been explained to me. Those who don't get seven out of 10 answers correct can re-take the exam to keep their certification. "It's as close to an open-book test as you can possibly get," was how one cop described it in 2009.

The list of the 15 decertified officers:

Robert Barbour, Darby Borough

Brian Boyd, Upland Borough

Ian Cleghorn, Ridley Park Borough

Kenneth Collins, Darby Borough

Kevin Cosentino, Upper Darby Township

David Cuddhy, Darby Borough

Michael Curran, Upland Borough

Daniel DiNardo, Upland Borough

Francis Ely Jr., Brookhaven Borough

Jonathan Freeman, Trainer Borough

Richard Fuller, Brookhaven Borough

Sean Gallagher, Oxford Borough

Timothy Hannigan, Darby Borough

Mark Heine, Ridley Township

Michael Irey, Nether Providence Twp.

Update: State police just sent this update from MPOETC: "Employment status to terminate is the responsibility of the individual police department. Revoking an officer's certification connotes that the officers no longer have the authority to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth, i.e. Crimes Code, Vehicle Code, Rules of Criminal Procedure, or wear a firearm. Any citations the officers write after decertification cannot get entered into the AOPC system. The individuals can work in an administrative capacity IF the department has such a provision in their agency policies."