No one knows for certain what's going to become of retired York City Police Sgt. Kurt Blemler. Blemler was charged in January with stealing more than $11,000 from the police department's evidence room.

The former city police officer has agreed to pay back the money, police said, but that doesn't negate the fact that Blemler, of Meadowview Road in Franklin Township, has been charged with felony theft for money discovered missing between June 2004 and late 2006.

No matter how one looks at it, this is a slap in the face of not only current York City police officers, but former members of the city police department and police officers everywhere who have been or previously were charged with the responsibility of enforcing the laws of this state.

Most of the time, it does not go down well with the men and women in blue when one of their own is arrested for violating a law they're supposed to be enforcing. It only makes their jobs more difficult, their relationship with citizens more problematic, when one of their own crosses the line.

The city's Fraternal Order of Police (police union) has not commented on Blemler's alleged indiscretions. Nor is it participating in the legal process involving Blemler -- at least at this point.

The same can't be said, however, for the city's retired cops. Retired members of the White Rose Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police said they unanimously voted last week to oppose Blemler's attempt to enter a diversionary ARD program or receive

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his city pension.

The whole thing just rubs them the wrong way. They know cops are held to a higher standard, and they worked their entire careers trying to live up to that standard. Now they believe Blemler's actions have cast a shadow over the integrity of the whole group. And it ticks them off.

So they don't want Blemler getting any breaks.

And they've written letters to the district attorney, police pension board and the city administration to make their feelings known. Officially. It is a matter of credibility, they believe.

It might not make a difference in the end, but by going public with their feelings, they at least will have shown they don't favor whitewashing the incident to protect one of their own.

I say hooray for them.

Blemler has no intention of taking his lumps in this matter if he can avoid them. He's already filed an application to enter the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program, which would allow him to maintain a clean criminal record as long as he makes restitution, pays fines, completes his community service requirement and fulfills his other obligations to the court.

District Attorney Stan Rebert has not approved or rejected Blemler's ARD application. But a decision will have to be made soon.

And the city's retired police officers wanted to weigh in on the subject before a final decision was made.

None of the retired officers want Blemler to be admitted to ARD, and none of
them want him to receive his police pension. It's that simple.

Surely Rebert will take into consideration the unanimous feelings of the retired city police. I suspect they'll carry a lot of weight, in fact. But there are other factors to consider, too.

There seems almost no way to avoid paying Blemler his police pension. The only way he won't get it is if he's convicted of a felony, which can't happen if he's accepted into ARD.

In the end, a former city police officer violated the public trust while he was still a working cop. And he left his peers hanging out to dry in the court of public opinion.

The charges against Blemler are serious.

He shouldn't get a free pass because he was a police officer.

That's all the retired cops are saying -- out loud and for public consumption.

Columns by Larry A. Hicks, Dispatch columnist, run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. E-mail: lhicks@yorkdispatch.com.