Attacked by His Own Police Agency for a Cover-Up That Never Happened: How a Police Lieutenant Fought His Way Back
West Palm Beach, Fl - A career built over decades can collapse in a matter of seconds.
Police officers are trained to recognize threats from violent criminals, dangerous traffic stops, and unpredictable confrontations.
Former Charleston Police Lieutenant Arthur “Rusty” Myers discovered that one of the greatest threats to an officer’s future can come from within the organization he dedicated his life to serving.
Get more information here for free.
Myers was accused of participating in a police cover-up that he maintains never happened. He was charged with filing a false police report, lost the career he loved, and was forced to fight for his reputation and law enforcement certification.
Eventually, the charges were gone and the state fully reinstated his certification.
Another South Carolina police agency quickly hired him and assigned him to Internal Affairs, where he was entrusted with investigating allegations against other officers. Myers later rebuilt his career and rose to become a Deputy Chief of Police.
But being cleared could not erase everything the accusations had already taken from him.
During an emotional interview on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, Myers revealed what happened when his own police agency turned against him, and how he rebuilt his career, identity, and purpose after losing nearly everything.
The Police Foot Pursuit That Changed Everything
The incident that transformed Myers’ life appeared routine at first.
While serving as a lieutenant with the Charleston Police Department, several officers became involved in a foot pursuit. Myers responded to assist them, as police supervisors routinely do when officers are chasing a suspect.
The focus soon shifted away from the pursuit and arrest.
Investigators alleged that Myers participated in covering up the officers’ use of force. He was charged with filing a false police report.
The accusations stunned the veteran police lieutenant.
A career built upon leadership, ethics, training, and officer development was suddenly overshadowed by allegations that challenged everything he had spent decades building.
He was no longer viewed simply as a respected supervisor.
He had become the target of a criminal investigation.
When His Own Police Agency Turned Against Him
For many law enforcement officers, the badge represents far more than employment.
It becomes part of their identity.
Police work provides purpose, structure, community, and a powerful sense of belonging. After years of confronting danger and tragedy together, fellow officers often begin to feel like family.
Myers describes how quickly that world disappeared.
Listen to the podcast interview or read more for free.
Administrative leave turned into isolation. The officers he once supervised were no longer part of his daily life. Familiar routines vanished, conversations stopped, and uncertainty replaced the camaraderie he had known.
In his memoir, Tattered: When the Blue Line Frays, Myers describes that emotional reality:
“Administrative leave becomes isolation. Silence replaces camaraderie.”
The investigation was not simply a legal battle.
It became a fight for his reputation, career, financial security, identity, and future.
For an officer who had dedicated his adult life to law enforcement, the loss went far beyond a paycheck.
Cleared, but His Job as a Police Lieutenant Was Not Restored
Myers eventually appeared before the state board responsible for determining the future of his law enforcement certification.
According to Myers, the case against him collapsed. The charges were gone, and the state fully reinstated his certification.
He was once again legally qualified to serve as a police officer.
But the Charleston Police Department did not bring him back.
Being cleared did not restore the position he had lost. It did not repair every damaged relationship, remove the public accusations, or return the time he had spent living under suspicion.
Vindication answered one important question, but created another:
What happens when a police officer clears his name but still doesn’t get his former life back?
For Myers, the answer was to begin again.
From Fired Police Lieutenant to Internal Affairs Detective
Myers refused to allow one police agency’s decision to end his career.
After the state reinstated his law enforcement certification, another South Carolina agency hired him. In a remarkable turn of events, Myers was assigned to Internal Affairs, the same area of policing that had played such a consequential role in his own downfall.
He was now responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct against other officers.
That assignment gave Myers a rare perspective.
He understood the importance of holding police officers accountable when misconduct occurs. He also understood, from painful personal experience, how an investigation can affect an officer’s career, family, mental health, reputation, and future.
Learn more for free.
Internal Affairs investigations require integrity, fairness, and impartiality. The public must be protected from police misconduct, but accused officers must also be judged by credible evidence and afforded a fair process.
Myers’ career continued to grow. He eventually became a Deputy Chief of Police at a South Carolina university Department of Public Safety.
The police lieutenant whose career once appeared to be over had returned to law enforcement leadership.
Turning Institutional Betrayal Into Purpose
Myers could have allowed anger and bitterness to define the rest of his life.
Instead, he transformed his experience into lessons about leadership, accountability, faith, officer wellness, and resilience.
His book, Tattered: When the Blue Line Frays, goes far beyond the details of one controversial police investigation. It explores the human cost of institutional betrayal and the difficult process of rebuilding after a career has been torn apart.
The book examines several powerful themes, including:
Leadership during a crisis
Institutional responsibility
Professional accountability
Police officer wellness and mental health
Faith during periods of uncertainty
Resilience after public humiliation
Rebuilding purpose after a devastating loss
These issues extend far beyond policing.
Anyone who has been wrongfully accused, abandoned by an employer, publicly criticized, or forced to start over after losing a career may recognize the deeper questions at the center of Myers’ experience.
What happens when the institution you trusted no longer stands beside you?
Who are you when your title disappears?
How do you rebuild when being cleared does not restore everything you lost?
A Law Enforcement Career Built Around Leadership
Long before the accusations, Myers had established an impressive law enforcement career spanning more than three decades.
A graduate of The Citadel, he later earned a master’s degree in Biblical Studies from Liberty University. Throughout his police career, Myers served at multiple levels of law enforcement leadership.
As Training Commander for the Charleston Police Department, he instructed officers in subjects that included:
Ethics
Leadership
Procedural justice
Professional accountability
Use-of-force review
Officer development
While later serving with the Summerville Police Department, Myers became an Internal Affairs Inspector. He also created a police leadership program designed to educate law enforcement professionals ranging from rookie patrol officers to police chiefs.
His experiences gave him an unusual understanding of police organizations.
Myers had trained officers, supervised them, investigated allegations of misconduct, and personally experienced what it was like to become the accused.
Today, he advocates for stronger leadership, healthier police organizations, fair accountability systems, and more honest conversations about officer wellness.
When the Uniform Comes Off, Who Are You?
One of the most powerful questions raised by Myers’ story has little to do with police policies or investigative procedures.
It is a question of identity:
Who are you when everything you built suddenly disappears?
That question can become overwhelming for police officers who are suspended, terminated, forced into retirement, injured in the line of duty, publicly criticized, or accused of wrongdoing.
Law enforcement can become so closely connected to an officer’s identity that losing the badge feels like losing the person beneath it.
Myers believes resilience begins with understanding that a career can end without ending a person’s purpose.
A position can be taken away.
A professional title can disappear.
A reputation can be damaged.
But character, faith, experience, and the ability to serve others can remain.
From Personal Pain to Two Powerful Books
Myers tells the story of his police career and its devastating disruption in Tattered: When the Blue Line Frays.
He is also the author of Confession of Justus: A Tale of the Christ, a historical-fiction novel centered on the Roman centurion traditionally associated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Although the two books are very different in setting and subject, they explore similar themes:
Sacrifice
Faith
Redemption
Personal transformation
Finding meaning through suffering
Those themes also define Myers’ own journey.
He did not get his former career back.
He built a new one.
The Lasting Damage of a Police Accusation
Arthur “Rusty” Myers went from respected Charleston Police Lieutenant to accused officer, suspended employee, and fired public servant.
Then the case against him disappeared.
His law enforcement certification was reinstated.
Another police agency hired him.
He became an Internal Affairs detective and eventually rose to Deputy Chief of Police.
His experience raises difficult questions about justice, loyalty, leadership, and the lasting damage caused by an accusation, even when the evidence eventually clears his name.
It also offers hope to anyone whose career, identity, or sense of purpose has unexpectedly fallen apart.
Myers’ story is not simply about surviving an investigation.
It is about discovering that losing everything familiar does not mean your story is over.
Listen to Arthur “Rusty” Myers Tell His Story
Arthur “Rusty” Myers shares his complete journey during a compelling episode of the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast.
He discusses the foot pursuit, the accusations of a police cover-up, the loss of his career, the fight to save his law enforcement certification, and his remarkable return to police leadership.
The interview is available on the show’s website and through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and other major podcast and social media platforms.
Follow the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast for powerful interviews with police officers, investigators, first responders, survivors, military veterans, others and authors who reveal the whole story.
If you have ever wondered what happens when a police officer becomes the target instead of the investigator, Arthur “Rusty” Myers lived the answer, and fought his way back.
Attributions
Amazon
Wikipedia
Comments
Post a Comment