As the investigation continues into former New Middletown police Chief Vincent D’Egidio, including allegations that pornographic websites and images and a video of him performing a sex act were found on a work computer, residents surely must be wondering how this could have happened.

More importantly, they should be wondering how we can ensure it never happens in the future.

D’Egidio resigned recently amid the investigation by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office. He has not been charged.

While we hope to see investigative results soon, we realize that thorough and complete investigations often take longer than anyone would like. In fact, Sheriff Jerry Greene could not say how long the investigation could take, noting that computer equipment needs to be checked and people will have to be interviewed.

So, in the meantime, we urge elected officials in this small Mahoning County community not to delay before they begin taking action to ensure that, going forward, any activity of this sort never happens in any public office or facility. In fact, this is the perfect time for all local governmental agencies to do the same.

Certainly, this is a key opportunity to remind everyone in management roles — whether public or private settings — that there are limits to what can occur in the workplace and what may or should be viewed on public or workplace computers.

Granted, most of us would assume that all this goes without saying. Unfortunately, incidents that have occurred throughout the years remind us that isn’t always the case.

If local government agencies don’t already have written policies on use of public equipment, public offices or facilities, now would be the time to do that.

Similarly, this would be a good time to remind employees that there also never is an acceptable time for improper speech or jokes in the workplace that cause workers to feel uncomfortable. The responsibility always lies with management — especially elected public officials — to ensure that everyone understands that comments, conversations and jokes always must be kept above board with no connotations that could lead any employee to feel uncomfortable, harassed or discriminated against. That includes issues of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion or any other issue.

While this should always hold true, it has become even more pronounced in this day and age of public focus brought to the forefront by the #Metoo movement. All managers must be cognizant of all workplace issues, moving swiftly and firmly to end any such conversations, jokes or banter in the workplace.

While no charges have been filed against D’Egidio, the investigation continues. Despite the outcome — criminal, administrative, civil or any combination of any or none of these — all managers must accept the fact that not every accusation in the workplace can be anticipated. Still it’s management’s duty to be as prepared as possible by outlining employee expectations via written policies and effective training sessions. Remember, there is no better time than the present.

editorial@tribtoday.com