Cochise County Sheriff – The Big Difference

I’ve met both candidates for Sheriff.  In my opinion one is much more personable than the other. I couldn’t put my finger on it until I read one’s  bio.  He was a military policeman. It’s an axiom among municipal LE officers that the worst the military could do is give an 18 year-old a badge and a gun with the commensurate absolute power they possess on military installations.  That’s why most civilian LE agencies require applicants to be 21 years old.  Having the “color of authority” by wearing a badge and a gun with the power of the state behind you is an awesome responsibility requiring a certain level of maturity and common sense.  Many join the military as military police because they fail to be hired by municipal or other civilian law enforcement agencies – or were fired from them and find the military police an easy way to fulfill a fantasy or a very easy job with benefits.  MPs are not constrained by Constitutional safeguards like “Probable Cause”, “Search & Seizure” or “Rules of Evidentiary Procedure” like municipal LE officers.  MP training isn’t equivalent to state P.O.S.T. certification. That’s why it’s easier to be hired on as a deputy than an officer.  MPs don’t conduct investigations.  MPIs -or Military Police Investigators – conduct misdemeanor investigations.  Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agents conduct felony investigations.  And it is not  automatic career progression for  MPs to move up to MPI and CID.  One has to apply (if they are motivated) and be accepted.  The biggest discriminator to becoming a Military Police Investigator or CID agent is the ability to write and understand criminal law.  I am suspicious of anyone who spent their whole military career -as brief as it was (and why?) – as a military policeman.  Because Sheriff’s are not accountable to state law enforcement standards, they frequently hire “good ‘ol boy” applicants and give a wink-and-a-nod to the new deputy attending state P.O.S.T. training.  I was told by my 2nd cousin, Jack Ligon, back in 1980 to put away all my academic and P.O.S.T. certificates when I applied for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s office.  I was hired because Cousin Jack and Sheriff Dave Faulkner were Oklahoma highway patrolmen together after WW II – and I played football.  Sheriff Faulkner also hired a young man because he was a professional bronc buster.  His job was to care for the Sheriff’s horses at his ranch.  Other deputies were hired because they or their parents contributed substantially to the Sheriff’s election.  Others were hired specifically because they were big and dumb as rocks (like me, I guess)……somewhat akin to how Hitler picked stormtroopers…..and because their loyalty was easily bought. .  Sheriffs like this training loophole. because it saves them money not having to pay to send deputies to state approved P.O.S.T. training.   Sheriff Departments -particularly rural ones- are also notorious for saving the county supervisors money by not conducting – or selectively so- expensive background investigations (another appeal for applicants).  This is also why many MPs do not progress to MPI or CID.  P.O.S.T. training is important because that is where law enforcement officers learn how to survive tactically and legally – within the framework of the Constitution.  This avoids unnecessary deaths on both sides of the shield, and law suits due to ignorance of the law.  Sheriff’s department’s are renowned for their susceptibility to politics.  I know.  I was “let go” for not contributing 10% of my monthly salary to the Democratic Party and the Sheriff’s permanent re-election fund.  Sheriff’s are subject to the whims of the County supervisors because that is who pays their salaries.  In the ’80s there was a nation-wide scandal of County Sheriffs colluding with County Supervisors who were taking kickbacks for providing free jailbird labor to private contractors – particularly on highway maintenance funds.  And, how many times was a drunk-driver sheriff let off by other LE officers because he was a “brother” thus endangering the travelling public within the county.  A blood alcohol content of .289 ….almost four times the legal limit…. behind the wheel isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime incident.  That takes practice.  Most citizens don’t get mummified with alcohol and drive recklessly drunk after burying a close relative.  Word on the street is that wasn’t the first time for Dever.  That indicates a lack of stress coping skills  So the hero worship and claiming association with their predecessor doesn’t do much for me.  In counterinsurgency -which Cochise County is experiencing- good counterintelligence agents always look in our areas of operation where it is the quietest.  That’s usually where the leadership of the enemy is living.  They don’t sh#@ in their own nest.  That’s why Glendale, California where I lived while attending grad school was quiet.  That’s where the mob bosses lived.  Ask anyone in Douglas who owns the most expensive homes in their little burg.  The question voters should be asking is “How many raids have the CCSO -themselves- conducted to rid the county of illegal aliens/drug labs in the past ten years?” compared with the amount of drug traffic any student at Buena could tell you occurs.  We voters are faced with 30 years of “heavy badge” vs. someone who actively commits to the community.  Which candidate is actually P.O.S.T. certified?  Due to the timing of the death of Dever, the GOP was put in a tight spot time wise.  By law they had to hold the in-party election that night.  The loser exclaiming “This is bullshit!” and slamming the door like a spoiled child further indicates a background of one used to ignoring the law.  Anyone who believes the job of County Sheriff is not political must be living in Disneyland.  The job is political or the 5th largest employer in the county would have been repeatedly raided for hiring illegal aliens for the last few decades.  It is a rare Sheriff who actually cleans up a county.  They exist but they are not the majority.   I forgot to add this to my book but at the Douglas Port of Entry, I routinely caught Mexicans with Border Crossing Cards heading to Wilcox to work illegally at Eurofresh, Inc. ….and I was routinely harassed for doing so.  Someone was getting kickbacks (in the form of “performance bonuses” and good appraisals for ignoring it.  The Cochise County Sheriff Department not knowing this is akin to Obama not knowing the Benghazi embassy was under attack.  The CCSO has the authority to raid any business on probable cause they are hiring illegal aliens.  It’s section 287g of the the U.S. Code Title 10.  That’s why Sheriff “Joe” continues to “get away” with it.   If you don’t think illegals working there are a big deal, back in my high school days we would get time off from school to go on “harvest” in Oklahoma and “peach packing” in Georgia.  We made good cash money, it built strong bodies and minds; and it taught us capitalism -and a work ethic- at it’s most personal level.  Tell me that’s not missing in much of our youth (and adults) today.  Whoever is elected Sheriff will be a political animal by definition.  Let’s elect the one who is P.O.S.T. certified and demonstrated his commitment to the community as a father.  In my mind, that’s the best indicator of leadership.