Law Enforcement

Law enforcement is key to our system of government. What is the point of passing laws if they are not enforced?  Local law enforcement is the ‘Boots on the ground’ of the Constitution. They are not in much danger most of the time, but then suddenly they may be. Sometimes they shoot people, and sometimes they are shot at. Sometimes they kill, sometimes they are killed. Sometimes they are hailed as a hero, and sometimes they are called pigs. Their position is one that needs both support and restraint at all times. Support because they put their lives at risk. Restraint because they may put other’s lives at risk.

In my training as a First Responder and an EMT basic the first evaluation we were to make was, is the scene safe. We were not to enter a scene unless it was safe. Who made the scene safe? Law enforcement. Emergency medical personnel were never asked to put themselves at risk. They were to depend on law enforcement for their safety.

Much of the criticism against law enforcement is when they overreach their authority and end up abusing, hurting, or killing someone. That is not what I believe needs to be addressed. The attention brought to that by sensational news reporting will make sure that is addressed. Lazy law enforcement does not get the attention that it deserves. Lazy law enforcement neither helps the victim nor goes after the perpetrators. This is the part of law enforcement that I would like to address.

Years ago I had some checks written on my checking account without my knowledge or consent. I received overdraft notices and some of the checks were sent back to the businesses I patronized. The person who did this was dear to me and I tried to sort everything out with the check holders without involving law enforcement. It took more than one pay period to get it taken care of.  I thought I had it taken care of, but I had not. One of the businesses kept the check for several years. I’m sure they notified me once, but I had a lot of checks to cover and the situation was chaotic. They kept the check for several years and without notifying me again, gave it to the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. The Sheriff’s Department did not notify me either, and kept it for several more years. Then one evening at an empty intersection I did a rolling stop at a stop sign. A deputy was watching the intersection and stopped me. He probably would have given me a warning, but when he ran my driver’s license the check popped up. He asked me if I had $200.00 for bail. If I did not have $200.00 for bail he would have to arrest me. He also asked if I knew some friends who might lend me the $200.00. It was late at night and I wasn’t going to bother my friends that late at night. I was handcuffed and hauled off to jail. As I was being processed I asked one of the guards how I could get released. He told me the judge would decide that. I thought my case would come up before the judge the next day. But the day wore on and I was never asked to go before the judge. Another day went by and no call to see the judge. Then one of the other inmates read the papers I was given when I was arrested. He told me if I paid $200.00 I would get out. I called someone and they paid the $200.00 to release me.  

I had missed 2 days of work. I had other obligations I was forced to renege on. I had to leave my car on a public street. Anyone could have stolen it or vandalized it. Fortunately it was all right. I actually enjoyed my time in jail. The prisoners were better mannered than the deputies or the guards. I am glad I got to know some of them and wished I could keep in contact with them after I got out, but I didn’t.  

How much was the check for that was returned? It was $16 and change. It was a misdemeanor. In this instance law enforcement did nothing constructive. They had a duty to get the business paid. It was a duty that they reneged on. At the time I was employed by Clark County, they could have taken it out of my paycheck. They could have notified me that they had received the check from the business. But they did none of that. This is just an example of lazy law enforcement. It helped no one. And all the time they were being paid by the taxpayers of Clark County to protect their property.  

My saga of lazy law enforcement didn’t end there. Years later I ran for the 87^th Assembly. I got a flier in the mail about my time in jail. Actually several fliers were sent out to a lot of people. There were photo shopped pictures of me in handcuffs. One had a picture of me in a suit. Some of the people I worked with thought the pictures were real until they saw the one of me in a suit. They knew I didn’t own a suit. It was all very negative and aside from the fact that I spent time in jail, the claims were false.  

At first I thought what they were doing was illegal. But after consulting several lawyers I learned that lies during a political campaign are protected speech by the First Amendment of the Constitution. I also thought my opponent was responsible for the ads. But his name wasn’t on the ads. I checked out the name on the ads to find out who was responsible for them. I was able to trace them back to a Post Office Box, but no further.  I call those who take advantage of their First Amendment right to lie about the issues and people in a campaign, Post Office Box People. They have no real address, just a Post Office box. They generally aren’t real people, just shell corporations with First Amendment Rights.

I hope that making people aware of Post Office Box People will help calm them down in these chaotic times. The news we hear is mostly bad. But unless a real person’s name is on an ad it is probably just Post Office Box People telling lies. They give themselves patriotic names like ‘Patriots for Justice’ or ‘Society for Fiscal Responsibility’ or something like that. Normally they say nasty things that they would be ashamed to have their name associated with.  

Most of the Post Office Box People form shell corporations just for the purpose of misinforming people about candidates and issues. Most of the people forming these corporations will probably gain an unfair advantage in an issue they promote. Or they may forced to be more responsible in their business dealings if the issues they don’t want addressed don’t become law and are ignored.  

The influence of the Post Office Box People has greatly increased since 2010 when the Supreme Court handed down the ‘Citizens United’ decision. That decision said that corporations had the same rights as human beings concerning the First Amendment Right of Free Speech. It also said that ‘Money is Speech’. Therefore any attempt to rein in corporate spending in political campaigns is undermining their First Amendment Right of Free Speech. Add to that the idea that most of these corporations are formed specifically for misinforming the public about the people and issues of a campaign.

It is no accident that people are upset with this system. I work with ‘United To Amend’ in an effort to get local governments to pass resolutions to amend the Constitution. These resolutions contain two propositions. First that the First Amendment Right of Free Speech is only for hunan beings. Secondly that money is not speech and can be regulated.

If you would like your community to pass a resolution amending the Constitution I am willing to bring you the copies of the resolutions and will assist your local unit of government in passing them.  

Another example of lazy law enforcement happened when I was a trustee on our village board.  Our village clerk conned the village board into paying a delinquent sewer bill owed by the village president and his wife. Our village president and his wife had sold some property and after a few years the buyer wasn’t making timely payments to them. They got the property back with a Quit Claim deed. The person who bought the property hadn’t been paying his sewer bill for a while either. After getting the property back the village president didn’t pay any of the sewer bill either. He and his wife later sold the property on a Warranty Deed to someone else. On a Warranty Deed the seller is responsible for all the liens on the property. But somehow the delinquent sewer bill was put on the new owners property taxes. The new owner complained to the clerk about the tax bill and the clerk brought it up at a meeting. She said that the new owner couldn’t be held responsible, and that it was an error on the part of the sewer accounts manager. The village could rectify the problem by paying the county. The village paid the county.

Later the Sewer Accounts Manager received an undated memo from the clerk claiming that the delinquent sewer bill would be a write off. The sewer accounts manager wasn’t aware that the bill had been paid to the county by the village. If it were written off, her accounts would match the accounts at the county treasury. The sewer accounts manager asked me if she could do that. I did not believe she could write off the village president’s delinquent sewer bill. At that time I was not aware the village check for the bill, presented as an error to the village board, was actually the village president’s delinquent sewer bill. I believed if the village wrote off the president’s sewer bill it would be doing an illegal act. I paid the bill. That way the village would not do an illegal act.

Later when I learned the village had already paid the bill, I made a criminal complaint. A deputy made a report. He was told by the clerk that it was discussed at a meeting and the board decided to pay the bill. It was never discussed as the village president’s delinquent sewer bill. It was discussed as an error. But the deputy believed the clerk and decided no further action should be taken.

I contacted a lawyer who sent the village a letter to the village saying the village didn’t have the legal authority to pay the village president’s delinquent sewer bill. It also said that the president should pay the bill and repay me for my payment of the bill. The village president ignored the letter. Nothing more has been done.  

In this instance the victim of the crime, the village, has not been made whole. The village has not been compensated. Unfortunately the people who signed the check, committing the crime, still pay the village’s bills and control the village treasury.  

Law enforcement should be held accountable to the victims. If a victim believes law enforcement has not done their job properly, they should have some recourse. I believe we, as a state, need to have that conversation and possibly make some changes. I personally have some ideas as to how this can be done. But more victims need to be heard, and more people need to be involved in the conversation.