Today was the day that Sussex County Sheriff Jeff “Supercop” Christopher (Teabag-Sussex) made his initial presentation to the County Council. Prior to this morning’s meeting, Supercop had never spoken to the Council, although he has accused them in emails to the 9/12 “Patriots” of blocking his agenda.
I knew the day would start off well as I met Skippertee and Aoine for breakfast. Skipper, being from Newark, looked every bit the Sussex Countian, wearing his pants with a belt and suspenders and doffing a trucker’s cap. The meeting started with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer (sorry, I don’t know this one) and then the Pledge of Allegiance.
When it came time to make his presentation, Supercop started by saying that his emails had been misunderstood. And then he launched into his spiel.
Sussex County sheriff’s deputies should have the training to act when they see crimes in progress, the newly elected sheriff argued Tuesday, raising the specter of gangs, illegal immigration, home invasions and robberies.
This sounded very familiar. Seems Supercop’s old boss, former Sussex Sheriff Bob Reed, raised the same spectre of gangs and illegals when he asked Council for permission to put lights on his department’s vehicles. Reed was denied.
Supercop denies he wants to create a countywide police force, yet everything he’s asking for, from upgraded guns, lights and striping on his cars, and law enforcement training, flies in the face of this. In fact, Councilmen Vance Phillips and George Cole called Supercop on this. Both told him to “be honest about what you want and stop dancing around the issue.” Supercop was taken aback by this statement from his fellow Republicans.
Supercop asked for 3 additional positions in his office, with one position specifically charged with crime prevention.
Christopher said he wants to partner with other law enforcement agencies to focus on crime prevention and outreach.
He said home invasions, thefts, crimes against the elderly, scams and fraud are all on the rise. “With more retirees moving here, this is going to be an epidemic if we don’t step in and take some sort of action,” he said.
The problem here is that none of the county’s police agencies want to partner with him. Supercop could not produce any supporting statement from any of Sussex County’s police chiefs or the Delaware State Patrol to support his position.
Even though he sent out a mass email to his cohort, only about 49 people were at the meeting, and many of them were county employees there to make presentations to the Council. Of the ten people who signed up to speak to Council, nine were teabaggers who supported Christopher (Supercop himself had to sign up to speak again in support of his position.
Leading the charge was St. Bodie Girl. Sans his white high heels (he had on a pair of sensible brown flats), Bodie shared a story about how at last night’s Sussex County GOP meeting, he and Chris Weeks had been appointed as Sergeant’s at Arms “in case something happened during the meeting.” And according to him, “someone approached the podium after the meeting. He looked drunk or brain dead. I was so glad that Sheriff Christopher was there in uniform and with his gun. We need a sheriff who looks like a sheriff.” Hmm, I wonder how St. Bodie Girl could determine either of these. And of course, he didn’t say what this person was doing that alarmed him and Weeks. And what does a sheriff actually look like? When I hear “sheriff” I think of Andy Taylor and Barney Fife. Bodie went on to tweak the Council for giving grants out to community groups and towns, saying it was “nice that you’re giving our money to private entities – why don’t you give it to the sheriff?” And being the constitutional scholar that he is (NOT!), he and another speaker cited Title 15 of the Delaware Constitution that states that sheriffs and chancellors are the supreme law enforcement people in each county. “Giving the sheriff what he wants would solve the problems in our state, nation and world. It will stop us from falling into the abyss.”
OMG. Not letting Supercop and his deputies patrol the county is going to cause the entire world to go to Hell in a handbasket. Sweet Jebus.
Supercop also claimed that by not making his deputies full law enforcement officers and sending them to the police academy, the County was opening itself up to liability lawsuits. As the final speaker pointed out, the Delaware Code and decisions by the Attorney General from 2000 specifically proscribe sheriff’s deputies from being law enforcement officers in the State.
Between the cries of “we the people” voted for this and “we know what the Constitution says,” reasonable voices could be heard. Councilman Cole asked one speaker if he knew how much it would cost to deploy a countywide law enforcement agency. Nope. Did the speaker know that the County funds 40 additional State Troopers to patrol the county? Nope.
A few people, including Supercop, complained about DSP response times, claiming that having deputies as law enforcement would speed up response times to crime scenes. “My deputies go into neighborhoods where DSP won’t go.” Again, he could offer no evidence. Cole shot down Supercop’s argument, stating that deputies would not be sitting around in any neighborhood waiting for something to happen. And of course, we heard from the Chicken Little brigade who claim that illegal aliens, gangs, and druggies are overrunning the county.
After the meeting, one of the “patriots” approached the final speaker (the only sane person who spoke) and challenged their take on Delaware Code. He told this person that “other states have sheriffs that are law enforcement.” Well, dear boy, this is Delaware, not Virginia, not Maryland. If you want that type of protection, move back to Fairfax County (which is where he was from). And lest we forget, here is how some Maryland sheriff’s deputies operate.
In the end, it was much ado about nothing. No great cry from “we the people,” supporting Supercop (he could only muster 9 supporters from the thousands of teabaggers in Sussex who got his email). And until he makes a budget presentation, Council won’t act on anything. My read on the council is that Supercop’s request will be denied.