The Great Debate That Wasn’t

It was billed as a debate between Sussex County Council member Vance Phillips and Sheriff Jeff “Supercop” Christopher. One came armed with facts; the other with rhetoric.

Phillips and Christopher are both conservatives. But Phillips, who’s been in office for 12 years, knows something about the Delaware Code. Christopher has been in office for a little over 3 months, and last Saturday night, he showed he knows absolutely nothing about the Delaware Code.

About 60 people gathered to hear what these two had to say. It was safe to say I was the only Democrat in the room, and the only Jew. All the usual suspects were there – failed GOP state chair candidate Don Ayotte, St. Bodie Girl, Urkel, and Curley, who was acting as the moderator. The evening started off with St. Bodie Girl giving an opening prayer, beseeching Jesus to bless the teabaggers assembled. Russ Murphy, leader of the 9/12 “patriots” led the Pledge of Allegiance. It was fun watching Curley give “amens” during the prayer.

Phillips led off by saying that the issue of the sheriff and his duties has divided the GOP in Sussex and that the majority of Sussex Countians don’t support Supercop. He said the Christopher was “wrong on this issue and positon,” and that there were four things that were important. The first was the law, and that while Supercop is good at quoting the Delaware Constitution, Delaware Code and Attorney General decisions (a Republican AG to boot) clearly point out that the sheriff is “not on par with police.” Second, Phillips mentioned fiscal responsibility. The GOP prides itself on being the party of small government and limited spending, yet he pointed out that it costs NCCo $50 million a year for it’s county police force, which is $4 million more than the entire Sussex County budget. Christopher, he said, hadn’t even projected what the costs would be to put untold number of Barney Fife’s on the road patrolling the county, and he’s already asked for a 33% increase in his budget for the coming year. Third, Vance pointed out that the county currently pays $1.6 million a year to have an additional 40 State Police in the county and that they are doing a very good job protecting its citizens. And last, Phillips went after Christopher’s credibility. He said that Supercop got “caught up in the emotion” of the campaign and winning election and, instead of coming to County Council, he sent out numerous emails to his teabag supporters claiming that the Council was drafting legislation to curtail his duties. And this was “disappointing.”

Christopher began by quoting the Delaware Constitution, claiming that it is the supreme law of the state and that the sheriff is the “only person in the county you can trust.” He said that the sheriff’s position harkens back to those good old days in Europe, where the sheriff was the person in the town or village and that he (Christopher) was “a law enforcement officer.” Well, he used to be at one time. According to his official bio, he’s worked for six different police departments since 1979. Guess he couldn’t hold a job very long. But I digress. Supercop went on to say that the County Council was “taking away your rights” and that he’s disappointed watching TV and that “our values are being thrown out the window on a daily basis.” St. Bodie Girl let loose with an “amen.” He continued that “the people deserve a fair shake and if we diminish our constitution, we give away our rights.” Whew! I was almost ready to get up and start singing Glory Hallelujah. Or maybe it’s Dixie down in these parts.

Supercop went on and on about how Article 15 of the Delaware Constitution puts the sheriff on par with constables, the Attorney General, and certain judges with police powers. While he said that he was “arming” the people “with facts.” what he didn’t tell them was that the Delaware Code specifically says that, while sheriffs and their deputies have some of the same duties as constables, they only have those powers while in the performance of their duties. What that means is if a deputy is serving papers and witnesses a crime, he can make an arrest (and hold the suspect for the state police; it doesn’t give a dupty or the sheriff the power to patrol the county). And they have to be certified as constables, a certification that Supercop said he was going to allow to expire for all of his deputies. This flies in the face of what Supercop says on his website.

Sheriff Christopher is committed to promoting a professional, highly-trained and visible staff throughout Sussex County, and is an advocate for better training and certification of deputies…

Allowing these certifications to expire could pose a huge liability problem for the county. Without the certification, deputies are not allowed to carry a gun, handcuffs, mace, or a sap. And all it takes is for one of these yahoos to pull a gun on someone and all hell is going to break loose.

Phillips came back with more facts, specifically with a ruling from former Attorney General Jane Brady, who wrote that the sheriff is not a police office and their vehicles are not police vehicles. He went on to say that while Supercop claims he hates redundancy, there are already 183 state police troopers and 35 civilians assigned to Sussex County and asked if “we want to try and replicate that. This is Delaware, Sussex County, not Maryland”! Supercop was not amused.

Christopher gave one last plea to give him the authority to “start the process of creating a county police department under the sheriff,” so he could track sex offenders, round up illegal aliens, train neighborhood watch patrols. He even claimed that he got a $10,000 grant from the National Association of Sheriffs to purchase an iris scanner. “Bring an illegal to me, I’ll tell you who it is.” He also said he wanted to take over animal control. Here’s an idea – since Chrissie Pooh couldn’t be elected dogcatcher, and Supercop want to be a dogcatcher, he should hire her and they can go hunt for Old Yeller together on Gravel Hill Road. His most ludicrous claim was that he wanted to double the size of his office without adding to his budget. I guess he forgot about the 33% increase he’s asking County Council for.

One question that remains to be answered – why was Supercop’s chief deputy at this political meeting, in uniform and armed. According to people I’ve spoken to about this, if he’s in uniform, he’s on duty and the county is paying his salary.

Yes, Vance Phillips showed that when presented with facts, even some teabaggers will listen. My advice to Super Cop – don’t show up to a gunfight armed with a knife. You’ll lose every time, just as you did Saturday night.