Welcome to the latest episode of the feud between Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher and the County Council. In today’s installment, Christopher has been ordered to stop all of his illegal actions.
County Administrator David B. Baker has ordered the sheriff to stop those activities immediately and warned that continuing them will be treated as insubordination on the part of his deputies.
If you recall, I posted a piece about these illegal activities back on October 5. Yeah, we broke the story that the News Journal finally caught up to.
So what has the sheriff and his chief deputy, Dennis Lineweaver, been doing?
Sussex County Sheriff Jeff Christopher has ordered his deputies to round up wanted criminals and make traffic stops and has formed a volunteer “posse,” county officials say.
» Deputies have been ordered by Christopher to stop vehicles for speeding, reckless driving or DUI, and to research outstanding warrants and take wanted people into custody.
» Christopher has named a volunteer “sheriff’s posse” and appointed special deputies, who all wear uniforms.
» Deputies have participated in public meetings and events in uniform and provided security and crowd control at events.
The public meetings have been either Sussex County GOP meetings or meetings of the 9/12 “Patriots.” Yeah, nothing political there. And it was Lineweaver who pulled over the motorist I referred to in my October 5th post.
Christopher, saying he was “perplexed over why County Council was setting policy and procedures for his” office, did not deny the accusations.
He neither responded to nor disputed the specific issues raised by Baker. “I believe that there is so much more the Sheriff’s Office can do for the people here,” his statement read. “Wondering why we elect and trust a person to run the office if that person has no discretion to make these decisions.
I’m not a toy sheriff.”
Not a toy, but an elected official who is out of control. Jeff, where is the money coming from to fund this posse and these special deputies? Who’s paying for their uniforms? Who’s paying for the pre-screening drug testing and background checks?
Seeing that Sheriff Christopher has been running a rogue operation out of his office, I call on Speaker Bob Gilligan and House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf to immediately begin impeachment procedures against Sheriff Jeff Christopher for violating his oath of office, violating the Delaware Code, and violating the Constitution of the State of Delaware. The people of Sussex County deserve a sheriff that understands and obeys the law.