Posted by Contacting the FBI and ACLU has led me to try and think this through. Thus…
Sheriff Ted Mink is denying me and thousands of others of our civil rights by failing to enforce the law. That is his legal and fiduciary duty. His employees have failed to investigate and prosecute numerous reported crimes–frequently there is no response at all. The “intake” process is intentionally cumbersome (e.g., public e-mail addresses are not provided to callers); deputies are poorly-trained and “thuglike”–their role is to deny and avoid; they respond from wireless phones from vehicles (if at all) and almost never truly investigate; the process is designed to hide names and responsibility; supervisors are the same; and complaints to “internal affairs” are not followed up at all. The “criminal investigative division” has no intake procedures whatsoever–cases are squashed through the deputy “response” process. All citizen complaints, reports, and problems must (with some exceptions) go through an inefficient central phone number.
There are virtually no patrols or proactive punitive measures (e.g., an illegal discarded refrigerator sitting just off a busy intersection for 3-5 years).
The result for residents is lawlessness and frequent conflicts.
For me personally… the attack dog and no charges (twice) illegally running free; constant traffic infractions (e.g., speeding, driving on the wrong side of the street, hit-and-run damage to my property (FedEx); light harassment from two neighbors; failure to investigate County corruption; failure to protect wild animals (per the CRS); failure to make parks and neighborhoods safe and accessible (e.g., County animal ordinance, vandalism and hate crime writing (CRS)). These reported crimes have either not been investigated, responded to at all, or prosecuted. In addition I have had at least four experiences with deputies–some more than one–coming to my home to harass or try to intimidate for reporting crimes. One such incident involved banging on my front door after midnight and accusing me of a crime; I wrote to Ted Mink the next day and he did not respond and later refused to meet with me; “internal affairs” further squashed the incident.
Actual crime statistics are under-reported. Crimes are obstructed. Public records are falsified (e.g., an annual citizen complaint report).
This is despite an unusually high law enforcement per resident budget. Unincorporated Jefferson County also has a well-above-average officer-to-resident ratio. Translation: money is wasted. The constant running around and the obfuscation are expensive.
So, how do you prove it? What is the case? Is denying inalienable rights–limiting peace and happiness– too amorphous and difficult to prove? Maybe the way to do is through other, ancillary offenses such as abuse of power, obstruction, fiduciary duty, police harassment, and falsifying records.
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Question: Why wasn’t the Ted Mink ACLU-illegally detaining case more publicized? Why didn’t the Board of Commissioners, Attorney General, or District Attorney do anything?
Note: Mr. Sylvester seemed really nervous when he returned my call to attempt to permanently obfuscate my complaints. He said “I would receive a letter in a couple of weeks.” He said he/they had had meetings; he came from them and…