A few months ago (when I first became a BW subscriber) another member suggested that I do a Law Enforcement Blog. The idea was to put out there my opinions, observations and ideas regarding the state of Law Enforcement in todays PC rich environment. My response was– I think I can do that …. So, this is my basic introduction and I hope I can keep up with it…..
My name (real, by the way) is Karl Dailey. I live in a small town in N/W Nebraska called Chadron (pronounced Sh-ad-run). It is the County seat of Dawes County. I moved here from Long Island, NY in 1972 to attend Chadron State College ( a very affordable college that produces well educated, not indoctrinated students) to study criminal justice. In 1976 I went to work for the Chadron P.D. I worked there for 10 years and in 1987 was sworn in as the Sheriff of Dawes County. Am still Sheriff today. So, my caveat is that I have been in Law Enforcement a long time, but all of it in a small town/county environment. If I sometime seem a little naive about “big city/county” issues, please forgive me and enlighten me. (Politely and with very little cussin’ please)… That is my general “back story” and I think this will be fun and informative. To be honest though, I have no clue what I am doing, so please be patient with any oops’ I may make.
Well, this is about all I can do for tonight. If anyone can put a comment here, please feel free to start the discussion with a question or idea. Thanks to you all and have a wonderful New Year !!
8 replies on “View From An Old-Timey Law Perspective”
Well, It’s Jan 5th.. Wow..year is zippin’ by! One of the things Buck mentioned was the issues with LE, the folks, and the media. That’s a tough one. I believe that the vast majority of these “issues” are contrived and in many cases flat out lies and misrepresentation of the facts. Bill and the guyz have covered this many times. A person (or group) have a (generally) perceived (likely not actual) issue with someone, some organization, gov’t agency or whatever. Depending on their “inter-sectional” ranking on the wack-a-doodle grievance list, the MS media whips up the appropriate feeding frenzy against the entity supposedly committing the egregious hate filled act and the attack begins. I believe that this is the fundamental drive against LE. Black lives matters was a dead organization until the MSM jumped in and gave it ‘Street Creds”. The MSM distorted facts about officer involved shootings, traffic stops and other LE occurrences and duties and the wack-a-lib-a-doodles (mostly on the coasts) ate it up. Now, to be fair, LE like ANY other profession or occupation has its share of bad people. I defy ANYONE to name any job that does not have some pretty awful people connected to it.. They can’t–doesn’t exist…. but when you examine the unique nature of LE and what has traditionally been expected of it, overall I’d say we do a pretty good job. Have there been incidences where LE has failed miserably and have actually committed some very serious crimes? You bet your bippy there have and most of those officers have been severely punished (and yes a few have even gotten away with their evilness). BUT, does this mean that we,as a free society, throw the baby out with the bath water?? Don’t think so.. without LE the US as we know it will fall into total chaos. The Dems, lefties, progressives and their ilk all know that, so they blow small incidents out of proportion and major problems earth destroying. They want us gone or at least under their thumb enforcing “their” laws against those “they” choose in the manner they choose — PERIOD!! US and State Constitutions – gone ! Laws based on the understanding of these – Gone! We will be forced to bend strictly to their will or be gone. I am a child of the 60s… I have seen chaos.. not pretty or recommended… But G.Soros and his progressive ilk want chaos so that they can rebuild the US and the world in “their image” (By the way, thanks to G.Beck for introducing me to Soros many years ago when he was on FOX)… Very bad for everyone.
Anywho, that’s how I feel about that. We in LE have our faults. I wish we all could live up to Robert Peels 9 rules and have a good, working, symbiotic relationship with the citizens. But, we are human like everyone else and like I said, there are dumba__es walking among us and we deal with them as best as we are allowed. So, that’s it for now – talk about the Judicial/court system next time… God Bless–
Don’t know what happened, but just lost about 2 paragraphs of info…. can’t re-do tonight, but will try to remember what I wrote and try again on Sunday the 5th — sorry – Karl
First off, I apologize for missing last night. As my wife is sometimes wont to do, she surprised me and came home early. So, our NYE tradition started a little early and I never got back….. Anyway, here we go — Buck asked about public attitude toward LE in a more rural area. Well, speaking for Nebraska (where the Bible readin’, gun ownin’, flyover, mouth breathin’ deplorable’s live) the relation between LE and the folks is pretty darn good. There have been issues in Omaha and Lincoln (our two biggest cities) but overall it’s good. Most of the LE officers here are from states of similar attitude and lifestyles. They understand most of the problems local folks have and are generally flexible enough to deal with them on a case by case basis. Our Judges are also locals. This helps in obvious ways. Now, don’t get me wrong, this ain’t a Bubba Sheriff with a cousin Judge who “run” the county. We play by the rules and we get the job done. Are we perfect or angelic? Oh Heck NO… we have our share of problems including the occasional Bad cop/deputy, sheriff,chief,judge etc. But they are generally short lived and quickly replaced. LE here still has that symbiotic relationship with the citizens that ROBERT PEEL spoke of when he started the LONDON Police Department. We respect the Citizens and they respect us and what we do (vast majority of the time).. In fact, I am confident in saying that 90% or better of the entire 10,000 population of Dawes County appreciate us and generally understand what we do, why we do it and how we do it and on the flip side we do our very best to “work” with people as best we can without steppin’ out of bounds or contrary to the Statutes, US and Nebraska Constitutions. (and sometimes that is a very tight rope to walk)… As far as protests and such, we have had a few (even a couple of big ones) but we have respected their rights and they have respected our responsibilities. Lastly, speaking of the press… LE (at least in the Panhandle of Nebraska) has had a very good working relationship with the press. I can count on one hand the number of times I had to get a little “snarky” with a press person. They are fair to us and we do not shut them out without VERY good reason and we explain that reason to their satisfaction. We also keep our promises. If we tell them that we will give them the “details” or “full story” as soon as we have it all “put together”, they accept and believe us and we follow through… Well, Buck I hope that pretty much covers it… If I missed anything, please let me know—— That’s it for now.. Got work tomorrow, so may miss tomorrow night, but sure to be back Friday… A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year to all—–
Thanks Karl, that was a complete and interesting answer. Appreciate the response.
my day is about to start, so I’ll be quick — If I can, I’ll expand on it a little tonight or tomorrow. I believe that much of the friction between LE and citizens is pre-planned and contrived… Thanks – Karl
Thanks Karl
I know Chadron by reputation. My father used to take me hunting in Southern MN back in the late 1960’s and always talked about how good pheasant hunting around Chadron, compared to MN when he was a kid.
Anyway, my question is around the attitude toward law enforcement in the smaller towns. I live outside the Mpls/St. Paul area and it seems to me the cities have become absolutely toxic toward LEO’s. To be honest I may be sensitive to the attitudes and rhetoric because I have a number of very close friends and family involved in Law Enforcement, but it seems the local media is constantly tossing out incendiary statements when something happens which contributes to the “protests”, which are more mobs than protests (a whole other subject) and the whole thing seems to fuel itself into a frenzy which ends up not helping anybody. Is there an anger toward LEO’s in smaller towns just on a smaller scale? Does the local media impact either way? Happy New Year to you as well.
Good question…. I’m at work right now (lunch) but will address it tonight when I get home. I usually get home about an hour or so before my wife, so I’ll have time before the New Years eve hot chocolate and movie “Casablanca” (great film by the way) — see ya in a few hours—–
Buck — was your dad from this area or have some family/relatives here ?