Sheriffs Bushwhacked
• Delaware attorney general strips county sheriffs of arrest powers
By Pat Shannan
Sheriff Jeff Christopher
of Sussex County, Delaware, when he was elected to the office in 2010,
thought he was handpicked by the people to represent them as the
highest-ranking law officer in the county. Instead, he has found himself
in the middle of a fight for the future of American law enforcement as a
result of a nationwide effort to abolish the sheriff’s office
altogether.
It is
one more example of federal and state governments ignoring the will of
the people as well state laws. In the case of Delaware, the state’s own
constitution stipulates that the office of the sheriff is a
constitutionally created position just like the secretary of state and
the attorney general. Delaware’s Constitution states: “The sheriffs
shall be conservators of the peace within the counties . . . in which
they reside.”
This
time it is Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Vice President
Joe Biden, sending out mandates to commissioners informing them that
their sheriffs no longer have arrest powers. In an opinion released
February 24, State Solicitor L.W. Lewis said that neither the state nor
the common law grants arrest powers to the county sheriffs.
It
would appear that Lewis is a little confused. The office of sheriff was
created more than a century before the official founding of the United
States. Delaware’s first sheriff took office in 1669.
Christopher
tells AMERICAN FREE PRESS that the two administrations prior to his—as
far back as 2000—began to notice a reduction in funding and the chipping
away of powers of the office in general.
“Now
my deputies and I have been relieved of all arrest powers and can’t even
make a traffic stop,” he said. “Delaware has only three counties. . .
The other two sheriffs . . . will not stand up with me” to prevent the
elimination of county law enforcement, he said.
During
an interview at the Las Vegas Sheriffs Conference in January,
Christopher told AFP that the impotence of his office was brought home
to him when he was hit in the eye and kicked by County Councilman Vance
Phillips but was unable to arrest him.
Beau
Biden’s questionable ruling against the longtime tradition of the
sheriff being the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the county
because of election by the people means the state’s usurpation of the
office appears to be a forthcoming fact.
County
spokesman Chip Guy announced, “The opinion from the attorney general’s
office reinforces what has long been the position of the county [that]
Delaware sheriffs and their deputies do not have arrest powers and are
not in the same vein as state police or municipal officers.”
Sheriffs Bushwhacked
• Delaware attorney general strips county sheriffs of arrest powers
By Pat Shannan
Sheriff Jeff Christopher
of Sussex County, Delaware, when he was elected to the office in 2010,
thought he was handpicked by the people to represent them as the
highest-ranking law officer in the county. Instead, he has found himself
in the middle of a fight for the future of American law enforcement as a
result of a nationwide effort to abolish the sheriff’s office
altogether.
It is
one more example of federal and state governments ignoring the will of
the people as well state laws. In the case of Delaware, the state’s own
constitution stipulates that the office of the sheriff is a
constitutionally created position just like the secretary of state and
the attorney general. Delaware’s Constitution states: “The sheriffs
shall be conservators of the peace within the counties . . . in which
they reside.”
This
time it is Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Vice President
Joe Biden, sending out mandates to commissioners informing them that
their sheriffs no longer have arrest powers. In an opinion released
February 24, State Solicitor L.W. Lewis said that neither the state nor
the common law grants arrest powers to the county sheriffs.
It
would appear that Lewis is a little confused. The office of sheriff was
created more than a century before the official founding of the United
States. Delaware’s first sheriff took office in 1669.
Christopher
tells AMERICAN FREE PRESS that the two administrations prior to his—as
far back as 2000—began to notice a reduction in funding and the chipping
away of powers of the office in general.
“Now
my deputies and I have been relieved of all arrest powers and can’t even
make a traffic stop,” he said. “Delaware has only three counties. . .
The other two sheriffs . . . will not stand up with me” to prevent the
elimination of county law enforcement, he said.
During
an interview at the Las Vegas Sheriffs Conference in January,
Christopher told AFP that the impotence of his office was brought home
to him when he was hit in the eye and kicked by County Councilman Vance
Phillips but was unable to arrest him.
Beau
Biden’s questionable ruling against the longtime tradition of the
sheriff being the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the county
because of election by the people means the state’s usurpation of the
office appears to be a forthcoming fact.
County
spokesman Chip Guy announced, “The opinion from the attorney general’s
office reinforces what has long been the position of the county [that]
Delaware sheriffs and their deputies do not have arrest powers and are
not in the same vein as state police or municipal officers.”
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