7 Deputies Walk Off Job After Oregon Sheriff Allegedly Beats Handcuffed Suspect

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire
a reply to: kenzohattori69

Alfonso Bedoya in Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Star just for the reference

Excellent movie.

a reply to: Rocker2013

I would have to say their attorneys have told them to shut up until the investigation is completed... Standard practice.

a reply to: Murgatroid

Thanks for the additional information. Still sifting through it. That's a lot of background information, and it appears these deputies did endure a lot under this tyrant And yep...politics.

a reply to: Rocker2013

Yes. Espcially after reading through a lot of what Murgatroid posted. It seems like they did the smart thing.

originally posted by: kenzohattori69
a reply to: ~Lucidity Badges? We don't need no stinkin badges...

Lol, as the needs be, and on topic.

originally posted by: DuckforcoveR
Or a teacher who works at a school that turns A's into F's. Very good point indeed, I hadn't thought of it that way.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

When was the last time an American school teacher was fired for performance based reasons? I've certainly never seen such a warranted move made. My goodness, the teacher's union would come unglued.

Murgatroid nailed it. It was also contained in the original link if you just read it.

These cops are off work to protect them from retaliation because they didn't lie when the Feds came in and asked them.

This is not 1/4 of a department finally drawing a line against corruption- it's 1/4 of a department being threatened for not being bad enough when just one guy turned out to be a crusader.

So 7 officers walk out on paid leave and have left the county to be policed by the ones who didn't or don't give a s#...

And these are the "good ones"...



That speaks volumes, in my opinion.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

Would you prefer they had stuck around and been fired by the sheriff?

Then not only are they gone from the job, but they're gone for good. As it stands, they can come back and get back to work when the dust settles.

a reply to: The Vagabond

I had that copied to quote then lost the clipboard and promptly forgot about it. Thanks for pointing it out. The retaliation can be fierce and even deadly...to at least careers. And who knows whose pocket chiefs and sheriffs are in, even in small towns and counties.

I love how the sheriff is now acting all like, "I don't know what they're on about."

I was just thinking how this relates to Chris Dorner, the LAPD whistle blower that was killed...

The police chief in the OP was also an LAPD cop for many years.

Probably just a coincidence...

Sadly, I would be very surprised if this changed anything simply because the corruption runs so deep.

A few quotes that I had saved:

EDIT: the last quote says it all: "the cowards and the criminals in uniform are the ones who get promoted and become your bosses..."

Complaining against a senior officer in PSD is like signing your own death warrant, as I found out. I made a minor complaint about PSD Deputy Commander in HantsPol. She then decided to investigate me and told me she would continue until she found a way to get rid of me. I have heard of other similar cases. It seems that PSD have a blank card to do what the heck they like.

The reality of being a police whistleblower

I just recently retired as an Officer in New Hampshire. I have been offered numerous other LE jobs and I'm here to tell you that I will never ever put a uniform on again. It is not the public that makes the job so degrading but the administration.I Wish I Never Became a Police Officer

I can only speak of my experience as an officer. It has been said here many times and I agree 100% that the most stress you will encounter in this job comes from within your own department. 99% of this stress comes from administration (puppet chiefs, arrogant supervisors, selfish agendas, etc.). More and more police departments are managed like a business instead of a brotherhood.

I Wish I Never Became a Police Officer

As a former officer I can only tell you what I have seen in a larger city department. You go into the job believing you are the good guys and see the officers who are the cowards and the criminals in uniform are the ones who get promoted and become your bosses. Even if you try to do the right thing and be a good officer you will always be a threat to the cowards and criminals who got promoted. Go into this profession with your eyes wide open, there are a lot of good cops and just as many bad. If you believe that being the good cop will get you anywhere you are sadly mistaken.

If you try to expose these bad cops they will destroy your career in a heartbeat and or get you hurt (call for back-up and nobody comes!) Even as the good cop you have to look the other way or you will be destroyed, It eats at your gut every day. Give me the dirtbags on the street anyday.. they don't cause the stress, the political machine and lust for power cause the stress. I was so glad to get out the day my pension kicked in.

I Wish I Never Became a Police Officer

a reply to: Shamrock6

How about making an arrest like any normal assault?


In what world would they be fired?
Our world?
I'm done in these threads if that's the case.

No offence fella.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

You can't seriously be acting as if they'd get off scot free if they had put the sheriff in cuffs, can you?

To pretend as if cops who cross the blue line don't have to worry about any kind of retaliation is absurd on its face, Charlie.

Suddenly your shift gets changed. Suddenly your backup takes ten minutes as opposed to one minute. Suddenly you're getting written up for every little thing. You're answering calls solo when procedure calls for two units. Threats left in your locker. The list of possible backlash is a mile long, and it happens.

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
a reply to: 0zzymand0s

Yeah...you have a point. There's a niggling question in my mind about the politics and the method they chose and which way would have made the greater impact here. But there's a lot we don't know about the situation...such as have they made complaints before, have they considered the method you suggest. For all we know the DA is his brother. I'm just not sure how all this works at the level of government in this particular situation.

Several years ago, Quartzsite AZ went through a similar situation. As I followed it, and watched the arguments and accusations fly back and forth, I kept thinking that sometimes LE that wants to object or challenge the status quo have few options, and no matter what they do or how they go about it, someone will be critical and find a way to assign the worst motives to their actions. I hope they did what they did for the best reasons, even if it wasn't their best option. It's a beginning.

a reply to: Shamrock6

THis is the inherent problem with a policing authority. Well, not THE, but AN inherent problem.

The oversight needs to be completely detached, or as much as possible, on professional/political/emotional levels. And the culture needs to be incentivized to change.

a reply to: Shamrock6

I knew it was bad, my friend...

But you just turned my world upside down with that post.


& yet suddenly it all makes sense.
I don't have the answers for that I'm afraid...
Not one I can publicise anyways.

Sorry to hear that.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

You should watch more American TV and movies. The Thin Blue LIne is a fairly well documented issue.

Which is the kicker: as a nation we have identified the risk, but choose to not address it. I would say its interesting from a psychological standpoint. But it is too distressing.

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

There's no way a cop arrests their chief in the station during an incident with a prisoner.

There would be a physical altercation against the person in charge in the presence of people who would follow his orders.

Best case scenario, you get him into cuffs, somebody let's him out, you are cuffed, put in a cell, and charged as a rogue cop acting outside of his authority on his political convictions, they offer a non violent misdemeanor plea bargain where you leave with nothing and take $10k worth of anger management classes while blackballed from your career, you'd counter with a personal resignation and a secrecy agreement, they'd probably accept.

Worst case scenario he shoots you in the face, you are announced to have been killed by an accidental discharge during an abortive escape attempt, it comes out 5 years later during a reopening of the investigation after somebody finds their own reason to use that leverage on the chief, but it all just happens to come up after he's out of office and it all plays out in county supervisor meetings and is never seriously looked at by a judge or prosecutor.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Frankly, the bloody brute should have been arrested, thrown in the back of a meat wagon, chucked in a cell, and forced to endure the indignity of being processed like any other suspect of a crime, all the way through to jail time if found guilty.

There should be no protection of officers of the law, from the consequences of their casual breakage of the law, especially laws pertaining to assault and battery, causing injury outside the scope of their duties, and causing unnecessary death by way of negligent or deliberate misuse of their firearms or physical prowess.

This public servant has obviously forgotten his place, and I think it is high time he was forced to scrub the latrines as it were, with his tongue preferably.

originally posted by: smurfy

originally posted by: Rocker2013
a reply to: ~Lucidity


Only those wanting to end their career would ever speak out against another officer. Even then, they will likely face years of harassment from other police officers.

By requesting to go on leave, and together, they have sent the message without having to send the message.

They haven't exposed themselves individually to the same kind of abuse and harassment they would likely receive if they had publicly "made a fuss" about this case.

That was exactly my point. Having a go at the rest of the officers though, is not appropriate as yet here. Certainly there is plenty of video evidence of officers elsewhere turning a blind eye to things obviously wrong, but we don't have that here.

I think, if it's found that these 7 officers chose to take a moral stand while the rest continued obeying a clearly corrupt superior, it's clear who should be in those jobs and who shouldn't. The excuse of "I was just following orders" no longer cuts it. No one has the ability to use that line, even in the military. Everyone has free will and their own ethical compass to follow, and if that compass is broken then they should not be in a trusted position serving the public, especially not in policing.

Of course, you might be right, the investigation might turn up nothing. But if it does, I stick by my opinion that if the remaining officers made a choice to back their clearly corrupt department/senior, they should all be fired.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

You can't seriously be acting as if they'd get off scot free if they had put the sheriff in cuffs, can you?

To pretend as if cops who cross the blue line don't have to worry about any kind of retaliation is absurd on its face, Charlie.

Suddenly your shift gets changed. Suddenly your backup takes ten minutes as opposed to one minute. Suddenly you're getting written up for every little thing. You're answering calls solo when procedure calls for two units. Threats left in your locker. The list of possible backlash is a mile long, and it happens.

Yet it's "only a few bad apples right?

RIGHT?