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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2010)
Page 22 The INDEPENDENT, October 21, 2010 From the Sheriff’s Desk… From page 19 Our liberties are enshrined in our state and federal Constitutions, and woe to any law officer who eschews, ignores or tramples upon the constitutional liberties of anyone. People make mistakes, and law officers are no different, but constitution- al mistakes, while at times forgivable, are never without consequence. At the very least it could mean intensive training to make sure a constitutional mistake is not repeated. But it could be serious enough that a law officer can lose his or her job and even face economic sanctions. Because more important than upholding a career – or defending a hard-working officer – is the premise that the constitutional freedoms of all shall be upheld. Second, we must uphold the law. I refer back to the declaration in the Declara- tion of Independence that affirms that government has its authority from “the con- sent of the governed.” We elect law makers who set forth what the laws are. We enforce those laws, and the courts affirm and interpret those laws. Together, as a community, we take ownership of the laws and change those that do not work for us. That’s what it means to me, when we say we are a democracy under the rule of law. Once we have the law, it is important to have the law upheld. To uphold a thing is to protect, defend and to enforce the provisions thereof. It isn’t just about taking people to jail, but it certainly can include that, es- pecially when the nature of the offense is such that there is an on- going threat to the life-safety and liberties of the people. The most important aspect to upholding the law is the concept that we cannot ignore what the law says because we don’t like its provisions or agree with the lawmakers who wrote it. There are al- ways options in how we deal with the law (more in that when we discuss “justice” below), but to ignore the law completely is count- er to the mission of every law enforcement agency. To uphold the law also means to do so even-handedly. We en- force the law without respect to, age, race, color, religion, nation- al origin, sex, life-style, or personal opinions. Like the Gendarme in Les Miserables, we need to know and demonstrate that, “The law is the law” without respect to who we are dealing with. Finally, we must ensure that justice reigns supreme in all our contacts with the public. As I have said before, I believe the great- est privilege and responsibility for law officers is to enforce the law, not because we can, but because we should. Justice de- mands that our enforcement activities are aimed at producing the greater good. My view is that it isn’t enough just to write tickets, or just to take someone to jail. If these activities serve the greater good (and they certainly can!), then I am all in favor. We are working here at the sheriff’s office to make sure these values are instilled in every one of our employees. We hire and retain those individuals who have the greatest promise of upholding these values day in and day out. To be sure, they are all human beings who have the same trials and struggles that many others face in their own lives, and none of us is perfect. But the question will always be: How close are we to the ide- al? And how can get closer? To that end, we are creating and evaluating systems we put in place to monitor and check our progress. We train and remind ourselves that we are public ser- vants and seek to eliminate mind sets to the contrary. It will always be a destination and a journey. But it is one worth embarking upon, and it has been my privilege to be at the helm these last 22 months. As we approach the halfway mark in this, my first term as sheriff, I am both pleased with the results and anxious to improve. And I thank the voters in Columbia County for entrusting me with this mission. Letters From page 21 Oil, Deer Island Store, Steel Port, Fisher Farm & Lawn, Todd Barnes, Jan Brady, Roth Family, Les Schwab – St. He- lens, Bradley and Kuhn, Aquat- ic Contracting. Thank you to our buckle sponsors – Crescent Lake Farms, D & M Adventures, Daetech, Inc., Pacific Stain- less. Columbia County Friends of Fair Youth Livestock Auction Committee
