Police Fail

The sheriff of Clinton County, Jim Guffey, draws a lot of controversy. Those who are protected by the system tend to think of him as a moral good old boy, those who aren't tend to think of him as a corrupt son of a bitch who should be behind bars. What the truth is isn't clear, like many things in Appalachia.

I mentioned in  a previous post about how he sent a large number of drug dealers to jail as soon as he got into office, but none afterwards. It almost seemed like he was cleaning out the competition for his friends, but it might have just been coincidence. Of course, most people would be inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, unless they had to live next to one of the sheriff's friends. When said people run around screaming and brandishing firearms, when they weave down roads on four wheelers with one adult and three children clinging to it, when you're the subject of vandalism and get to fill out a police report on a post it note, you begin to think there may be some corruption going on somewhere. That or a level of incompetence usually not seen in the Western World.

One of my neighbors had it even worse. She stupidly moved in with one of these friends who was a known druggie. Of course, the relationship went like all such go, so I got to hear second hand reports of drugs and threats of violence against multiple people. Amazingly, even when these threats were made publicly, in front of witnesses, the law enforcement response was still, "meh". It ended in the usual way, with the neighbor getting a broken nose and the druggie saying that, "Jim Guffey would never put him in jail". So she called a deputy who did. She's lucky it wasn't worse. Whether or not Jim Guffey is corrupt or not is unknown, but seriously, when violent druggies claim to be under your protection, that really should be a red flag to the rest of the law enforcement community. This is especially true since about 6 months previously while witnessing possible druggie activity and talking with the state police, I told them that I had either wandered into one of their sting operations or they had some corrupt cops around here. Of course, not being a fellow law officer, they totally ignored me. Of course they also told me that I had reasonable suspicion, not probable cause and to call them back when I did. Silly me, I thought building a court case with documentation was what my tax dollars were paying for, I guess I was wrong.

Now we get to the fail. One of the main problems here is prescription medicine abuse. Pills seem to be more popular here than meth. Of course, the official police response is to try to get unused pharmaceuticals disposed of properly. To this end they create collection points where these drugs can be turned in and stored until being disposed of properly. Guess who is in charge of prescription drug collection in Clinton county. You guessed it, Jim Guffey. So, there are known pill heads who claim his protection and no one in law enforcement sees a problem with him being in charge of pills?

Of course, Jim Guffey may be what he claims, a hard working public servant, or he may be as corrupt as a previous sheriff of McCreary county. No one knows. The problem is, no one seems to care.

What is a citizen to do when all the police appear to be either corrupt or riding the short bus?

Noisy Neighbors

Last night was Halloween. A time of pumpkins and ghosts. It's also a time when my windows shake with the excessive bass of my neighbor's music system. When your windows are shaking from a building almost 1/4 mile away, you have to wonder about the eardrums and the respect for others that the originators of such music enjoy. This particular music wasn't so bad. It came from the local church and only lasted a couple of hours and they don't do it often. You have to wonder about Christian Rock turned up to that volume, but this is also the church that moves street signs to suit themselves, the church whose deacon was under investigation for narcotics peddling, and the church who bought their rec center with lottery winnings. Such is the Baptist religion.

Despite the title this blog is not about the music the occasion for it. Fall Festival. Yes, Fall Festival. No one here is allowed to use the words Halloween. That would be sacrilegious. When Christians tell you they don't want a theocracy, bear that in mind.  Admittedly, the thought behind the church fall festival is good. Get the kids off the streets and give them something to do to keep them out of trouble. That's all well and good, and they are well intentioned. Unfortunately, that's where it all falls apart. They set up a church fair in their rec center and let anyone in free, feed them, and even give goody baskets to the kids.

My first year here, when I went with my kids it was a lot of fun, although I did have some explaining to do about the comic book that showed knights fighting dinosaurs, because everyone knows they existed at the same time. However, that's in the realm of amusing local tradition, not a problem. No the problem is that as Clinton county has become more and more a center for antisocial behavior, so to has the churches fall festival. It was bad enough when 18 year old jocks from the high school were sent through rides with 5 year old kids and no one seemed to care, but when the drug dealers stop off there to get fed and set up connections before the rest of their night, there's a problem. The amusing part is the place has cops there for security, and the druggies are operating in plain sight, but no one will say anything. I guess Christians don't like to judge. Or maybe they're involved in the trade. I really can't figure this place out.