The Sheriff

I have always been curious between the distinction of officers and the jobs descriptions that go with their badges. The Sheriff, and the entire county, the Highway Patrol and the wideness of their jurisdiction that includes anything that's paved, and city Police Officers.

The rank and file of policing organization also fascinates me. The varying levels of captains and chiefs, and the politics involved within the entire organization and each individual precinct. I wonder where detectives and SWAT teams fall into the rank and file. I particularly am fascinated with internal affairs, and how they go about doing things, in the face of tremendous backlash against them. 

The sheriff is a completely different animal that a police officer. Their badges imply the same thing, and officer of law who is to be given respect and is responsible for fulfilling his/her duty. The biggest difference is that  the sheriff is elected by the population at large. Immediately, an elected official is thrust into a position of great responsibility, and must compensate for seniority, experience in the field and most importantly the respect of the deputies. Another huge difference is that the Sheriff also plays the role of Jailer, which though not a full fledged prison system, maintains significant responsibility on keeping criminals while they await trial or serve smaller sentences. The police precints have small jail cells, but the Sheriff is responsible for the entire counties jail system, and transportation, which is not small responsibility.

The Sheriff, along with the Highway patrol has a jurisdiction that scopes the county and at points, own territories of their own, like  East Los Angeles. The Sheriff also is responsible for the parks and landmark areas. The distinction  gets muddled in the courtroom, as a bailiff though important and considered Sheriffs deputy really is not at par with other peace officer. While this may be true he is the only person who really sees the entire criminal justice system from his podium. I am not sure if a Bailiff has the same authority as other badges officer, but he is on the judges side and never catches the level of heat that other officer might from the judges and lawyers in the courtroom.

Social Media has tarnished the images of the policing forces. Moreover the number of times and the means in which Cops are attacked in the field has been growing tremendously. . On the other side of the token,  ingrained corruption and cover ups within the culture  mining deep makes it difficult for anyone trying to make a change.

Regardless, especially in the west the Sheriff has a special spirit around it's duties. Chosen by the voters with the tremendous duty of protecting the citizens the sheriff must always find ways to make law enforcement stronger and keep citizens safer. The next challenge is electing a Sheriff who will make changes, It is a natural step and hopefully set a standard for other enforcement agencies to follow. The question is will it happen?

Keeping the Booty!

With the upcoming primary and talk surfacing about how the republican party is doomed, I think it is important that I shed some light on what is happening.

First and foremost, lurking in the shadows is a former liberal who come from a tradition of stemming from the seedy side of town, in the Southern United States. The Democrats who after controlling the Senate for almost a century, jumped ship and took the reigns of the  Republican Party as their own.

Then on the surface came the talking heads. Those who talk about wealth and wealth preservation. Those who steer the conversation towards respecting wealth, and with it, the conservative values behind it.  It involve a rhetoric about getting rich and staying rich. Now historically, not just in the United States, but just about everywhere else in the world, when someone gets rich, it comes with the fear that others will try to take it away from you.

Lots of republican have this fear and think that it is ok to toy with the system and rig the game to avoid anything that might lead them to lose their fortune. People who tinker with this old adage, and hedge their fear have no business being rich in the first place. Except for the fact that this is done at the expense of just about anyone who is not rich.

Keep in mind that these are also now the job creators and the entrepreneurs. New Silicon Valley types are emerging, as are Oligarchic types that Bernie Sanders keeps complaining about. These are a younger generation, who have inherited a system with no fear of losing their fortunes, and not wanting to be left behind.

Our politicians will change this, knowing full well that they can just give him the candy sucker of power. He'll be wanting more and more of it. It will be interesting to see what happens as the election progresses. Even more interesting to see is what will happen as the chosen candidates exercise their policies to combat these problems, or not.