for the week of March 10,
2010
by Eloise Campanella
I returned from my vacation with my sister in Mexico in fine
shape, a little tanner and a lot more relaxed than before I left. Okay, I did
come back to Colorado with a bit of "vacation brain," but that is to
be expected. What I didn't expect was to be hit over the head with a 2 x 4
with what some call "the flu." It could have been called a cold, a
bacteria, H1N1, a virus or klimnop for all I care. Whatever it was, it zapped
me and I apologize for missing a week of the Bull.
I was sent a great quote and it just so happens it came from
John Wayne. I'm sure the Sheriff could tell me chapter and verse behind it. “Tomorrow
is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's
perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned
something from yesterday.”
AT THE DETENTION CENTER...
Deputies searched dayrooms, games, showers, empty cots,
visitation area, phones and cot bathrooms. No contraband was found.
Inmate was made a Red Tag 1:1 for making threats that he
"was not afraid to assault a cop." When he was
informed of his new status, he went uncooperative and was taken to Booking for
a cool down. And he wondered about the Red Tag.
Deputies reported that an inmate failed to comply with his
lockdown and received a 10-day lockdown on top the 24-hour lockdown he earned earlier.
He came into custody in February and spent seven of his first ten days in
lockdown. He'll get the message soon.
Inmate refused to clean his room for facility inspection.
He was served with a rules violation. He stated, "I think this is
bull---- and I am not going to sign it. If it's games you f------ want then it's
games you will get. I will break every rule in that book even if I have to
assault someone and every time you let me out I will refuse to lock down." Hopefully he'll get the message soon.
Subject was brought in as an uncooperative. In his cell, he
wrapped his shirt around his neck. When confronted, he removed all of his
clothing and wiped blood on the glass and floor of the Booking cell. He also
flooded the cell and spit blood out of the door crack. Turns out he's been
incarcerated before, lots. He was a Red Tag in the past due to assaults in his
criminal history from six different states with an assortment of violent
charges.
Juvenile at the DC had to be instructed on how to use an
electronic typewriter. I'll bet he doesn't even know the difference between
45s and LPs either.
Deputy conducted a voluntary pop quiz to promote Character
First and our rule book. Close to 95% of the pod participated. Nice. An
inmate received a Character First recognition for Compassion and another
received one for Alertness. Sure seems like some folks have gotten the
message.
ON PATROL...
Deputies had a request for us to do a welfare check on a
90-year-old female. They noticed disarray and trash strewn all over the house
and only rancid/rotting food in the fridge. They did ultimately take her to
MCR. I'm sure these deputies and officers from the Estes Police Department
were very kind to her. However our deputy did report, and I quote, "She
was tense, angry, excited, antagonistic, suspicious of me, insulting, profane,
combative, illogical, rambling, nonsensical, over-talkative, forceful,
shouting, mumbling, hearing voices, seeing things and had unusual sexual ideas.
She started to go for a pair of scrap booking scissors as she was yelling at
me, but decided against it. My presence angered her as she yelled I was 'evil
and ugly' among other things. (Evil no, ugly yes; unless they are one and the
same)."
Subject reported that an Amy Willis called and told him that
if he sent $400 to her he would win $3.5 million, a new BMW, and extra $5,000
and his $400 back. Make note of that name because something tells me this just
might be a scam. Can't put my finger on why, exactly.
Subject reported that while he was in our jail his friend
was supposed to be watching his trailer and taking care of things. When subject
was released he found several items missing including cash and credit cards
which were used in multiple locations around town. The "friend"
claims someone broke into the trailer, knocked him out and stole the items.
Deputies tried to help a foster mother out by talking with
16-year-old about her errant ways. Apparently the teen lies, exaggerates and
set fire to the last foster home so she did not have to live there anymore.
Deputy believes she is not interested in changing her ways as she had an excuse
for everything and said she is going to do whatever it takes to get out of this
house. She admitted she is a "juggalo" and smokes cigarettes and
marijuana and drinks alcohol. I believe she's in for some hard times and she's
only sixteen. (Our Gang Unit at the Detention Center recognizes
"Juggalo" as a gang and security threat group.)
Subject admitted to a glass of wine at dinner, a very potent
glass of wine. His breath was 0.222.
We had one report this past week of a husband who bit his
wife on the arm. In another report a husband attempted to put out his lit
cigar on his wife's face. After a struggle for the phone, he threw a full
coffee maker just missing her and smashing on the floor. He was booked for oh
so many things. And yet another report stated meth-using husband slammed his
meth-using wife's head into the coffee table and the wall. Lots of
inconsistencies with this story. Wonder if it has something to do with the
meth. No matter what, that's a lot of violence.
Deputy reported subject parked on Bingham Hill was
incoherent and mumbling. Medical evaluated and found no issue. He admitted to
drinking and driving to that location. Inside the vehicle was a 750 ml bottle
of vodka with only one third remaining. Subject told deputy that Jesus had
brought them together. Deputy agreed.
One sergeant noted that LCSO Patrol Reserves put in over 80
hours of patrol time over one weekend. They handled numerous calls for
service, arrested one for a warrant and wrote, at last count, 38 driving
citations. They were thanked for their commitment to the residents of Larimer
County. I've heard the Sheriff say many times that we'd be hard-pressed to
keep this place running without the help of Patrol Reserves and the Posse.
MISCELLANEOUS....
And now for the fun stuff. Please check this website.
Read the latest article that catapulted the Sheriff, once again, to national
fame. http://www.gazette.com/opinion/state-94668-gun-ban.html
I must reprint some letters the Sheriff has received, I
must, I must. At last count, the number was over 400 and only one was
"agin" his view.
From an Indiana resident...
Wow! are you famous out there!!
As a U.S. Army Special Operations veteran of OEF in Afghanistan, I would
personally like to thank you for protecting the rights of the citizens in your
County. It takes a brave person these days to stand up against big
influence groups to do what's right. I am personally grateful to you for
supporting law abiding citizens and your state laws. If you're ever in Indianapolis , Indiana dinner is on me and my family!
This one is from Michigan...
Sir: all my best! As a
local Sheriff's reserve officer, firearms instructor, and strong advocate of
self defense/personal protection, your clear-headed defense of students' right
to protect themselves on CSU campuses is just awesome. Stick with it
regarding those "emotional responses"... they'll soon realize that a
concession on this isn't necessarily a "loss" of any form to them. In
a world of sheep and wolves, thanks for being another sheepdog. Stay
safe!
I believe this is from one of our local folks...
All I can say
is WOW! Keep up the good work, Sheriff. Too bad you can't
run again. And they said, when you first ran, that you would set the LCSO back
20 years. RIGHT!
I'm not sure where this came from but apparently he echoes
the sentiment from several folks...
I just wanted to
let you know that I support your decision not to support the Colorado State
University Board of Governors gun ban. Even though I'm not from your
jurisdiction it's nice to see someone in elected office supporting the right of
individuals to self defense. Ever considered running for president?
To which the Sheriff replied, "President? No thank
you. That would mean going to the dark side and becoming a politician. I do
appreciate your support."
Apparently this hit the Indiana blog sites hard as witnessed
by all the letters from that neck of the woods...
Dear Sheriff, I
just wanted to send you a note of thanks for standing up for the law abiding
citizens in your jurisdiction. We have a mayor where I live that could learn
from men like yourself the meaning of integrity and righteousness. But he would
rather disenfranchise law abiding folks and empower the criminal. I doubt
you'd ever want to leave the beautiful state of Colorado, but if you were to
ever run for any office in Indiana, you'd have a lot of support.
Another Indianan....
Thank you for upholding the Constitution
of which you raised your hand and swore to uphold. If only more officials
worried more about protecting our rights rather than taking them away, as you
have done. Thank you.
More
Indiana...
I would like to sincerely thank you
from the bottom of my heart for the stand you are taking on the current issue
of carrying on college campuses. I am from Indiana, going to school in
Illinois, and even though your actions do not directly affect me, it is very
inspiring to see law enforcement take the actions that you are. Thank you, Sir,
and you have more support than you will ever know. Finally someone who cares.
It's nice to see someone with a little common sense in the government, who's
willing to stand up for the people he's elected to defend.
I am not sure just exactly where this came from but it would
seem it was local...
Sheriff Alderden, I
heartily applaud your opinion and just wanted to congratulate you on your
steadfast and courageous position against this onslaught of anti-gun, anti-Constitutional
sentiment, seemingly so predominant at our higher learning institutions. I too
am appalled at the flagrant disregard to our second amendment Constitutional
rights by the CSU board, and I for one will remember that in future donations
and elections.
Florida wrote...
I am impressed with
your reasoning and stance on the CSU gun ban issue. Keep up the good work.
Connecticut got into the act...
Thank You Sir, You
are truly a Hero. This country is better place because of people like you.
I'm not sure if this one was
local but I really like it...
You would
think people involved in academia would want to deal in data and experience,
but this has been all about emotion.
This comes from a Law Enforcement Officer who apparently
recognizes the value in an armed citizenry.
As a retired LEO with 24 years
experience, I support the Sheriff on his stand against the gun ban on CSU
campus. Larimer County should be proud to have a Sheriff like J. Alderden !
Okay, that's enough but I think you get the idea. By the
way, the Colorado Springs Gazette had a poll to go along with the
article. The question was, "Should they ignore the ban?" As of last
Wednesday, out of 14,978 voters, 97% said they should ignore the ban and 3%
said they should obey the ban. I can only hope the Board of Governors is
listening.
READERS' CORNER...
Several of the deputies liked the quotes from police videos,
especially, "Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a
toaster oven." Or are they just hinting at something?
My ex-military friend at the
Post Office wrote, "I sent Kathy's cousin 14 pounds of paper, pens,
pencils, crayons, chalk, colored paper, note books, everything I could think
of. I also threw stuff in for the Marine Capt. I would guess it is close to
being delivered or getting close to him any day now. Hope he gets a truckload
to give to the children. All the best, everyone be safe, your friend, J."
Our folks here have collected
over ten boxes of stuff to be shipped to the kids in Afghanistan. A good
portion of supplies came from our friends at the Timnath Police Department. Thank
you. At any rate, it would seem our little campaign has been a success. I'd
love to hear if any other Bull readers have shipped school supplies to
Afghanistan. You can let me know at lcsoBEBS@LarimerSheriff.org.
The Sheriff received a letter from a citizen who was stopped
in the wee small hours of the morning as a suspected DUI. "...To this
date I had never been involved with any type of sobriety check and I had heard
some accounts from friends and acquaintances how unfairly they had been treated
by your department. I have to say I was a little nervous during the entire
incident and thought I was done for, and was going to jail. The officer that
pulled me over treated me with the utmost respect when conducting his
testing... In hind sight I really had nothing to be nervous about and if I
was intoxicated to the point that I was posing a danger to myself or others
your officer would have detected that and taken me as he should. I didn't get
the officer's name but I just wanted to thank him for treating me fairly and
with dignity." My two cents worth, this is the norm rather than the
exception.
A citizen was driven to LCSO headquarters by her daughter
during a snowstorm because she wanted to tell Deputy Brown's (relatively new to
the LCSO troops) sergeant how pleased she was with the assistance he gave her.
Apparently Deputy Brown was leaving his residence for an evening out with his
family when he noticed an 80-year-old female on the sidewalk who appeared lost
and distraught. She had recently moved to the area from Durango with her
husband and daughter and became lost while walking her dog. Deputy Brown drove
this female, who could not remember her address or phone number, around the
area for over an hour before she recognized her husband's vehicle parked in
front of her daughter's house. He took her inside to make sure she was at the
correct address. She told the sergeant, through her tears, that she is
eternally grateful to Deputy Brown for taking his personal time, and missing
dinner with his family, to help her find her way home.
As I've said many times, "That's what I'm talking
about." Until next week, that's all she wrote.