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NewslettersSheriff Tanner has "multiple footlockers" full of unserved warrants. - Beaufort County, SC
What good is a warrant if you don't serve it?
"multiple footlockers" full of unserved warrants? What are they doing?
Hey, I have an idea... let's put all the warrants in the attic of the courthouse and then maybe no one will know that they are there.
http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/497632.html
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Once the arrest warrant is issued, a police officer/Deputy will serve it (read and give a copy) to the defendant, the person accused of the crime. If the defendant is in jail, the warrant will be served there. If he is not in jail, a police officer/Deputy Sheriff MUST find the defendant, serve the arrest warrant, take the defendant into custody, and take him to jail. At the jail the defendant will be photographed, fingerprinted, and placed in a cell. Usually, as soon as he can after he is arrested, the defendant contacts his attorney to help him with his defense against the charges made against him.
Typically within a day or two after the arrest warrant is served, the defendant is brought before a judge to be arraigned (formally charged).
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CHAPTER 15. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF SHERIFFS AND DEPUTY SHERIFFS
Service of process, orders and notices; penalties for default. [SC ST SEC 23-15-40]
The sheriff or his regular deputy, on the delivery thereof to him, shall serve, execute and return every process, rule, order or notice issued by any court of record in this State or by other competent authority. If the sheriff shall make default herein he shall be subject to rule and attachment as for a contempt and he shall also be liable to the party injured in a civil suit.
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SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS
SECTION 16-5-40. Duty of officers to execute warrants.
All sheriffs, constables, and other officers specially empowered shall obey and execute all warrants and other processes issued under the provisions of Sections 16-5-10, 16-5-20, or 16-5-50 and directed to them. If a sheriff, constable, or other officer specially empowered refuses to receive a warrant or other process when tendered to him or neglects or refuses to execute the same, he is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than three years. Fines collected are for use of citizens deprived of the rights secured by the provisions of this chapter.
Warrants and other processes run with and are executed by officers anywhere within the circuit or county in which they are issued.
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From my understanding, it's common for police departments to have a backlog of bench warrants, particularly for delinquent traffic ticket payments. I have a bit of experience with this. When I first moved to South Carolina, I was pulled over for driving 58 mph on SC-170. I'm from the Washington, D.C., area, and things -- to put it lightly -- move a little quicker there. I completely forgot about the ticket, didn't pay it, missed the court date and several notices didn't make it to my home here because I still had a Maryland driver's license.
I later found out I was driving around South Carolina with an invalidated license for about a year, and, from what I was told, there was probably some bench warrant floating around out there that was never served.
Even if a department doesn't serve the warrant, the DMV typically gets at the offender by invalidating their driver's license.
I would imagine the majority of those warrants are for traffic violations.
Although, you're right: "Multiple footlockers" of warrants doesn't sound good.
There are file lockers full of warrants, many of them can not be served because of poor information listed on the warrant. They are kept on file and as persons of interest are found thru day to day response the files are searched and the warrants served. If a warrant does not have an address, how do you serve it? If the birthdate is not listed, and the name is Brown, how do you know the person you have is the same one listed?
There may be many reasons for having files full of warrants including traffic warrants that come automatic when someone fails to take care of tickets, but the warrant is only as good as the information on the paper and it will take lot's of time and money to clear the files. Ask the SO how many warrants are served each day or month and compare that to the number written in the same period and then write about it.
i dont see an excuse for this. i see too many officers sitting around in their cars. im not saying they are always doing nothin, but how about take 2 or 3 warrants included in their area each day. at least they might get a couple of these people. and they do have info on some of these people. i personally know 1 that has been picked up at his home before (failure to pay child support). he has had a warrant for about 8 or 9 months. he is about $16,000 behind. what is their excuse? they dont have one.i didnt like tanner when he came into office and i dont like him now. my personally feelings.
The BCSO is too busy obtaining and acting on warrants for innocent and upstanding members of the community to bother with actually serving the many warrants that are just sitting around collecting dust. I'm beginning to see undercoverbrother's point of view on a lot of things. BCSO has lost all credibility with me, along with my trust.
BCSO - incompetent or corrupt - two ends of the same stick (bat). It just depends on which end they're holding at the time.
Someone's gonna get beat with it. Whether innocent or guilty doesn't seem to matter to the BCSO.
I don't think that BCSO is the only one with "footlockers" full of warrants. I am sure that's a common thing with most agencies around. I know the guys assigned to warrants do the best they can and I all the time hear the road units checking for wants and warrants on folks. I just think that the warrants are more abundant than most think. I think all the agencies around are doing the best they can with serving them. Like another blogger posted...they can only do so much with what they have...meaning the info on the warrants. I think BCSO is doing a fine job along with everyone else. But that is just my two cents worth.
Ok, lets get some background info out; the Sheriff's Office of each county is responsable for the service of ALL Civil, Court, Probate, Family Court Warrants regardless of if the person lives in a city or town. They also serve all County and General Sessions Benach and most arrest warrants for the entire county. As for seeing officers "sitting around" you need to understand that a majority of them are completing the required incident or arrest reports that they have to do for every action they take, call they answer or arrest they make. Typical arrest require 3 - 4 pages of forms and time to complete them. Being a Cop is not all cracking skulls.
Now, the Sheriff is responsable for all the Law Enforcement actions in his county, Cities act on the authority of the Towns Charter, the Sheriff's Office is required by the SC Constitution. One of the Sheriff's major responsability is to manage his manpower and assign officers where they are needed. So, without a serious budget increase to support the additional manpower the protective needs of the citizens may be looked on as more important that the service of warrants that are sometimes 10 years old and the affiant has left the area. The S/O has several officers assigned primarily to the service of warrants and they work hard looking for people that do not want to be found. They have just slightly more power than a Debt Collection company so, just like Wachovia the S/O will have to trust luck to find someone who hides from a $200 traffic warrant.
So, remember these complaints when Tanner ask the County to double his budget so he can try and get everyone happy or in Jail. Thats not going to happen, the Sheriff, his staff and the County Council know that even a small increase would be questioned and cut. Trust me, this Sheriff knows what the problems in his agency are and has a good handle on the answers too, but unfortunately, every option cost a lot of money and we are not gonna pay it. Go check out any SC county S/O and see where thier problems lie, I bet they will be very similar to the complaints we have about our S/O. The agency has a program to educate citizens and the Sheriff will address your questions directly if you must have an answer.
Lastly, never forget we elected or allowed him to be re-elected every four years. If you are so displeased, recruit a suitable replacement and get them elected. But regardless, the political problems will be the same and whoever you get in office better be able to deal with that part of the job better than the Sheriff we have now.
what a police officer does. trust me. however they r not always doing paper work how about sitting at the 76 station chatting by their cars drinking coffee. i'm just saying they could make a better show at trying to get these people behind bars. some are vertually impossible, i understand that. but a few would be pretty much to the point. and if they picked up 1 person per shift it would be something.
CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
TITLE 23. LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PUBLIC SAFETY
CHAPTER 15. GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF SHERIFFS AND DEPUTY SHERIFFS
Service of process, orders and notices; penalties for default. [SC ST SEC 23-15-40]
The sheriff or his regular deputy, on the delivery thereof to him, shall serve, execute and return every process, rule, order or notice issued by any court of record in this State or by other competent authority. If the sheriff shall make default herein he shall be subject to rule and attachment as for a contempt and he shall also be liable to the party injured in a civil suit.
OK Thanks for the reference material, check the SC Constitution for the real powers and duties of the county Sheriff's. SC Relies on statutes to define some crimes, penalties, specific points of law. Common Law based on the US & SC Constitution and English Common Law is what our justice system is based on and where the Sheriff's get thier powers and duties. According to this statute without the inclusion of any other directive the Sheriff can ignore your speeding, DUI's, Murders, Domestic Violence and odd little Burglaries. Thank God they do more than what you spout without context or relevance.
Once the arrest warrant is issued, a police officer will serve it (read and give a copy) to the defendant, the person accused of the crime. If the defendant is in jail, the warrant will be served there. If he is not in jail, a police officer MUST find the defendant, serve the arrest warrant, take the defendant into custody, and take him to jail. At the jail the defendant will be photographed, fingerprinted, and placed in a cell. Usually, as soon as he can after he is arrested, the defendant contacts his attorney to help him with his defense against the charges made against him.
Typically within a day or two after the arrest warrant is served, the defendant is brought before a judge to be arraigned (formally charged).
Simple process, nice to consider the ideals of the law as written, the fact is that many arrest warrants can not be served yet still sit in the files. The officers make every attempt to confirm the person in detention is the person on the paper warrant but often it's not that clear and the person is released. (the warrant stays on file) No one is arrested, and should not be, unless it's clear that they are the person the judge signed for.
UCB, your post appear like that of a "lawnchair Lawyer", the facts are distant to the truth! For the eight or nice regular bloggers, it's fun to follow you but dig deeper if you can. Have you vistited the SO building and asked to see the files, ask for a tour and have someone show the content of the file system.
With two officers assigned to Lady's Island, St. Helena, Hunting, and Fripp, there is little chance they will be seving warrants in that area during the normal work day. The daily operational tempo of the SO will continue exclude the ability to clear the files of warrants. Increase the number of officers to include a specific staff to handle the files and maybe some effort can be gained to clear the files. It's about money and the lack of it.
I don't think the patrolling deputies serve warrants unless it is an arrest warrant with the possibility of resistance. I know of two low priority warrants that were served by the Litter Patrol officer. No doubt there is a priority list of warrants and most are handed out when convenient. Justice by government is slow but sure.
stupidity. i think it is feasible to have the regular officers serve warrants also. between calls. it wouldnt hurt to try and hey it might work. makes sense to me.
Between calls?? LOL
Next time you need an officer and they have a delayed response time, don't want to hear you complain about it. After all, they were out serving warrants.
what else should they be doing between calls?
Maybe trying to prevent crime??
It isn't serving warrants. Patrolling the area they are assigned to that shift, looking for DUI's, speeders or reckless drivers, expired tags, doing building checks, typing their reports (which are several pages long and have to be through and exact), and be ready to respond to calls which may cost them their life or the life of a citizen. They can only do so much in a 12 hour shift.
I'm not saying warrants shouldn't be served. It's just a time consuming effort. Find the person, they to have the warrant in hand, hook them up, drive them to the LEC, escort them into the jail, then do the buttload of paperwork. You just took away 2 hours from that Deputy doing the important things that should be done on his/her shift. There is a warrants division. Not alot of Deputies on the team, but they go to work day after day, and they do what they can to track these wanted criminals down and arrest them.
Ya'll may want to take a peek and see how many the City of Beaufort or Port Royal have. It isn't just a County problem. Straight off the BCSO website...
The Enforcement Division ,together during 2007, responded to over 235,073 calls for service during which they submitted 21,844 incident reports, served 3,789 warrants, issued 25,781 uniform traffic summons and made 6,242 arrests.
We have alot of criminals in Beaufort County! Sure would help if the citizens, that know of a wanted person, would use the tip line. (843) 525-7171
Those of you interested in learning what a Beaufort County Sheriff's Deputy does, feel free to contact Staff Sergeant Mike Jennings at (843)470-3287 or
. The next Citizen's Police Academy class starts June 3rd.
take 1 or 2 warrants with last known addresses in their patrol area. if they get to it fine if not able fine too. it wouldnt hurt. and tracking down? i have called and given the address which they already have. still 8 months later he still has not been picked up. and i do know what law enforcement does. i dont need to go to a class. part of protecting the public IS picking up people with warrants. they could potentially do other crimes and further hurt citizens. i am not saying they are not doing their job just a little effort by current employees may save the tax payers money.
...since the Sheriff doesn't have time to serve warrants.
Here's the challenge.
BCSO should create a public website similiar to beaufortcourt.org and list ALL of the people that have outstanding warrants against them. List ALL of them online. ALL of them.
Once the system is up and running, I will help find these people.
All the Sheriff has to do is have an efficient two-way online system whereby the public can report online where these people are.
Again, a system whereby the public can report online where these people are. Then, all the Sheriff has to do is go and arrest them.
Now, get to work and set-up a reporting system and I will tell where these people are since the Sheriff is unable to find them.
I guarantee you that I can find the vast majority of them.
Put the warrants online and I will find them as well as other citizens and victims will participate on the online system and contribute as well.
What are you waiting for? Get to work.
Or, would you rather provide security for an arts festival on Hilton Head and ignore the needs of the citizens of Beaufort County.
born in beaufort said:
"The Enforcement Division ,together during 2007, responded to over 235,073 calls for service during which they submitted 21,844 incident reports",
The Sheriff is writing incident reports on less than (10) ten-percent of the calls for service.
Do the math...21,844 divided by 235,073
How pathetic is that? No incident report...no crime ...case closed. Next?
born in beaufort said:
"The Enforcement Division ,together during 2007, responded to over 235,073 calls for service during which they submitted 21,844 incident reports",
The Sheriff is writing incident reports on less than (10) ten-percent of the calls for service.
Do the math...21,844 divided by 235,073
How pathetic is that? No incident report...no crime ...case closed. Next?
Do you know, UCB? If not, maybe DaddyBlue can tell us. Maybe, as in the case of a fire department I work closely with, not every service call deserves an incident report. Some service calls are non-incidental, such as...The neighbor's cat is stuck in a tree....I heard a loud noise that sounded like gunfire....etc. In the case of the fire department, the majority of their calls do not result in an actual incident report. Not sure if the Sheriff's office operates on similar guidelines or not. Can you enlighten us, DaddyBlue?
SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS
SECTION 16-5-40. Duty of officers to execute warrants.
All sheriffs, constables, and other officers specially empowered shall obey and execute all warrants and other processes issued under the provisions of Sections 16-5-10, 16-5-20, or 16-5-50 and directed to them. If a sheriff, constable, or other officer specially empowered refuses to receive a warrant or other process when tendered to him or neglects or refuses to execute the same, he is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than three years. Fines collected are for use of citizens deprived of the rights secured by the provisions of this chapter.
Warrants and other processes run with and are executed by officers anywhere within the circuit or county in which they are issued.
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"It is essential to the integrity of the judicial system that the execution of arrest warrants as orders of the court recieve a high priority from the Sheriff's Department and all their Deputies".
"Sheriff to preserve the peace - Apprehension of felons - Execution of process. The Sheriff shall keep and preserve the peace within the county, for which purpose he is empowered to call to his aid such persons or power of his county as he may deem necessary. He must pursue and apprehend all felons, and must execute all writs, warrants, and other process from court or magistrate which shall be directed to him by legal authority".
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SHERIFF TANNER'S MISSION STATEMENT
Goals and Objectives
1. Maintain agency integrity and credibility
http://www.bcso.net/mission.php
Listed as the NUMBER ONE goal of BCSO is to "Maintain agency integrity and credibility"
That's job one: MAINTAIN "INTEGRITY AND CREDIBILITY"
Tanner lists this as THE most important thing for Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, MAINTAIN "INTEGRITY AND CREDIBILITY"
I think Tanner needs to re-read his "Mission Statement"
The SO works with the person to be arrested to facilitate them turning themselves in. This process can delay the serving of a warrant for a couple of weeks.
alh29907 said:
The SO works with the person to be arrested to facilitate them turning themselves in. This process can delay the serving of a warrant for a couple of weeks.
That's really bad...causes all kinds of problems, especially if there are victims involved. Good for the criminal and his/her attorney, bad for everyone else.
If the person the warrant has been issued for is NOT guilty, and has only been falsely accused on some flimsy evidence, then it allows them to cooperate with law enforcement as fully as possible while escaping the shame of being physically arrested in front of family and/or friends. And yes, warrants are issued for INNOCENT people.
or has the authority to negotiate, deal, bargin an arrest warrant. The Sheriff's responsibility is to serve the warrant/court order in a timely fashion. Time is of the essence with an arrest warrant.
The warrant is not a determination of innocence or guilt.
Quite frankly, the Sheriff doesn't even have to evaluate the merits of the warrant. The Sheriff's duty and responsibility is to serve the warrant. It's really amazing that Tanner is having such a hard time with this. It's the selectivity that I am having a problem with. You have career criminals in Beaufort County that have multiple outstanding arrest warrants against them and there is very little, if any proactive effort being made to go after these guys. The easy targets are hit and the repeat offenders go free. Beaufort County at it's finest.
The ones who don't have criminal records a mile long. The real criminals are still on the streets selling drugs, guns, etc. to our children, or breaking into our homes and vehicles....
I didn't say they have the ability to bargain or negotiate. They simply DO have the ability to work with a defendant and his/her attorney to arrange the best time/place etc. for the defendant to turn him/herself in. Which may or may not be a good thing, but in certain cases, seems like the SO is trying to be fair. I doubt they do it in cases where the crime was violent or there is a danger of the defendant fleeing the area.
Usually, as soon as the defendant can AFTER the defendant is arrested, the defendant contacts his attorney to help him with his defense against the charges made against him. The operative word is AFTER.
If the Sheriff makes a pending arrest convenient for the defendant's attorney, this puts the State and a potential victim at an immediate disadvantage. The Defense Attorney will then begin postering his/her client before an arrest has been made. Further, I have seen instances where the defendant knowing that an arrest is pending will swear out a warrant on their alleged victim before an arrest is made on them. Obviously, this is an attempt to discredit their victim.
This business about the Sheriff making it convenient for alleged criminal conduct opens the door for all kinds of abuses by criminals and criminal defense attorneys.
Should the Sheriff's Office?
(a) Solve Crimes (Like the Calvert Conspiricy you rant about)
(b) Serve Warrants 24/7 with every Officer until the files are empty
(c) Patrol our Roads for traffic violations and work traffic accidents
(d) Respond to Burglar alarms that require 2 officers and are often very false
(e) Protect and Secure the Court Operations and move Suspects
(f) Train as required by other SC Laws (you failed to cite)
(g) Respond to Dangerous situations with a trained and equipped SWAT Team, K-9 Team, Drug Team or many others and sustain these operations for days at a time
(h) Work with Emergency management during Hurricanes, Storms and other county wide emergencies.
(i) Appear in Court everyday, prosicute criminal and traffic cases and testify as witnesses in other hearings
(j) Serve hundreds of Civil and other Legal Papers also as required by law
(k) Practice, Train and manage crime prevention programs
(l) Assist other agencies when they need assistance or when they cannot answer calls because they are understaffed
(m) Patrol the Schools of Beaufort County with one of the oldest School Resource Programs in the state & country
(n) Work with Victims of Crimes and with the Prosicution of major crimes with the Solicitors office
(o) Direct traffic when Bridges. stoplights and other hazards happen
(p) Give directions to tourist looking for Hilton Head, Beaufort or Charleston everyday.
(q) Assist EMS and all the area Fire Departments on almost every call they go on
(r) Drive through every neighborhood and down every road in the county looking for criminal activity
(s) Transport Mental Subjects to the Hospital and Columbia
(t) Process Evidence for prints, DNA, other evidence and safeguard that evidence forever or court whichever comes first
(u) Interview and interrogate Suspects of crimes of all type
(v) Administer Polygraphs to suspects as needed
(w) Investigate complaints on thier own officers just as they would any other crime
(x) Travel to Charleston to witness and document Autopsies
(y) Do everything else that a citizen or visitor calls and request help in
(z) Bury thier Brothers at Arms, who lost thier lives doing any of the above things and then try and make sense of the loss to themselves, the families and the public.
FYI, They do ALL this and more every day or live with the threat of Z and still go home and deal with low pay, a hard life and people like you and others who second guess and fail to appreciate the sacrific they volunteer to give for you without ever meeting you. So, rather than choose which ones they should do, tell us all which ones they should not do or the ones YOU will do for them.
I didn't think so, Go back to your Keyboard and Complain about something else... Like your own world
...to serve the process of the court...MANDATED by South Carolina law
This enforcement is specified both in statutory law and in "Common Law", which are decisions handed down by the courts. The primary purpose of the service of process is to give a defendant notice that a legal proceeding has been initiated against them and to afford them the opportunity to defend against it. The process advises the defendant of the nature of the action brought against them and also vests jurisdiction in the court that issued the process. Process is the means by which a court obtains jurisdiction in a cause to settle controversies involved therein and to enforce its orders against parties involved. The sheriff is mandated by South Carolina law.
The Sheriff is also mandated to protect and serve.
C'mon UCB.. I know that career criminals seem to run rampet around here but, what do you suggest the BCSO do? Are you willing to pay the tax increase for officers to work soley on that?
...there is a decision to be made here.
There is no decision. None. Nada. Nothing. No Choice.
It's amazing how many people in Beaufort County are either allergic or immune to the laws of the State of South Carolina.
I didn't realize that obeying the law was optional. I must have been in some kind of time warp and missed something along the line.
Not allergic nor immune. I asked you a reasonable question. HOW do YOU propose the Sheriff get the warrants served?? Good Lord... if the people would follow the law, there wouldn't be warrants!
...following the law. If he doesn't the serve the warrants then he may be found in contempt of court.
born_in_beaufort said:
"HOW do YOU propose the Sheriff get the warrants served??"
This is not rocket science. If the Sheriff can't figure out how to serve his "multiple footlockers full of warrants" then we are all in bigger trouble than I originally thought.
The nicest way that I can this is "Incompetence".
UCB, Great assumption, No Wonder you must remain anonymous. But This Sheriff inherited his backlog from the Sheriff before him and the chain keeps on going. Lets see where your eggs really are, Make a official complaint to the SC Atty Generals Office and see if the Sheriff gets indicted, charged with contempt or is found to be mismanaging his warrants or responsabilities in any way. All you want to do is stir the pot and point your hidden finger at people who are not afraid to stand up and defend themselves. If you are anything more than a blowhard and a coward then stand up for your allegations and be a citizen not a shadow of a person.
Sheriff Tanner has been Sheriff for (10) Ten Years... count 'em Blueline ...TEN YEARS!
November 3, 1998: Elected as Sheriff of Beaufort County
January, 1999: Oath of Office
First 4-year term (1999-2002)
January, 2003:
Oath of Office
Second 4-year term (2003-2006)
January, 2007
Oath of Office
Third 4-year term (2007- 2010)
Bully DaddyBlueline said:
"But This Sheriff inherited his backlog from the Sheriff before him and the chain keeps on going".
So let me see if I understand you correctly, Sheriff Tanner has been holding on to "multiple footlockers" of unserved warrants for over ten years and the whole problem is because of his predecessor Sheriff prior to 1999, ten years ago. Good try Blueline.
BTW, the Sheriff before Tanner was Tanner and the Sheriff before him was Tanner, i.e. THIRD TERM!!!!!
Go See Before You Assume, yes the inventory has probably increased but there are warrants in those "footlockers" you refer to that are from cases before Tanner, Before McLeod and Before Lucas. The Sheriff (Tanner) make a great effort to purge the backlog by re-affirming the validity several years ago, some had to be left in the system and some were disposed of legally. Think about what you are talking about, these warrants can be from any crime, action or failure to appear in which someone could identify the suspect by name. They do not have to have a full name, addresss or any other info and you want to complain that they have ignored the Calvert case and the warrant issue and you simply offer the answer that the "Law" requires the Sheriff serve the warrants, or rather make every effort to locate and serve the warrants. The Sheriff nor anyone else cannot be held liable if a suspect cannot be located and arrested, if that was the case who would want the position. The law also says that speeding is a crime, but does that infer that the Deputies be fined for the ones that get away? The law also requires that the arresting officer prosicute criminal offenders that they observe performing a criminal act, lets even say Domestic Violence (that has even stricter arrest requirements) but at trial he Deputy looses the case because the Suspect has $ hired a Lawyer, requested a Jury Trial and other witnesses left town during the 24 months between arrest and trial, should we then jail the Deputy for 30 days. Get a grip, you are complaining about the world not being perfect and picking and choosing to always be negative about something you know nothing about except what you pull off the internet. You spout comments that offer no real argument, they are statements that are self validating with no facts that can be discussed except simple stats and out of context quotes. As always you are just a scared school kid shifting blame on everyone else. BTW, I bet I know why you remain undercover, your name is probably in a "footlocker" somewhere..........
...I didn't know that you could dispose of an unserved warrant legally. That's like saying you can throw a court order in the trash. It's my understanding that the Sheriff Department has record keeping requirements by law.
DaddyBlue said:
"effort to purge the backlog by re-affirming the validity several years ago" ..."by re-affirming the validity" What in the heck does that mean? ..."by re-affirming the validity" It's not the Sheriff's job to re-affirm validility, the Sheriff's job is TO SERVE THE WARRANT, not to affirm or re-affirm validity.
DaddyBlue said:
"The Sheriff nor anyone else cannot be held liable if a suspect cannot be located and arrested"... that's interesting, you sound a little worried about liability at this point and I would be worried as well if I were the Sheriff with "multiple footlockers of unserved warrants/court orders".
BTW, the vast majority of warrants have very detailed information on them. i.e. name, address, DOB, D.L.#, etc. etc. and you can't tell me that the Sheriff's Department doesn't have access to this information and much more. Further, they know where most of these people are because they are in the County. The fact is that the Sheriff Dept is not working these warrants as hard and diligently as they should. It is very obvious from Tanner's comments in the Island Packet article, i.e requesting additional funds for a deputy to work festivals and then on his spare time to work on warrants. How pathetic is that? In other words, if you pay me more money then I'll ...well ...if I have time, then maybe I'll serve your warrants for you, maybe.
This has been an interesting thread, the facts are about as detailed as the warrants, UCB's thoughts only bring to the table a view of the issue about as shallow as his ego. The only solid point is that the SO should not re-affirm the warrants, and that a re-affiming policy by a court should take place to clear up the files which could assist in saving time and energy by those task with the duty to serve.
Maybe some of these people who have time to micromanage the sheriff's department could contact him and do volunteer work serving warrants. The sheriff could deputize anyone he thinks is suitable. It would be more beneficial than blogging about it.
oldtown said:
"re-affiming policy by a court should take place to clear up the files"
Now that's a real brain storm, let's tie-up the court system for the Sheriff's Office incompetence. If the court system re-affirmed the warrants that's no guarantee that the Sheriff's Office is going to serve the warrants anyway given their track record.
Also, this notion about deputizing the public at large to serve warrants is a novel concept. However, I'm not hearing the Sheriff asking for any help from John and Jane Doe on the street to do this. All I'm hearing is that he is asking for more money and then maybe, just maybe he'll take care of it.
Serving warrants by the Sheriff's Dept. is a primary function of the SO. Warrants are not something that you try to figure out 101 ways on how not to serve them. "Primary function".
1st, Re-affirming as I put it would have been the process to administratively check each aged warrant, ensure that the victim or affiant is still pursuing charges, that no administrative error (like a served warrant not being removed by the issuing Judge) occurred and to try and get more information to get the warrant served. Any management system should ensure that the hours of work each warrant or arrest requires is not useless and that the crime or action is one that will actually serve its purpose. Saying that a Warrant cannot be disposed of legally would mean that when your spouse signs a warrant on you for Domestic Violence that he or she could not recall this warrant after you kiss and make up.
2nd, Worried, I think I challenged you to report your allegations to the proper investigative authorities and that I knew that no mismanagement would ever be determined. My statement said that the Sheriff had no liability regarding the failure to serve warrants that could not reasonably be served.
3rd, You are totally lost when you assume that a majority of warrants have enough information to locate the suspect. A majority of warrants are issued by Judges based on a victims statement and desire to pursue charges, If your someone drove past your trailer and threw trash in your yard and you new them from your job as a Hair Care Technician as Joe Johnson and you wanted to sign a warrant on him, guess what a Judge would probably let you sign a warrant and send it to the S/O for service. So, the only info on the warrant would be the info that you knew when you signed it, if no LE agency investigated it at the time of the incident, the S/O gets a Illegal Dumping Warrant for Joe Johnson and thats all. You obviously just have no clue how the real world works. It you hate Bft co so much move back to NYC, I bet all thier warrants are served, just watch Law & Order.
they can't do it alone, so they need to ask for help! Come up with a website, That way, if I got a warrant that is incorrect, I can look it up and go in and fix it. If my creepy neighbor guy has a warrant and I find it on a website, I can turn him in... If my kid is going on a date, I can check out the new guy/ girl... Daddyblue, I know that cops are busy. They might not always look it, but there job is not just their job. Their job is dealing with my life, and everyone elses at times when... well, let's face it. We either see the cops in the event of a crime or accidents... If I am the victim of a crime and the guys not able to be located by the police here, I want him on AMW or something. We have the technology, some of us wouldn't mind paying taxes for law enforcment. Heck I'd pay for more money to the cops way before I'd pay for more money to the jail, but I want to the public warrant list, and I think they are stupid if they don't.
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... I don't live in a trailer and I'm not from New York. That's not to say that there is anything wrong with either. BTW, what does that have to do with unserved warrants?
1st - You mentioned "aged warrants". Why are there so many "aged warrants"?
Also, your "kiss and make-up" theory doesn't hold water if the warrant would have been served in a timely fashion. Further, I wouldn't assume for one minute that all the unserved warrants are for "kiss and make-up" cases.
2nd - The Attorney General is not the only remedy in cases of "gross negligence" and "contempt of court". There are State Statues that provide civil remedies to individuals in a civil action without having to go to the AG. However, I wouldn't rule out the AG.
3rd -Blueline said: "You are totally lost when you assume that a majority of warrants have enough information to locate the suspect". Not only is that unbelievably wrong, it's also very lame. And, BTW, what a pathetic excuse. You mentioned the real world, well, in the real world your pathetic excuses don't fly very far and especially when it comes to the law.
zoo said:
"Come up with a website ...We have the technology ...I want ...the public warrant list, and I think they are stupid if they don't."
UCB says:
"Stupid IS as Stupid does" ..."Incompetence IS as Incompetence does" ..."gross negligence IS as gross negligence does"