4 ms·

Elected Sheriffs anecdotally seem to be at higher odds of being charged with corruption and are often focused on politicking rather than policing. 1. https://w

by quinoa 6y ago

Elected Sheriffs anecdotally seem to be at higher odds of being charged with corruption and are often focused on politicking rather than policing. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/us/ana-franklin-alabama-sheriff.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/us/ana-franklin-alabama-s... 2. https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/commentary-reforms-can-help-stop-sheriff-corruption-in-south-carolina/article_391cb9e8-630e-11ea-b32f-a3fd8283a39b.html https://www.postandcourier.com/opinion/commentary/commentary... 3. https://apnews.com/afa9172c457725c92dcb39aca9c85a49 https://apnews.com/afa9172c457725c92dcb39aca9c85a49 The issue may also be exacerbated if the electorate is actively okay or willing to ignore the corruption. I believe the increasing political nature of the position is, in fact, part of the issue. The influence of politics through Mayors and the Police Unions makes running a department efficiently and effectively an impossible task if you want to hold onto your job. A chief of police either spend all of their time appeasing politicians by implementing their ideas for how to police effectively or are replaced by someone who will. At the same time they are receiving constant push-back from the Police Union. Never mind the years of experience, training, and graduate degree work almost all police chiefs have endured; they either do what politicians think they should do or are replaced. If they lose the confidence of the Union the Union will sabotage them and they will be replaced. The second major issue, as I see it, is how we select and hire police officers, which still, almost universally, relies on the polygraph test. The polygraph is proven pseudoscience, but the actually effectiveness, I suspect, is irrelevant because the goal is to see if prospective hires can take the pressure of the test; not to detect dishonesty. You either get perfect applicants, or those who are okay and comfortable with lying. There are many more issues, of course: the increasing militarization, some departments actively rejecting high IQ candidates, low pay and long working hours for patrol, etc.

free_rms 6y ago
To add on a third issue, also anecdotally, there's the nature of duties that the typical county sheriff finds themselves with. They're not local police, they're not state police or FBI, their primary job often winds up being running corrections. Secondary job is detail work on county property. Actual job is often being a patronage network for their boss, the sheriff, help him get re-elected and keep your job. It's actually the worst possible scenario, because we bring in all the downsides of an elected sheriff with none of the upsides -- they don't work on any of the things where being elected would add accountability. Hiring standards are low, they're based on political usefulness, and there's no downside to the sheriff because who gives a shit about a prisoner being abused. It's possible that elected local police chiefs might improve things in a way that doesn't extrapolate from the way elected sheriffs work.
asdff 6y ago
It also doesn't help that the electorate that votes in local sherriff races is a biased sampling. Heavily skewed toward older white homeowners which exist in a minority in every city, but nonetheless dictate local politics because they are the only people who vote in these races.

by quinoa 6y ago

free_rms 6y ago

To add on a third issue, also anecdotally, there's the nature of duties that the typical county sheriff finds themselves with. They're not local police, they're not state police or FBI, their primary job often winds up being running corrections. Secondary job is detail work on county property. Actual job is often being a patronage network for their boss, the sheriff, help him get re-elected and keep your job. It's actually the worst possible scenario, because we bring in all the downsides of an elected sheriff with none of the upsides -- they don't work on any of the things where being elected would add accountability. Hiring standards are low, they're based on political usefulness, and there's no downside to the sheriff because who gives a shit about a prisoner being abused. It's possible that elected local police chiefs might improve things in a way that doesn't extrapolate from the way elected sheriffs work.

asdff 6y ago

It also doesn't help that the electorate that votes in local sherriff races is a biased sampling. Heavily skewed toward older white homeowners which exist in a minority in every city, but nonetheless dictate local politics because they are the only people who vote in these races.