Utah Sheriffs Executive Board Castrated By Cop Haters

Utah Sheriffs Executive Board Castrated By Cop Haters
By David A. Clarke Jr., Sheriff (Ret.)

There is a reason that the thin blue line is a symbol for law enforcement. It represents the separation of good versus evil and it is the American police officer who stands in between those two forces to protect the good and fight the evil. The line is thin because there aren’t many of us. It is why we need to have each other’s backs when under attack. Street cops understand this better than anybody.

This profession has been under constant attack ever since Officer Darren Wilson was assaulted by a career criminal named Mike Brown who tried to disarm the officer. This local incident went viral and became the symbol for cop haters all across America under the lie of Hands Up, Don’t Shoot. From that incident forward, this profession that I had been a part of for nearly 40 years has been smeared, lied about, wrongly indicted, suffered deadly ambush attacks, spit on and had rocks and urine filled balloons thrown at them during riots. Calls began from these miscreants to abolish police and defund them. I waited impatiently for someone in a law enforcement executive position to defend the men and women who go out every day to do the best they can under sometimes impossible conditions to serve and protect their community. When no law enforcement executive stepped up, I decided to. I knew the perils associated with pushing back against this evil force but I had to. I put my own safety and well being aside because I as the top cop in Milwaukee County, sent front line deputies into harm’s way every day on a tour of duty. I wanted them to know that if they got into a situation that went to crap through no fault of their own, I would have their back publicly and politically. I don’t expect perfection from them. I do, however, expect excellence.

Sadly, I didn’t get much help from my fellow police chiefs or sheriffs. I was a man alone but I didn’t care. I found myself in the crosshairs of the cop haters from groups like Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and other nefarious groups using liberal media outlets as the vehicle to attack me. I didn’t flinch.

Ever since I retired, I have stayed with my mission to defend the courage, sacrifice, integrity, professionalism and the commitment of the men and women in uniform serving their communities. I travel all across their great country speaking to front-line law enforcement groups trying to strengthen their resolve and commitment at a time when people are leaving the profession in record numbers. I see a beleaguered bunch from department to department. I could feel it. I reminded them that but for them, their communities would disintegrate into chaos. Just look at the rising crime, violence and disorder that has a stranglehold on many cities and towns. What many officers tell me is that they don’t have the support of their law enforcement executives. My support for them has been full-throated, unambiguous and unapologetic. Officers know it and thank me for it. I am proud to do it.

The attacks against me continue to this day. Several incidents, however, cause me to call out the betrayal, the cowardice and caving to the very entities that hate us. You cannot appease Black Lives Matter, the NAACP or Antifa. When you give in to them, they demand more. I saw this happen as some law enforcement executives either sat silent or absorbed the unwarranted criticism of police agencies. I saw a picture of a police chief of a California police department marching in a protest holding a sign that read Black Lives Matter. I was disgusted. Abject pandering. Many others got on board in calls for police reform that weaken officers’ ability to effectively perform their duties and keep them safe.

That brings me to the title of this piece. I want to make it clear that I am not accusing every member in the Utah Sheriff’s Association of what I am about to say. I was invited as the keynote speaker to address the Utah Sheriffs Association conference in St. George, Utah. We had a signed contract. The local newspaper took notice and started fanning the flames to have me canceled. I know how this works. A local liberal media outlet contacts a cop-hating group and uses them as a catalyst to start a firestorm by asking them if they have a comment on my attending the conference to speak. The Salt Lake City Tribune then wrote a column blasting the Sheriff’s Association for inviting me. They called me controversial and divisive. It’s all boilerplate language used by the leftist media whenever they write about me. They bring up that I refer to BLM as Black LIES Matter and that I call them a hate group. The news story said that in 2015, I called the NAACP nothing more than a political propaganda entity for the left. All of that is true. I have said that and believe that to be the case to this day. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. The news article pointed out that the NAACP state chapter in Utah President Jeanette Williams told the reporter that she “spoke with the sheriff’s association by phone and sent emails to them saying that bringing in David Clarke was the wrong thing to do”. She said she, “was able to have Clarke’s appearance canceled.” Williams told the reporter that she, “was worried that having a speaker promote views like those held by Clarke to Utah’s law enforcement would damage the collaborative environment she has worked to create to foster better policing in Utah.” Williams said she was appreciative that the sheriffs listened to her concerns. Funny that Williams won’t listen to any of my views. The Utah Sheriff’s Association made a deal with the devil. But they didn’t listen to their membership.

Let me stop there for a minute. The Utah state chapter of the NAACP? Seriously, let’s do some math here. Utah has a black population of 1.2% out of a total population of nearly 3.3 million people. Even the Asian population is higher and stands at 2.3%. Why is there even a need for the NAACP to have a state chapter in Utah? What do they do? Here are some interesting points about the NAACP. They support abortion knowing that abortion kills more black babies than any other demographic. They oppose school choice even though it is black kids who are trapped in failing K-12 public schools ruining any chance at success in life. They also support defunding police efforts, which would harm black communities who need policing the most. The NAACP opposes voter ID laws. Black people when polled support voter ID by about 70%. The NAACP is disconnected from Black America. Everything they support is on the Democratic Party agenda. It is why I call the NAACP the propaganda wing of the liberal policy agenda. They are sell-outs. And they claim that former Sheriff David Clarke’s appearance to address the law enforcement officers and executives would be harmful? Really?

The news story goes on the say that neither Cache County Sheriff Chad Jensen, president of the association, nor its executive director Scott Burns, responded to a request for comment. Cowards. The people of Utah and their law enforcement officers deserve to know why they caved, why they folded like a cheap suit, why they didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to stand their ground against the cop-hating NAACP. With an opportunity to demonstrate leadership to the rank and file law enforcement officers, they genuflected and prostrated themselves to the demands of a cop-hating group. Disgraceful. Total capitulation. How can the executive board of the Utah Sheriff’s Association say that they support the Constitution’s First Amendment free speech aspect by not allowing someone with an opposing view contrary to the Salt Lake City Tribune newspaper writer or the head of the state NAACP to come speak? Opposing views matter. Opposing views are healthy in a constitutional democracy and should be welcome in a free society such a ours. It is important for me to point out that not all members of the association agree with the decision of their executive board. I received an email from one of the members who wrote, “Many of us attending this conference are thoroughly disgusted with the decision to cancel your appearance. Many of us do not support this decision, one that cancels free speech which is never appropriate and should never be tolerated, but especially because it is based solely on a disapproval of views. We are embarrassed about how you have been treated and wish you the best of luck. God help us if this is to be the future of this country”.

Now that is how you have someone’s back, especially a fellow law enforcement colleague. I feel bad for the officers still serving with this lack of leadership. Let me be clear that I will never stop on my mission to help law enforcement officers. I will use whatever platforms I have to accomplish this. I easily could have moved on and enjoyed my retirement, but I cannot leave those still serving behind to endure the nonstop cop bashing.

Memo to the president and executive director and of the Utah Sheriff’s Association: You didn’t have my back when you should have. Like the email I received from one of your members said: You should be ashamed. I’ll add, how do you sleep at night? Your front-line officers needed you to stare down the NAACP. You blinked instead.

Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of Americas Sheriff LLC, President of Rise Up Wisconsin INC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com