i'm glad someone said this. from what i've seen - tho it's been a while and i never looked as close as you have - many sheriffs doing the "constitutional sheriff" bit don't seem connected to CSPOA at all.
My current science fantasy western with romantic elements trilogy-in-progress features a corrupt sheriff in the first book. Yeah. Seen it, and the problem of sheriffs goes way, way back.
Looking forward to checking out your book. I'm reminded of Jim Thompson's Population 1280, a 1964 novel about a corrupt smalltime sheriff:
"I throw a big barbecue every night the last month before election. Come one, come all. I got to buy presents when folks have a baby, and I got to-"
"Nick! Nick, listen to me!" Robert Lee held up his hand. "You don't have to do all those things. People have no right to expect them of you."
"Maybe they don't have a right," I said. "I'll go along with that. But they got a right to expect, and what they do expect ain't exactly the same thing."
"Just do your job, Nick. Do it well. Show people you're honest and courageous and hard-working, and you won't have to do anything else."
I shook my head, and said I couldn't. "I just plain can't, Robert Lee, and that's a fact."
"No?" He leaned back in his chair. "And just why can't you, pray tell?"
"For a couple reasons," I said. "For one thing, I ain't real brave and hard-workin' and honest. For another, the voters don't want me to be."
"And just how do you figure that?"
"The elected me, didn't they? They keep electing me."
i'm glad someone said this. from what i've seen - tho it's been a while and i never looked as close as you have - many sheriffs doing the "constitutional sheriff" bit don't seem connected to CSPOA at all.
My current science fantasy western with romantic elements trilogy-in-progress features a corrupt sheriff in the first book. Yeah. Seen it, and the problem of sheriffs goes way, way back.
Looking forward to checking out your book. I'm reminded of Jim Thompson's Population 1280, a 1964 novel about a corrupt smalltime sheriff:
"I throw a big barbecue every night the last month before election. Come one, come all. I got to buy presents when folks have a baby, and I got to-"
"Nick! Nick, listen to me!" Robert Lee held up his hand. "You don't have to do all those things. People have no right to expect them of you."
"Maybe they don't have a right," I said. "I'll go along with that. But they got a right to expect, and what they do expect ain't exactly the same thing."
"Just do your job, Nick. Do it well. Show people you're honest and courageous and hard-working, and you won't have to do anything else."
I shook my head, and said I couldn't. "I just plain can't, Robert Lee, and that's a fact."
"No?" He leaned back in his chair. "And just why can't you, pray tell?"
"For a couple reasons," I said. "For one thing, I ain't real brave and hard-workin' and honest. For another, the voters don't want me to be."
"And just how do you figure that?"
"The elected me, didn't they? They keep electing me."
Philadelphia’s (where I reside) sheriff’s office is a corrupt mess. I don’t understand why it exists.