Allegations Against Sheriff Continue To Surface
November 24th, 2007 | by christine |If you recall, I wrote a little about the Sheriff earlier this year; here and here. I never got anywhere with my inquiries into what’s going on in that department, because I couldn’t get any info from anyone. But the Sheriff’s recent complaints about his $3,000 raise seems to have been the last straw.
It all started when the County Commissioners started handing out raises like candy. (From the bend over & grab your ankles department: Did you know they had to dip into county savings to give out the raises? More on that move later) In the end, the Sheriff didn’t get the raise he expected. From his letter to the Argus:
I was dissatisfied with comparables used (by Commissioners) and inconsistencies. It was my understanding that other elected officials were getting a $5,000 wage increase that amounted to 11 percent. All elected officials had only received a total of 1 percent increase since 2002. The (combined) 12 percent kept other elected officials in parity with their employees.
The increase would be a total of 12 percent for the sheriff ’s salary for a seven-year period while all the other Sheriff’s Department personnel received 3 percent per year for a total of 21 percent.
(Other Sheriff’s Dept personnel don’t get unlimited use of county vehicles and gas cards, or an overly generous retirement benefit that makes you wonder who’s doin’ who to get that benefit. But I digress.)
Incidentally, the Sheriff misrepresents how much of a raise the employees received. I wrote about the negotiations at the time;
3 personal days, 0% raise in 2006 1.5% raise in 2007 2% raise in 2008 Shiawassee County non-rep employees also received 3 personal days, 0% raise for 2006.
However, after Margaret McAvoy’s power grab, all non-reps were awarded a 3% raise for 2006. Since 1 day = 1%, and the non-reps have already been awarded 3 days, the non-reps effectively received a 6% raise for 2006.
So back to the Sheriff.
Folks didn’t take to kindly to Sheriff Wilson complaining about his raise. In what has easily become our most active topic on the Shiawassee Forums, people are finally speaking out about what goes on in that department.
Among the allegations:
- Wilson told the media that the explosion on Copas Rd was caused by a meth lab. As there was no evidence for this, a Deputy on-site questioned Wilson’s claim. Wilson got physical with him and put him in a choke-hold.
- Wilson assaulted a Deputy at the Department. The Deputy subsequently complained of a hostile work environment to Margaret McAvoy, and filed a police complaint with Michigan State Police Detective Lt Mark Pendergraff. The MSP in Lansing squashed the criminal investigation.
- Wilson was caught shooting small game at the side of the road, using county vehicles and county weapons. The local DNR official who caught him wanted to prosecute. The criminal complaint was squashed.
That’s just a taste. You can read all 31 pages of this topic here.
For the record, there has been no evidence that any of the 437 posts have been submitted from Shiawassee County government computers, or from Sheriff Dept personnel.
So if the Sheriff starts investigating the forum in order to determine the identities of the participants, he’d be investigating what non-department personnel are doing from non-department computers. Welcome to Shiawassee County, folks.
By the way, if the Sheriff has the resources to investigate the forum, don’t you think he’d also have the resources to investigate the murder of Rachel Scott?
Just sayin’
6 Responses to “Allegations Against Sheriff Continue To Surface”
By JJ on Dec 7, 2007 | Reply
I have a question regarding a shiawassee county sheriff’s department. Earlier this year I had to call the police because some drunk girl and a car load of guys were banging on my front door at 7 in the morning starting a fight with my mom. I called the cops and when they got to my driveway the girl goes running out to the police car and starts making jokes with the officer. Then the cops come to the door asking me if I went to her party last night and stole her keg. I am outraged that these corrupt officers did not do their job when I called to have these people arrested. Who do I go to next to have this investigated further? Earlier this year I called 911 because people have been spreading rumors and slandering my good name and the lady on the phone told me there was no crime, and hung up on me. When I called back her partner jumps on and starts freaking out saying he will have me arrested if I call there again. No cops showed up. This is major corruption on the police force and needs to come to a stop.
By my2cents on Dec 9, 2007 | Reply
First of all calling 911 for someone allegedly slandering your name is in itself not right. 911 is for emergency situations. Your complaint would be best handled with an attorney if this in fact was happening. It is not a crime the police would handle it would be a civil action. Additionally, if the dispatchers stated it wasn’t a crime this certainly does not mean the men and women of the Department are corrupt. The sheriff might be but that is another story. Please in the future use 911 for emergencies only.
By veryhonestperson on Dec 15, 2007 | Reply
So let’s spread a bunch of hurtful rumors about you and your family for 10 years and see what you think. I bet you go running to your mommy and daddy for help and do the same exact thing. 911 is not only for emergencies, it is for any time there is a crime being committed. Remember little crimes lead to big crimes and those little crimes that officers neglect are what makes this an un safe society. I had some psycho lady trying to damage my house and threaten my son and I and your telling me that the cops not doing nothing about it isn’t wrong? That is harrassment, verbal assault and destruction of property when she was kicking and punching my door. Learn to read your law books before you comment please. If you don’t like what your are hearing then just remove my comment from your site. I was just trying to tell the truth. You are obviously a corrupt person yourself or you might see what is wrong in this scenario. Thank You.
By christine on Dec 15, 2007 | Reply
@veryhonestperson - I am not the one who responded to you, and I don’t remove comments from my site based on whether or not I like them.
I’d have answered your original comment, but I was in the middle of a fund-raiser and didn’t have a lot of time. Additionally, I honestly don’t know the answer. However I don’t think that slander is a crime; I think you have to get an attorney for that because it’s a civil matter. I think you could press criminal charges for libel though.
As for dealing with the person who was harassing you, you could try a different department. Maybe the MSP, or the local department where you live, if you have one.
By my2cents on Dec 15, 2007 | Reply
to:veryhonestperson,
It was I who posted that 911 was for emergencies, and I was referring to this statement you made:
“Earlier this year I called 911 because people have been spreading rumors and slandering my good name and the lady on the phone told me there was no crime”
All I was trying to say that if this is what is happening it would not be a police emergency matter. This situation would be handled by a lawyer. I do know that 911 gets overrun with non emergency calls. The Sheriff’s Department’s phone number for non emergency calls is 989-743-3411.
That is not to say that if someone was banging on your door,drunk and out of control you shouldn’t call 911 I would have done the same if I fealt threanened. I appologize if you took me the wrong way.
By veryhonestperson on Dec 18, 2007 | Reply
Ok Thanks for nothing