Not this kind of Posse!
Recently the police chief of Gilberton Pennsylvania went very rogue. I had to qualify that statement because it’s been a long time since this Mark Kessler hasn’t been at least a little bit rogue. But July 31st he issued this statement on facebook to his militia.
“I will not sit idle while tyrants attack the constitution… If they want to fire the first shot let it begin right her in Schylkill county… every csf (Constitution Security Force) who can attend please do so… come with your flags and your guns.”
100 people heeded the call, many of them armed. They gathered outside of the borough hall while State Police helicopters flew overhead. And some of them patrolled the area, providing “security”.
Since when do chiefs of police have their own private militias? Who does that? Ask Sheriff Joe Arpaio, out in Maricopa County Arizona. He’s 80, he’s cranky and he has a small army.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Cantankerousness Personified
In January, Sheriff Joe mustered up about 400 folks for an armed posse to help patrol the streets of Maricopa, with another 100 reserves. Each of them received 100 hours of firearms training. There was no mention of legal training.
You may remember Sheriff Joe from a bunch of Justice Department probes into his steely reign over the county. He has a habit of housing prisoners in a tent city. He also has a reputation for beating and killing inmates in his custody. He also used a tank and pseudo lawman Steven Seagal to bust a cock fight. “Animal abuse is kind of a pet peeve of mine,” said Seagal.
So Posses are a thing again. I’m not talking about the early 90’s when posses were cool, either. I’m talking about good ole fashioned kind. Armed, deputized and roaming the streets. In the movies, they were the other guys who chased the bad guys out of town. The ones who got shot first. The ones who bonked their heads on tree branches. In real life, they will probably be the ones who shoot first.
It takes a special kind of person to volunteer to carry a gun and look for wrongdoers. The one who shall not be named comes to mind. (Rhymes with Slimmerman).
In neither Kessler’s nor Arpaio’s case is there mention of an increased threat, to justify the need for these private armies. Arpaio cited the school shooting in Connecticut, but that seems pretty flimsy. And although it explains the armed citizens that he deployed at the county’s schools, it doesn’t explain why they are hitting the streets. In case you were wondering, the crime rates in Sheriff Joe’s county have been on the rise for the past two years. Here’s a link to an article about him in the Daily Kos.
This country has a long heritage of citizen lawmen, going way back to 1704, when South Carolina deputized slave patrols to enforce the slave codes and capture runaways. In a lot of cases, the vigilantes ended their nights like this. So ask yourself, is your town ready for a posse?
Check out these articles about the future of law enforcement.