Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr.
Posted on 01/28/2013 8:17:32 AM PST by servo1969
A sheriff who urged Milwaukee-area residents in a radio ad to learn to handle firearms so they can defend themselves is dismissing pointed criticism from the city's mayor -- calling the mayor's response "weak" and telling Fox News "my job is to protect the public."
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. stirred controversy after releasing a 30-second radio ad saying budget cuts have hurt officers' ability to respond.
"With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option," he said in the ad. "You can beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide under the bed, or you can fight back. ... Consider taking a certified safety course in handling a firearm so you can defend yourself until we get there."
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett lashed out at the ad. His office said in a statement: "Apparently Sheriff David Clarke is auditioning for the next Dirty Harry movie."
Clarke, in an interview Monday with Fox News, brushed off the criticism.
"Personally I've never seen the Dirty Harry movie -- but if that's all the mayor can come up with, that's pretty weak," he said. "I think that what's going on in the city of Milwaukee on his watch is kind of, you know -- it looks like he doesn't have much to say, he doesn't have much to offer and that's okay.
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The ad has generated sharp criticism from other area officials and anti-violence advocates. The president of the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs' Association, Roy Felber, said it sounds like a call to vigilantism.
"That doesn't sound too smart," Felber said. "People have the right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to take the law into their own hands."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Felber said. "People have the right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to take the law into their own hands."
Use of force in self defense IS taking the law into your own hands.
Felber is an idiot.
Good for Sheriff Clarke!
Would the mayor discourage citizens from learning first aid and CPR and using that training to save lives while they wait for the ambulance to arrive? My brother’s life was saved by his wife performing CPR while she waited for the paramedics.
Would he tell citizens not to buy and learn how to use fire extinguishers and tell them to always just wait for the firefighters to arrive, rather than trying to put out a small fire before it spreads?
We live in a large metro Atlanta area suburb county (Gwinnett). Our Sheriff issued a very similar public notice, and also keeps it posted on his department’s website. His note was published in all caps.
“I ENCOURAGE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS TO ACQUIRE AND MAINTAIN THE SKILLS TO SAFELY CARRY A FIREARM IN ORDER TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AND OTHERS.
SADLY, OUR SOCIETY CONTAINS THOSE THAT WILL HARM OTHERS WHEN GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY. AN ARMED CITIZEN CERTAINLY PRESENTS MUCH LESS OPPORTUNITY TO THOSE THAT WOULD DO THEM HARM.”
God Bless Sheriff Butch Conway!
I'm not sure if this is a Red Herring or a Strawman; it certainly is a deliberate smear. There's nothing in the spot that can be interpreted as advocating vigilante behavior.
Just who does the law belong to and who's hands is the law in? If the people who "control" the law don't do anything with it then .....????
Sheriff Clarke is a non-nonsense guy who should be admired not only for his leadership but for having the guts to say what may not be politically correct. Too many polticians cower under that fear. Go get ‘em Sheriff!
Now that is my kind of Sheriff especially riding into town on a horse =). Go Sheriff Clark!!
Felber said. “People have the right to defend themselves, but they don’t have the right to take the law into their own hands.”
Use of force in self defense IS taking the law into your own hands.
Felber is an idiot.
Use of force in self defense is one of the times you as a citizen are totally justified IN taking the law into your own hands. Because the right to self defense is NATURAL LAW.
It would be like saying that tryibng to stop a rape would be “taking the law into your hands”, or stopping a house fire when it is just a small greese fire is “taking the duties of the firemen into your own hand”. Or that taking your vitamins is “taking the care of your health into your own hands”.
Now that is my kind of Sheriff especially riding into town on a horse =). Go Sheriff Clark!!
I have a suggest for the mayor he should totally call the sheriff rasist....
Idiot mayor would probably do that...
Funny how being a person of colour garners no protection whatsoever if you are a conservative...
Calling 911 was never the best option in a sudden life or death, criminal incident.
He's just looking for more tax dollars, attempting to get the people who are already taxed to death, to pay more taxes.
Enough!
" Just who does the law belong to and who's hands is the law in? If the people who "control" the law don't do anything with it then .....???? "
Exactly. In a country where the government is "of, by, and for" the people, and the people themselves were the militarized militia to defend the Constitution and it's principles, whose hands are the law in? The British?
People came to this country to escape class systems where we had to bow and scrape before lords or "blue bloods" as my European relatives would call them. But we have new lords and blue bloods to bow to.
I no longer have a right to own firearms because years ago a robber thought he'd try to steal a bank deposit bag from a middle aged man who first darkened a dojo door in 1976. Because his robbery was unsuccessful, they called him innocent and a victim of my "felonious assault". We no longer have a justice system, we have a liberal industry, like all liberal industries it requires a steady flow of victims to operate, and if you refuse to be a victim, they will make you a criminal.
Translation: When seconds count, the police are minutes away.
Have Sheriff David Clarke testify before Congress on any gun laws.
The Sheriff hasn’t seen Dirty Harry? He really needs to, and he would likely enjoy the heck out of it.
Andrew Robinson, the villain, did a superb job as somebody just about everyone could despise. He even got death threats and had to change his phone number. Now that’s the sign of a top notch villain. Ironically, he is a dedicated pacifist, flinched terribly when firing a gun, and felt very bad about scenes where he was abusive and racist.
The director originally wanted the role of Scorpio to go to real war hero Audie Murphy, just for the irony, but Murphy died in a plane crash before he could decide. Eastwood selected Robinson after seeing him in a play.
A police department in the Philippines ordered a copy of the movie as a training film.
Agreed - wholeheartedly!
The president of the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs' Association, Roy Felber, said it sounds like a call to vigilantism.
"That doesn't sound too smart," Felber said. "People have the right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to take the law into their own hands."
Forgive my simplistic thoughts here, but just when did we give up the Right to take the law into our own hands? We, the People, assign part of that Right to our Sheriff and Law Enforcement Community - but never gave it all over. Indeed the Courts routinely hold that there is no expectation that you are due any specific duty to protect absent a ruling from a court, and even then it is usually set as a general duty, not specific.
If there is no assistance to defend at the time needed, then you are within your Rights to defend yourself by any means including excessive force. That is not "taking" the law, it is KEEPING the law in your hands! JMHO
I beg to differ; what part of "shall not be infringed" do you fail to understand? If you're not incarcerated, you retain that right. If you can't be trusted with a weapon, you (the editorial "you", not personal) shouldn't be running around loose!
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