Posted on 03/13/2002 11:35:58 AM PST by Rebelbase
I wish to inform your many readers in Davidson County and shout a loud warning about Sheriff Hege. I was a deputy in Davidson County from 1995 until 1998, and I saw many things that should upset everyone in Davidson County. It should also gain the notice of everyone in our great country. I am not speaking of the horrors of my job, I am speaking of how Hege has abused the office of sheriff. Everyone should take notice of how one man can upset so much if the wrong man is put in a powerful position.
To a law-enforcement officer, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are held in the highest regard. This is what has made our country so great. This is what so many of our military men and women have died for.
Hege has no regard for our Constitution, he plays by his own rules. Yes, he is the high sheriff, but he is bound by the law in his duties. Ask yourself, what would happen if you were caught driving 140 mph? What would happen to you if you fired a warning shot in a city? What if you bought motorcycles with your company's money, without permission? Is Hege above the law? No! No more than you.
I have seen how he has paper-whipped the crime rate. In one interview, he claimed a 78 percent reduction in crime. If this is true, why has there been an increase in the number of deputies, more assistant DAs working for the district attorney, a new jail built and it is still overcrowded, just as many on the court dockets and a budget that has doubled from $5 million to nearly $11 million? (This is why your taxes have increased.)
How is the crime rate reduced? Here are some examples: Mailbox damage and gas drive-offs are not reported to Raleigh but on internal departmental forms. Rapes are reported to Raleigh as sexual assaults. Felony breaking and entering and larceny are reported as misdemeanor property damage and misdemeanor larceny.
How can a sheriff not know that his closest deputies were dealing millions of dollars of drugs? Some of the drugs were mailed directly to the courthouse. How can a sheriff not know that his top two jailers were embezzling drugs from the jail? If Hege was not involved, he is by far the least intelligent sheriff this state has ever known or he looked the other way.
Hege has even shown total disregard for the Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure). Just ask Sharon Shearin. All of her property was seized by Hege three years ago and has yet to be returned, even after the DA released it and a judge ordered it to be returned.
Hege has the highest turnover of deputies in the state. He cannot get seasoned officers, just rookies. These things are merely a scratch on the tip of the iceberg. But, the worst is the policies that he has implemented, one of which was a contributing factor in the death of Deputy Todd Cook two years ago.
I cannot shout a loud enough warning about Hege. Please look closely at him and his leadership.
Example: One night a 16 year old kid and a friend were travelling across Davidson County on the way home after picking up a new (used) vehicle the driver had just bought. A deputy pulled the kid for some minor offense and found the temporary tag to have an error on it. The kid had the sales receipt to prove it was his car but the deputy would have nothing to do with it and had the vehicle impounded T and left the kids stranded alone along a rural stretch of two lane road, literally about 10 miles from nowhere and 40 miles from the kid's home.
The next day the kid's father drove to Davidson County and retrieved the vehicle. The news stations became involved, a public apology was asked for and Hege reviewed the situation. Hege's response was that he saw nothing wrong the deputies actions.
I can attest to the fact that the NC state patrol will chase you down. They don't like it when you run either!! If this sheriff was doing this, I know I wouldn't vote for him. What's his opposition look like?
..........
Hege has an obsession with Buford Pusser.
Oh yes, they WILL chase you.
You ain't gonna outrun that radio either, boy!
Buford... I mean Gerald Hege PING!
Or Lester Maddox...
I'm surprised I haven't seen any "Hege-mony" jokes so far.
My guess, better heads, better exhasuprobably 30 pd fuel injectors, and a 100 HP supercharger, that's about it
I can attest to the fact that A LOT of cops are A$$Holes. I was a cop's kid for 32 years. My dad wasn't that bad but some of the guys....YIKES.....a BIG power thing goin on there. Some of them really get off on it and abuse it.
MKM
MKM
This is all that needs to be said. If the people didn't like him, they wouldn't vote for him.
Could this be Jesse Ventura's political epithaph? :^)
Hege's too much of a showboat for my taste. B.J. Barnes and Sam Page manage to serve as GOP sheriffs without such a need to preen for the cameras.
BTW, ever see the Neely Chronicle, Reidsville's satirical newspaper? Whenever the guy writes about Page he calls him "Sheriff Eddie Munster". Page is always smiling heartily for the camera :-)
The publisher/editor/reporter of the Chronicle, Richard Moore, is running for County Commissioner here... he tried two years ago as a Republican, now he's doing it as a Libertarian.
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