More on the petty tyrant

I don't have a lot of time for commentary now, since I've got to get to work, but this story is a follow-up to the story I noted yesterday, of Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke's retalliation against a deputy for criticizing him in a union newsletter.

In the story, Clarke admits--in a classic "non-denial denial"--that he reassigned the deputy as a punishment, and that he'll do it again if someone else doesn't have the good sense to shut up:

Asked if he had retaliated against [Deputy] Schuh, Clarke said the courts would decide that, but he made clear that deputies who speak out should not expect valentines from him.

"One cannot expect, internally, that if they make some criticism against the sheriff that they will never be reassigned, that they will be immune from accountability," Clarke said. [. . .]

Clarke said questions about how it was decided to put Schuh on the new patrol were reasonable but were an internal matter he would not discuss. It would be a "waste of time" to spend time thinking about that now, Clarke told reporters.

While the article makes a big deal out Schuh's supporters' worrying over the danger he'd be in patrolling that particuilar neighborhood, I would like to point out that that was not my criticism at all. I know--in part because of where I work--that violence in these neighborhoods tends to be neither random nor anti-authority. The criticism I levied was at the absurd notion that a single (older, white) deputy going door-to-door in the neighborhood; this is a waste of resources. The "small army of reporters" who followed Schuh on his first day confirmed this:

By about 1 p.m., [Schuh] had accumulated a stack of cards nearly an inch thick, each representing one home or business. Only one person had a complaint and most weren't home, said Schuh, who refused to express his opinion of his new assignment. On Monday, he had called the new post a punishment.

He stopped at a gas station for a bottle of water--paid for with his own money, he said--and noted that his legs weren't yet feeling sore. He said rain gear was too cumbersome to lug around, so as a light drizzle fell, water began to soak into his uniform.

Most residents of the area didn't say much to Schuh, talking to him briefly and through screen doors.

This is your Sheriff's "comprehensive strategy to restore order."

My favorite part of the article, though, was Clarke's self-aggrandizement. Under the bold heading of "Hands-on Sheriff," we get this (note the droll last line):

Clarke took pains to counter any notion that he is sheltered from harm, recounting in detail his response to a fight near N. 34th and W. Cherry streets. After appearing at a Christmas event near there in 2003, a citizen flagged him down, and Clarke soon after apprehended a man with a butcher knife, Clarke said Tuesday. Shots were fired by another man. "I think to scare me off," Clarke said.

Clarke added Tuesday: "In an act of selflessness, I put the community's safety first and I expect the people in this organization to do the same."

He added: "Where was my backup?"

A department news release issued at the time said Clarke pursued the man in a car and was assisted by a sheriff's deputy in making the arrest.

I do so enjoy it when a reporter gets the tone just right. Clarke is not just a petty tyrant, but he must think he's Superman, too. Dangerous combination, that.