SHERIFF FAILS CITIZENS

Editor: A great Texan once said, "Why must those who are in the wrong
always bury a 10-cent topic in $10 words?" When you slice through all of
the heated rhetoric surrounding Sheriff Gerald Hege, you finally come to
the unalterable conclusion that he has failed the citizens of our county.

I, like most of you, was originally impressed with his "no-nonsense"
tactics. The idea of using inmates to clean up our streets and taking away
some of the luxuries of the jail that we all paid for was a welcome change.
Had it stopped there, Sheriff Hege would be getting my vote in the next
election. But, it didn't stop there.

Next came the dark-tinted windows and the commando outerwear, followed by
the juiced-up cars and the hostage rescue command center. Then there were
the television commercials and the endorsements and the superimposed
pictures of Sheriff Hege's head on fake money.

It was like a bad script for "Buford Pusser's Revenge" and Gerald Hege was
in the starring role. All of this, while an extravagant waste of money, was
still not enough to cost the sheriff his job.

When it comes right down to it, the role of the sheriff is to protect the
citizens under his care. In this role, Sheriff Hege has failed miserably.
According to statistics from the State Bureau of Investigation, only two
crime categories to see a major drop were auto thefts and aggravated
assaults. If you take those two items out of the equation, the violent
crime rate actually increased in 2000 under Hege's watch. At the same time,
the crime rate in the city of Lexington dropped. Violent crimes dropped by
17.5 percent and property crimes dropped by 4.2 percent.

There are no command bunkers decorated with army green in the Lexington
police headquarters. There are no officers dressed in military fatigues and
no comic book cars to ride in. The police chief and his fine officers are
too busy fighting crime to star in commercials or to toot their own horn in
the form of a television show.

Now we are faced with the results of the sheriff's lack of vigilance and
oversight. Officers have been indicted for trafficking narcotics and
profiting from their positions. Now it appears that 65 state criminal cases
will be dropped. Many federal cases may be affected as well. Imagine the
consequences of these felons remaining on the street. They will still be
selling drugs to our children, breaking into our homes and stealing our
possessions. These felons are on the street because Sheriff Hege didn't do
his job.

These are the facts, my fellow citizens, and I ask you to examine them
closely between now and the next election or to sign a recall petition when
it comes to you. Put aside your political persuasions and your romantic
notions of a no-nonsense county sheriff superhero and think of what would
happen to you in your job if you failed to accomplish your job
responsibilities. You would be fired and so would I. Why should the most
important county law enforcement officer be held to a lower standard?

Finally, I would like to address those who have written in support of the
sheriff and have used every $10 word in the book to justify his actions.
One called us all "whiners." Another invited us to go join our "friends in
Afghanistan." Greg Cannon even went so far as to question our personal
integrity, patriotism and love of country.

Well Mr. Cannon, take it from a man who used to organize motorcades for the
Secret Service and whose grandfather received a Purple Heart in World War
II, your personal attacks can't withstand the light of the truth. The
bottom line is this: Sheriff Hege needs to be in the private sector where
the Walter Mitty of Southern law enforcement can do no more harm. The only
way is for all of us to use the power of the polls to put him there.

Will Westmoreland

Lexington