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- Oxford Eagle,EDITORIAL PAGE
- Wednesday, September 24, 1997
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- Why does Sheriff Lamar
suddenly
want the support of Yoknapatawpha County?
And how far is he willing to go to get it?
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- Sheriff Chuck Lamar has waged a one-man war on
crime in Yoknapatawpha County in the last few weeks,
but some citizens wonder exactly what his motives have
been.
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- Lamar, who is up for re-election this fall, has
been notorious in the last few years for his
inactivity when it comes to both stopping and solving
Yoknapatawpha County crimes. Yet in an election year,
and more specifically very recently, the sheriff seems
bent on pursing every lead that crosses his desk,
whether justified or not. He seems bent on writing
tickets to anyone for the smallest traffic infraction
-- Mrs. Norton Delmar explained to us that she was
ticketed three times on last Saturday afternoon for a
broken turn signal, after stating to the ticketing
deputy (who was accompanied by the sheriff during two
of the citations) that her husband was out of town
until Monday and she would have him fix it then. And
the sheriff seems to take particular delight in
harassing college kids right now, leveling twenty or
more noise violations each weekend for the last two
weekends, and picking up students for public drunk who
are simply walking home from the bar minding their own
business.
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- Lamar's recent roadblocks on Highways 6, 7, and
Old Highway 7 North, sometimes lasting all day and
night; his incessant patrolling of county suburbs,
sometimes staying in the same immediate area for
hours; and his raids on unsuspecting college students
which have so far produced little if any criminal
activity all were reasons cited by angry citizens who
called our office this week to complain about the
sheriff's increasingly bizarre behavior.
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- Although the sheriff appears to be doing his sworn
duty now, one citizen argued that it took the escape
of suspected murderer Edward Pierce and accused rapist
Anthony Phelps, who are believed to have killed a
County Sheriff's Deputy and put another in a coma
during their escape, and the death of Phelps in a
motel room across the Louisiana state line, to get
Lamar to step up to the plate. At this moment the
sheriff's daughter, Macy Lamar, is missing and feared
abducted. Some officials believe she is in the
clutches of Pierce, the suspected murderer of Purity
Knight.
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- All of this, combined with the fact that the
sheriff faces what could be called his first real
competition for the job, from prosecuting attorney
Harold Mazza, lead many, including this newspaper, to
believe that the county on the whole would be better
served if Sheriff Chuck Lamar would simply step down
and hand his post over to someone who can concentrate
on his duties without letting his personal life cloud
his work and vice versa. Police officers, judges, and
deputies regularly excuse themselves from certain
cases if there is any inkling of personal involvement
with a victim or criminal. Sheriff Lamar, though,
seems to relish the thought of going after his
daughter's kidnapper. Sources close to the department
tell us that Sheriff Lamar neither sleeps nor eats for
as long as three days on some occasions, and has taken
to carrying an additional pistol and a Bowie hunting
knife attached to his belt. Several arrests have been
thrown out of county court in the recent weeks due to
either lack of evidence or contradictory statements on
behalf of the sheriff both at the time of the arrest
and during court. It almost appears that the sheriff
no longer knows what is going on in his own county,
and within his own department.
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- This newspaper will be the first to agree that
what this county needs is a law-and-order sheriff, but
we will not, nor should we have to, condone such
outlandish behavior in the name of justice. The FBI
should be the first and only agency to work the Macy
Lamar kidnapping, since they have both the
jurisdiction, if the child has crossed state lines,
and the experience of having recovered dozens of
kidnapped children and teens every year.
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- Step down, Sherifff Lamar, and let someone else
take over these investigations and bring Yoknapatawpha
County back to a law-and-order, above-the board,
environment in which to live and work. The election is
in a few months and you will not win, Chuck. Our new
sheriff is going to be Harold Mazza, and your
increased presence all over the county for the next
two months will be understood for what it is -- a
political ploy to get votes.
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