Domestic Violence

[kralspaces]

I have zero tolerance for domestic violence and even less that when it is a law enforcement officer as the perpetrator. What say you?

Read today’s article in the RDR about our Sheriff’s latest problem. I will voice my concerns later when I have more time. Just a reminder, the Sheriff is an elected official.

[Scott]

I believe the Deputy should have been terminated the 1st time, then we would not be having this discussion now.

[pdc]

If the wife reported the abuse, and she had injuries sufficient to warrant ER treatment and removal from the home for her own safety, how in the he11 did the deputy not get arrested immediately??

That's crazy!

And, the first incident involved using sherrif's department property (hand cuffs) at a part of the abuse - and there were no employment consequesces???

Bizarre!

I'll bet he'd be a great first responder to domestic violence in Chaves County, eh??

[Taco101]

You could fill volumes with what the paper doesn't print. The story is very one sided and biased.

The Sheriff did NOT take over any investigations. He conducted his own, separate Personnel investigation. The PD filed charges but when the case was reviewed by the DA all charges were dropped.

Scott, clean your own house before you worry about ours.

[pdc]

I'm thinking of the old football coach's saying...

Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!

[Daisy]

I'll have to wait and hear more facts before I weigh in on this one.

The deputy's wife may be a crazy who goes after her husband and then he defends himself or the deputy may be a violent man who abuses his wife and should be fired from the Sheriff's Department.

There's no way of knowing from the little bit of info we have so far.

[oladcock]

Yep, me too......O.L.

[catfish]

I'll have to wait and hear more facts before I weigh in on this one.

The deputy's wife may be a crazy who goes after her husband and then he defends himself or the deputy may be a violent man who abuses his wife and should be fired from the Sheriff's Department.

There's no way of knowing from the little bit of info we have so far.

The voice of reason... I agree totally.

[pdc]

Scott, clean your own house before you worry about ours.
I say "Clean BOTH houses" - why should it be any other way??

[samsara]

I think that this should be investigated. Before then I dont think the man should be treated so harshly. For all people know the wife can be making things up. Innocent until proven guilty. But a man should never hit a women.

[kralspaces]

Innocent until proven guilty. But a man should never hit a women.

I couldn't agree more. There needs to be more transparency in this town, especially for public officials that we elect.

I just thought it interesting that the Sheriff did not have a comment for the public. It's no different then when the Mayor doesn't have a public comment when something 'bad' happens. These are the leaders in this town and we need to be able to trust them.

The deputy may have been provoked. But does that justify battery? Unless it was life threatening, there should be physical domestic violence. Yelling? Maybe. Hitting? No.

[kralspaces]

Check out HB17: http://legis.state.nm.us/Sessions/10%20Regular/bills/house/HB0017.html

A federal law currently doesn’t allow anyone convicted of domestic violence, including police officers, to carry firearms.

The keyword here is convicted.

[postmaster]

There's an article in the Clovis News Journal this morning relating to domestic violence and law enforcement personnel and the bill addressing it. I read it online. There is concern amongst law enforcement that officers may lose their jobs for hollering/yelling at their spouses. Perhaps the bill should be clarified to specifically state what constitutes domestic violence, altho in my opinion, verbal abuse is as damaging and destructive as physical violence in any family. I'm with you Daisy in that not enough information is available on the Deputy Sheriff to draw a conclusion.:no:

[kralspaces]

It is not up to us to draw anything. However, without a proper investigation, there won't be any resolve, like last time. I am not judging the husband or wife, but the process. Does someone have to die first?

[postmaster]

Absolutely NOT! No one should have to die first.

[Daisy]

altho in my opinion, verbal abuse is as damaging and destructive as physical violence in any family.

I have to disagree with you on that one. Physical abuse is WAY worse. I know - the "experts" say verbal abuse can traumatize and damage us, but actually, that's only true if we allow people's words to traumatize and damage us. ( I know, many do allow it, but it IS a choice they make)

The exception being children, of course. Because children believe everything their parents and other adults tell them, verbal abuse can and does damage their self-esteem - they're young and don't have the skills needed to decide not to believe what they hear.

Physical violence DOES physically damage adults - no doubt about that one. That's why, in my opinion, it's a lot worse than verbal abuse.

In any case, I've never understood why anyone would stay in an abusive relationship (of any kind) and I guess I never will. :ohwell:

[Seaspin]

I find it disturbing that the Sheriff's Office refuses to comment on this matter. I understand everything is supposed to be hush hush, but when is the time for accountability?

[Daisy]

It is not up to us to draw anything.

Oh, but it is, when we are the voters and the Sheriff is an elected official.

The way the Sheriff investigates, discovers and discloses the facts of this situation and the manner in which he handles this case is of great interest to those who vote.

I understand everything is supposed to be hush hush, but when is the time for accountability?

I don't believe this should be hushed up - I think since this is the second time for the deputy, the time for accountability is now.

I also understand that the Sheriff may be leery of commenting until he gathers all the facts and has something concrete to say. I see nothing wrong with that.

[catfish]

I don't believe that any agency ever comments on ongoing investigations, whether criminal or internal. I don't anything can be inferred from a 'no comment' stance at this point. As far as the first incident goes, the affidavits filed at the Magistrate Court are all public record and can be examined by anyone who has the curiosity. That is one level of transparency that many people either don't know about, or have forgotten about.

[kralspaces]

Wow! Now isn’t this interesting. After a couple of days, our little lady, Angela, has decided to confess that she made up the whole story about what happened with her husband, Daniel, the county deputy.

Look what is being said on the RDR web site: http://www.roswell-record.com/article/police_identify_deputy_as_suspect_in_battery?id=69 571

There are 35 comments. That is a record for one story.

I have just a few questions and comments:

Why does Sheriff Coon believe her second story any more then her first story? Someone got to her to change the story.
Why would the wife make up this story about her husband after he had already abused her prior to this incident? I think someone is in big trouble and it’s not the deputy.
If the wife went to the hospital, there are medical records that will identify whether she was abused or not.
If her story was completely made up, then she needs to be prosecuted for filing a false report. She broke the law. She should be fined or jailed.
Why did the City Attorney and RPD drop the case?

If law enforcement wants our support for more tax dollars to increase pay and staffing, then we, the citizens, better not be getting hoodwinked.

Well anyway, this story will have a life of it’s own for awhile. Then it will happen again.

[Daisy]

Someone got to her to change the story.

That's a HUGE assumption on your part!

I read the comments to the RDR story - there seems to be some general agreement that the wife has some anger problems of her own. I have no idea and don't think most of us do.

IF he is guilty of on going domestic violence, I don't feel he should be a deputy, but I don't know that he's guilty of that yet.

We'll just have to see how it plays out, I suppose...

[catfish]

According to the (public record) Magistrate Court records, both the deputy and the wife were arrested for the 1st incident. According to NMCourts the wife recanted and the charges against the deputy were dropped. The charges against the wife are still pending. It makes the first incident appear as though maybe the wife was at fault. The decision to charge someone of a more serious crime in Chaves County is made by a District Attorney, not an officer/deputy.

As for the second, most recent, incident. What is an agency to do if the officer/ deputy is not convicted? If there isn't enough evidence to find someone guilty of a crime, can you remove them from the job? I'm not really up on employment law, but it seems that maybe it is something to think about. If he is guilty, he needs to be removed from the job and prosecuted, but if he isn't...

Either way, all any of us knows of the event is what little has been written in the RDR. We're talking about the LIVES of two people condensed down into a dozen paragraphs, then filtered through the lens of writer/editor/personal bias (oh, we're all biased in some way). I don't feel comfortable making a judgement call on someone's situation based on the reader's digest condensed version of one (or two, or three) events. That's why we have courts, juries, district attorneys and internal affairs. Just my opinion.

[oladcock]

Many assume the man is the perp, that's not always the case. Ever heard of GPSPMS? :)...O.L.

[Daisy]

The charges against the wife are still pending. It makes the first incident appear as though maybe the wife was at fault.

Yep, it does appear that it could be the wife.

An aquaintance of mine heard the recent 911 call and said the wife came across as a drama queen and that she very well may be at fault here.

We should never be quick to jump to conclusions.....many times, things are totally different than they appear to be on the surface.

[kralspaces]

Sounds like she is a drama queen. There have been many 911 calls from her.

Stay tune for another story in tomorrow's paper. This time someone does get hurt.

[pdc]

Wow - the law enforcement folks sure become bleeding heart liberals and supporters of defendants' rights when one of their own is charged...

... next they'll want to have that couple join Obama for a beer.... :smk2:

[samsara]

yeah because that sounds accurate^^^

I think it was right to do an internal investigation to look into whether or not he was actually accused of being a wife beater. People need to chill out and stop taking sides before anything has even been confirmed.

[Daisy]

Good follow up article by Andrew Cone. Of course, you'll have to log on to read the whole thing.

Deputy place on leave (http://www.roswell-record.com/article/deputy_placed_on_leave?id=71186)

[kralspaces]

Did you read page 2?

[catfish]

Is it 'bleeding heart' to believe that the newspaper may not have all the facts? I personally fall into the 'nail them to the wall' category, ESPECIALLY if the offender is a cop, however, I don't think we should do it on the RDR reporter's sayso.

[Robert]

Wow - the law enforcement folks sure become bleeding heart liberals and supporters of defendants' rights when one of their own is charged...

... next they'll want to have that couple join Obama for a beer.... :smk2:

It is nice how you lump all law enforcement together. I can tell you that most of the LE community does not condone another officer breaking the law in any way. I have actually investigated and arrested an Officer. Not fun but the law is there for everybody and if an Officer breaks it he deserves to be arrested and go to jail.

As with any profession there are bad apples. Just because one doctor molests a patient while under anestesia does that mean that all doctors are perverted rapists?

[pdc]

It is nice how you lump all law enforcement together. I can tell you that most of the LE community does not condone another officer breaking the law in any way. I have actually investigated and arrested an Officer. Not fun but the law is there for everybody and if an Officer breaks it he deserves to be arrested and go to jail.

As with any profession there are bad apples. Just because one doctor molests a patient while under anestesia does that mean that all doctors are perverted rapists?

I appreciate your consistency - kudos to you.

[Tahoe]

The City of Roswell Attorney's office does not prosecute domestic violence cases. Domestic violence cases are handled by the state District Attorney's office. RPD conducts an investigation which is then referred to the DA's office for approval of charges for prosecution. The DA's office may approve, not approve or request additional investigation. The newspaper is obviously a newspaper and no where near any official record. Except Keith Bell.

[Daisy]

The newspaper is obviously a newspaper and no where near any official record.

That's for sure - reporters can only report on the information they are given and many times it takes awhile for all the facts to come out. I don't know why people think the paper can provide ALL the facts, right now, this minute. It takes lots of interviews, time and patience to get the whole story and I think our reporters do a pretty darn good job.

Except Keith Bell.

Right on.....:D