A sheriff in Nevada on Monday sent a letter to the county's public library board letting them know deputies would not be responding to its 911 calls. Douglas County Sheriff Dan Coverley cited the board considering a diversity statement that endorses the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The Douglas County Public Library denounces all acts of violence, racism and disregard for human rights. We support #BlackLivesMatter. We resolutely assert and believe that all forms of racism, hatred, inequality and injustice don’t belong in our society," part of the proposed statement said.
According to Coverley, the BLM movement has caused "violence, property damage and the closing of local businesses."
"The Black Lives Matter movement openly calls all law enforcement corrupt and racist on their website. They call for the defunding of police, and we have seen how a lack of active law-enforcement has worked in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon," Coverley wrote. "Numerous Black Lives Matter protests have resulted in violence, property damage and the closing of local businesses, sometimes permanently. To support this movement is to support violence and to openly ask for it to happen in Douglas County."
"Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help. I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior, since those are just some of the recent calls my office has assisted you with in the past," he concluded.
Below is the full letter (emphasis mine):
Dear Douglas County Public Library Board of Trustees,
The tragic and preventable death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis Police officers shined a national spotlight on bad actors within the law enforcement profession. At the same time, data simply does not support claims that law enforcement is systemically racist or structurally biased. Despite the lack of available evidence to support the anti-police narrative, it proliferates and has spawned radical reactions such as the current calls to "defund the police," as well as increases in violence against police—ranging from assaults to assassinations.
Last year in the United States, a country with a population of 330 million people, 1,004 civilians were fatally shot by police officers. The vast majority of these officer-involved shootings were justifiable, and most involved an armed or dangerous subject. There were nine fatal shootings of unarmed black persons (down from thirty-eight in 2015) and nineteen fatal shooting of unarmed white persons (down from thirty-two in 2015) those deaths represent 0.1% of all black homicide victims and 0.3% of all white homicide victims.
The data indicate that exceedingly few encounters with police involve force. For example, only 2% of people who had any contact with police anytime in the prior twelve months said that officers used or even threatened to use force against them, according to the 2015 Police-Public Contact Survey conducted by United States Bureau of Justice Statistics. Over 58,000 officers were assaulted while performing their duties in 2018, according to FBI data collected from only two-thirds of law enforcement agencies. That is an assault rate of 10.8 per 100 officers. Moreover, assaults with deadly weapons against the police occurred thirty-three times per day.
Recent history confirms that when myths about the police are not strongly repudiated by our local, state and national leaders, law-enforcement officers lose their lives. In 2016, following a national rebellion against law enforcement —like what we are experiencing today —the number of officers shot and killed in the line of duty increased by 56% in that year alone. Twenty-one of those deaths were ambush-style shootings of law-enforcement officers. Who can forget the fine officers murdered in attacks in Dallas, Texas, and the three officers murdered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in only a ten-day period? In recent weeks of national unrest, 750 officers have already been injured defending their communities from the violence that has swept our country. Two members of law enforcement have already lost their lives.
The Douglas County Sheriffs Office is constantly evolving to ensure that training, resources and practices will best protect the safety of both the citizenry and the deputies. These men and women regularly receive advanced certificates and degrees, use new equipment and technology, and engage in regular trainings. I know this because I oversee the training, and ensure we are training to the highest level at all times. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office reflects the diversity that is seen in our community, and we make it a priority to treat all persons with respect regardless of race, gender or cultural differences.
The Douglas County Sheriffs Office is the only local law-enforcement agency in Douglas County and it is the men and women of DCSO that keep you safe. The Black Lives Matter movement openly calls all law enforcement corrupt and racist on their website. They call for the defunding of police, and we have seen how a lack of active law-enforcement has worked in Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. Numerous Black Lives Matter protests have resulted in violence, property damage and the closing of local businesses, sometimes permanently. To support this movement is to support violence and to openly ask for it to happen in Douglas County.
Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help. I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior, since those are just some of the recent calls my office has assisted you with in the past.
Sincerely
Sheriff Daniel J. Coverley
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Following a backlash, Douglas County Library Director Amy Dodson met with Coverley to discuss the potential diversity statement.
"Sheriff Coverley and I had a very candid conversation about the statement and we both expressed our opinions regarding the intent of our exchanged correspondence,” Dodson told Fox News “We agreed that we both support the people of Douglas County and this may have been an unfortunate circumstance of misunderstanding. The library respects and supports the work of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and appreciates everything they do to keep our community safe.”
“I am passionate about and proud of the work the Sheriff’s Office does for all members of this community,” Coverley clarified. “This has been a difficult time to be a law enforcement professional and can be disheartening when we perceive that our office may be under attack. My response was rooted in my belief that these issues need to be openly discussed in a way that values diversity and law enforcement.”
It's sad that we have to have this kind of conversation at all. Law enforcement officers should be respected and not feel like they're constantly on the defense. Their job is to help people, and yet they're having to do their job and worry about increased violence against them. Sheriff Coverley, however, is right. This is a difficult time for police officers but changes – especially when it comes to law enforcement reforms – should be discussed in a way that respects officers and the community.
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