Real Arrests, Fake Badge
"...Like so many rural communities in the country's middle, this tiny town had wrestled for years with the woes of methamphetamine. Then, several months ago, a federal agent showed up. Busts began. Houses were ransacked. People, in handcuffs on their front lawns, named names. To some, like Mayor Otis Schulte, who considers the county around Gerald, population 1,171, "a meth capital of the United States," the drug scourge seemed to be fading at last."
My first thought while reading this New York Times article was what a great sitcom or movie this story about a former security guard, wedding minister, and small town cop would make. It could be Missouri's own Deathwish, only it's it's drug dealers he's after, not muggers, and he's not Charles Bronson on a rampage, he's posing as a federal agent named "Sergeant Bill."
Sergeant Bill convinced the Mayor of Gerald, Mo., plus higher-ups in law enforcement in the town, and a lot of people who live there, that he was the real deal. A federal specialist sent in to help them with their crippling "meth" problem. And despite a lack of credentials, or experience, he actually succeeded.
Now, of course, he's in a lot of trouble. You can't just go into people's homes and trash them because you think they might be involved with illegal drugs. As a mother of soon-to-be teenage boys, and as anti-First and/or Fifth Amendment as it sounds, I was a little bit sorry to read that.
Rationally, I support the whole "innocent until proven guilty" maxim. But as a mother who is fervently anti-drug use, I'm just saying, the guy got results. He's proven himself. Instead of incarcerating him, why not give him the certification he needs to keep going?
Dani Klein is the mom of two and producer/director of Afterbirth...stories you won't read in Parents magazine. For more info, visit her site.
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