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Sheriff slams candidate Simmons for ‘distortion,’ fear-mongeringTue, 05/27/2008 - 4:43pm
By: John Thompson
Two of Fayette County’s largest law enforcement agencies stepped squarely into the middle of the race to succeed retiring Sheriff Randall Johnson. The sheriff and the Fayetteville Police Department vigorously disputed one candidate’s assertions of gang activity and increased crime at the Pavilion, the county’s largest shopping center. Letters from Sheriff Johnson and Fayetteville Police Major Kevin Gooding appear in this edition on pages A7 and A8. In his letter to The Citizen, Johnson disputes a notion about gang activity in the county. “Let me be clear — Fayette County does not have a ‘gang problem,’” Johnson wrote. Johnson accused Republican candidate Dave Simmons of creating fear and exaggerating the crime issue in the community, and said the department “... will not allow any such activity to take root in our community.” Johnson also suggested he was not impressed with Simmons’ service with the Detroit Police Department. “They have struggled ineffectively, since the time he served in a senior leadership position, to keep crime contained in that city.” Contacted Tuesday, Simmons responded that he’s a resident of Fayette County, not Detroit, and has heard the concerns of residents about gang activities in the county. “At a candidates’ forum, one of the participants said gangs have been trying to form in the county since 1994,” he added. Meanwhile, the Fayetteville Police Department is disputing that the Fayette Pavilion is an unsafe place to shop. “There is regular dialogue in which information is shared about actual crime and issues in the Pavilion. The statistics prove a tremendous reduction of reported larcenies over the last four years (375 in 2003 compared to 125 in 2007). “Reported Part I crimes such as robbery, aggravated assault, and motor vehicle theft dropped from 15 in 2003 to 6 in 2007. “Considering that there are 85 retail establishments and 1.5 million square feet of shopping space in the Pavilion, these numbers are relatively low. “Several publicized letters have focused attention on the Pavilion and the movie theater as places where rowdy teens gather. The Fayetteville Police Department has a zero-tolerance policy for loitering,” wrote Fayetteville Police Major Kevin Gooding. But Simmons said he has had several conversations with residents who have a different view. “Residents are telling me that police officers are telling them not to shop at the Pavilion after a certain hour because it’s not safe,” he said. Simmons also said some break-ins are not being reported at the Pavilion, and he has done an Open Records request to get a copy of all crime at the shopping center. “I just want to get the information out there and keep this community safe,” he said. Simmons also wants to know why Johnson is getting involved in the race, when he’s moving out of county to a retirement home on West Point Lake. “If this is such a safe county, why is he leaving? I think he’s just lost touch with his constituents,” Simmons said Tuesday. In his letter in today’s edition, Johnson said, “I have had the Sheriff’s Office intimately involved in monitoring and addressing potential gang influences in a multi-agency task force for more than two years — long before one candidate discovered he could create fear by exaggerating a sensitive issue for our community.” Johnson accused Simmons, a former commander in the Detroit, Mich., police department and a current resident of Whitewater subdivision, of distorting the facts about actual criminal activity in Fayette. “To suggest that an economic slowdown, as evidenced at the Fayette Pavilion Shopping complex, is the result of an out of control crime rate is disingenuous at best, irresponsible as a matter of fact,” Johnson wrote. Simmons is one of four candidates seeking the post held by Johnson in the Republican Primary July 15. The other three are current officers in the sheriff’s department. There is no Democratic challenger. login to post comments |