RE: What you all think about this BS..
First off I will say right up front that tryran74’s story about calling the Game Commission about finding any dead deer carcasses, let alone a large number of carcasses, is just another make believe story that never happened. If he did find anything he never reported it, just like he never reported a dead mountain lion or helped pull one off the road.
I don’t know where you guys are coming up with these stories but I suspect that is just what the majority of them are, stories. I have had people telling me the stories about me harassing them and arresting them, while I was in civilian clothes and they didn’t know who they were talking too. They always tell the story to make it out that I was the bad guy and they were the hero that really told that SOB a thing or two. Then when they find out that the guy they are talking about in the story is the guy they are talking too the story always changes to, "well that is what they heard happened to a friend of theirs". In other words they had just made up a totally “bull corn” lie to make it sound like the Game Warden was an a$$ and they were a hero. Many of the stories that get told about Game Wardens are told by a person that never even had an encounter with the Officer and the ones that did have an encounter don’t tell the real story, just their fairy-tail version of it.
Now for some facts about the methods in which this states Game Wardens and their Deputies deal with the public and with citations and warnings.
In the first 11 months of 2004 (the legal updates training manual that provides those annual statistics is printed before December can be included) there were 5,971 charges filed and 9,063 warnings issued. Of those charged 95% either pled or were found guilty by the court. A total of $1,035,160.00 was issued in fines by the courts.
That is over 15,000 law enforcement contacts were a person was in violation of the law and dealt with by a Game Commission Officer yet for the entire year of 2004.
In the first 11 months of 2005 WCOS and Deputies issued 6,354 citation and 7,249 warnings. Once again that was a 95% conviction rate with $1,097,460.25 in fines.
For last year I also have the number of citizen complaints that filed against Game Commission. During that time there were a total of nine complaints submitted. Three were still under investigation with no conclusion at the time the information was released. Of the six remaining, only one was sustained with the Officer having acted in appropriately. One didn’t have enough facts to establish one way or the other and in the remaining four it was found that the Officer had been exonerated of any wrong doing.
Now I throw out a challenge to all of you. Find one other law enforcement agency in this state, or for that matter any other state, with as good of record per law enforcement contact where people are actually getting investigated and charged with a crime.
If you can find one be sure to come here and tell us all about it, but I don’t think you will find any with as good a record.
The reason we have so few complaints is because we have a longer and more intense training period then any other law enforcement agency in the state. We have updated legal training, for both WCOs and Deputies every year, which covers changes in legal methods and the most recent court opinions on legal procedures. We have regular and highly structured training for all of our officers, including the deputies and that even includes mandatory verbal communications training.
As for all of the horror stories about the abuse of power, that too is just so much BS; we live by the exact same constitutional limitations that every other law enforcement officer in this state lives by. We have no more power then any other law enforcement officer. The only real problem is the one of the public perception that we aren’t real law enforcement officers, but that too is wrong.
In my years as a WCO I have arrested two murders, two fugitives from justice, wanted for crimes in other states and two armed robbers, all while I was performing my duties of apprehending people violating the game laws. I have drawn my firearm to prevent being shot on several occasions. I have had a couple of guys that tried to kick my butt and all of them have ended up in handcuffs and under arrest within a matter of minutes.
I take it all very seriously and do the best I can at both protecting our resources and even our public when the need arises. I also work hard at trying to educate people about good wildlife management principles and the responsibilities of Game Wardens.
Now, how about some of you telling us about what you have done for the betterment of the resources, society or for that matter for the betterment of anything besides yourself.
There is a quote that kind of stands out as applicable, yet I don’t know you to credit with the quote. It goes something like this, “All that is required for evil to rule, is that good men do nothing.”
What have you done in the face of evil or of crime? Are you really a good man if you do nothing in the face of evil or crime?
Dick Bodenhorn
WCO, Elk County