From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [emphasis mine]:
- Main Entry: fraud
- Function: noun
1 a: deceit, trickery; specifically : intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right b: an act of deceiving or misrepresenting : trick
2 a: a person who is not what he or she pretends to be : impostor; also : one who defrauds : cheat b: one that is not what it seems or is represented to be
Necessary reading before hand: Homer’s ad on B5 of the October 31, 2007, of The Caroline Progress. It’s ironically placed below a story about a haunted house and the ad is pretty damn scary.
Your claim regarding conservators of the peace is an outright lie, from § 19.2-13:
Upon the application of any sheriff or chief of police of any county, city, town or any corporation authorized to do business in the Commonwealth or the owner, proprietor or authorized custodian of any place within the Commonwealth and the showing of a necessity for the security of property or the peace, a circuit court judge of any county or city, in his discretion, may appoint one or more special conservators of the peace who shall serve as such for such length of time as the court may designate, but not exceeding four years under any one appointment.
The sheriff doesn’t have to do anything with the application you fraud! If you support security companies, Homer, why is it that Wackenhut Corporation, a private security company, has donated $1,400 to Sheriff Lippa’s campaign? I don’t see any donations from security companies or security personnel in your campaign documents!
And you say “I stand by what I have said”. You mean the following lies?:
Year: Claimed: As Reported to the FBI: 1992 65% 65% 1993 73% 72% 1994 75% 75% 1995 86% 86% 1996 83% 84% 1997 88% 87% 1998 91% 91% 1999 90% 72% 2000 93% 69% 2001 91% 61% 2002 94% 55% 2003 90% 59% Why the decrease starting in 1999? Well, starting in 1999, the Commonwealth of Virginia required agencies to submit data in incident base format (with details about every crime) instead of monthly tally sheets as had been done before. As for his claimed 91% solve rate in 1998 and before, it’s completely bogus. For five years, he claimed he solved 100% of the rapes that were reported to the sheriff’s office. The national solve rate for rape is only 41.3%. He claims he solved 91.46% of the larcenies that occurred in 1998. How did he accomplish this when the national solve rate for larcenies is only 18.0%? Are we to believe that Homer Johnson is, in fact, the dark knight, the caped crusader, Batman?
If Homer was the master of criminal investigation, why isn’t he the police chief for the Richmond Police Department or the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, instead of working at the local Q-Mart?
More crap from his ad:
About the addendum cards, they were used for information only. Addendum cards contain information from citizens who called in to report something out of the ordinary to the Sheriff’s Office. For example, a citizen would call the Sheriff’s Office to say that someone had drove off the road and ran into their fence, or that someone had thrown trash in the woods on their property. Addendum cards had nothing to do with any on-going active cases.
So, misdemeanor or felony destruction of property doesn’t get investigated by your sheriff’s office? Trepassing and littering doesn’t either? I’m still waiting on you to find out who smashed up my family’s mailbox and the mailboxes of pretty much everyone on my road. No deputy responded, explain that, would you? Did those dozen mailboxes end up on addendum cards too?
And Homer, where do you get the nerve to refer to Sheriff Lippa as “Mr. Lippa”? Just because he beat you with 66% of the vote when you were a twelve year incumbent?
And you have the gall to refer yourself as “Sheriff Homer G. Johnson, ret.”? Is it considered retirement when you only receive 33% of the vote as a twelve year incumbent? I think that’s called being the laughing stock of the county!
And you claim that “[Sheriff] Mr. Lippa is slamming some of the finest record keepers of the Caroline Sheriff’s Department had”. First, it’s a sheriff’s office, something you should know since you were sheriff for twelve years (yes, I know, you spent most of the time at the New Yorker). Second, Lippa isn’t slamming the record keepers, he’s slamming you and your policies. I’ve heard from several of your own personnel that they were not supposed to take reports on stolen items that were covered by insurance. Explain that, would you? How about your claim in a telephone call that you prioritized cases so they would be cleared by the time crime reports were due instead of the actual importance of the case?
You claim to have hired the first African-American deputy? Funny, the information I’ve seen says that he was hired by Ottie J. Moore.
As for your “open door” policy, is that the same open door policy that you used to flee from questions at the Caroline County Constitutional Officers Candidates’ Forum? “I have to go to the bathroom”. He goes in and comes out after five seconds (did you wash your hands?) and then runs through the nearest open door to get away from questions! And he has to get his wife to talk to the people! I heard you did the same thing at the Lake Caroline forum too!
Another claim:
Continuing the battle against drugs, utilizing all available sources and seeking grants
Really? Then why have drug distribution arrests more than doubled since Lippa became sheriff? Why was it that Caroline County from 1996-1998 was ranked 128th out of 132 jurisdictions for arrests for the sale of narcotics?
Another claim:
Being more than just a “traffic division”
Really? Then why did your platform summary in 2003 include the following: “to expand traffic control programs”? I didn’t know you could expand traffic control beyond having a deputy at every cut-through on Route 301 like you used to have Homer. I can get a deputy when I need one now Homer unlike when my neighbor died and his widow and another neighbor were told all your deputies were on I-95!
Is there anything you won’t lie about? The convicted drug user support and the convicted felon support maybe?