Sheriff Anderson has also been a critic of the new Justice Reform rules that have been demanded by many of our politicians on the state and federal levels. Sheriff Anderson has also reflected the opinions of many of his constituents in regards to reduction of prison population and the future intentions by Missouri Department of Corrections to further reduce the prison population by reducing sentenced inmates prison time and releasing them back into our communities without any meaningful oversight once they are released.
"The actions by the Supreme Court, the Department of Corrections and by many of our Elected Officials in Jefferson City has and will continued to do nothing to better the State of Missouri. We will continue to become nothing more than one of the largest manufacturers of Victims in this country." Says Sheriff Anderson. "I recognize that we cannot "jail" our way out of this situation, but the state has gutted the Mental Health System Financially and strapped the hands of our local courts to sentence anyone to prison by closing prisons and restructuring laws so that each county will now be burdened with housing inmates that should be in the state prison. I just recently read that the DOC has reduced its population from 33,000 to 26,000 and the Governor has announced again that there is intentions to close even more bed space at the state prison level. Are the number of crimes being committed going down or are we just shifting the responsibility of housing inmates to the local authorities so that we can pat ourselves on the back and say we have done something and reduced inmates counts? Where does your local Sheriff get the money to take on the new influx of inmates because with the new rules by DOC who refuses to take custody of their clients when they are charged with new crimes while serving the rest of their sentence walking the streets and victimizing more citizens."
As many have shared stories of the failed catch and release program, as recent as January 24th, 2020 a Deputy with the Sheriff's Office stopped to check on what he thought was a stranded motorist. As the Deputy attempted to make contact with the subject the subject fled the scene in the vehicle at over 100 mph. The subject eventually turned down a dead end road and slide the car off in the ditch after almost striking another vehicle. The subject ran on foot and was later taken into custody by the K9 unit in a field. A later check of the vehicle turns out that is was stolen from the parking lot of the Sheriff's Office and belonged to a Jail employee. This emboldened act by this person was obviously caught on camera but that did not discourage his behavior. The victim, is a single mother who works hard to raise her family, and now has to burden the cost of repair done to her vehicle at the hands of someone who should have been in the custody of the Department of Corrections and even though he was caught again violating his probation will not be sent to Department of Corrections until this new case is settled. Meanwhile, he will soon become eligible to receive a signature bond and be released from jail under the new Supreme Court Rules and continue to victimize our communities.
A Criminal history check on this subject showed almost 16 pages of arrest for drug possession, theft, burglary, tampering with motor vehicles, armed robbery and armed criminal action. To be exact he plead guilty or was found guilty to many of those charges but has never been sent to the Department of Corrections.
History:
On 6/24/15 Guilty of Theft given 2 years probation
1/13/17 Guilty of Receiving stolen property, Leave the scene, Sentenced to 5 years but instead got 5 years probation
1/13/17 Guilty of Robbery 2nd, Sentenced to 8 years but instead of going to jail got 5 years probation.
4/4/17 probation was revoked sentenced 60 days in jail
7/25/19 Guilty of Property damage, (burglary and stealing charges dropped) Sentenced to 7 years got 5 years probation.
1/24/2020 Charged with tampering with a motor vehicle.
Where does these changes leave the working citizens of our community? It leaves them scared, tired and ready to take matters in their hands. Hard working Americans should not have to live like this. Hard working Americans expect the Judicial system to be fair but yet hold those accountable for their actions when they violate the laws that everyone else has to abide by. Hard working Bates Countians expect the Missouri Department of Corrections to keep criminals in prison to serve the sentence that was handed down by our elected Judges who live in our communities and know whats best for the safety of our communities.
"The actions by the Supreme Court, the Department of Corrections and by many of our Elected Officials in Jefferson City has and will continued to do nothing to better the State of Missouri. We will continue to become nothing more than one of the largest manufacturers of Victims in this country." Says Sheriff Anderson. "I recognize that we cannot "jail" our way out of this situation, but the state has gutted the Mental Health System Financially and strapped the hands of our local courts to sentence anyone to prison by closing prisons and restructuring laws so that each county will now be burdened with housing inmates that should be in the state prison. I just recently read that the DOC has reduced its population from 33,000 to 26,000 and the Governor has announced again that there is intentions to close even more bed space at the state prison level. Are the number of crimes being committed going down or are we just shifting the responsibility of housing inmates to the local authorities so that we can pat ourselves on the back and say we have done something and reduced inmates counts? Where does your local Sheriff get the money to take on the new influx of inmates because with the new rules by DOC who refuses to take custody of their clients when they are charged with new crimes while serving the rest of their sentence walking the streets and victimizing more citizens."
As many have shared stories of the failed catch and release program, as recent as January 24th, 2020 a Deputy with the Sheriff's Office stopped to check on what he thought was a stranded motorist. As the Deputy attempted to make contact with the subject the subject fled the scene in the vehicle at over 100 mph. The subject eventually turned down a dead end road and slide the car off in the ditch after almost striking another vehicle. The subject ran on foot and was later taken into custody by the K9 unit in a field. A later check of the vehicle turns out that is was stolen from the parking lot of the Sheriff's Office and belonged to a Jail employee. This emboldened act by this person was obviously caught on camera but that did not discourage his behavior. The victim, is a single mother who works hard to raise her family, and now has to burden the cost of repair done to her vehicle at the hands of someone who should have been in the custody of the Department of Corrections and even though he was caught again violating his probation will not be sent to Department of Corrections until this new case is settled. Meanwhile, he will soon become eligible to receive a signature bond and be released from jail under the new Supreme Court Rules and continue to victimize our communities.
A Criminal history check on this subject showed almost 16 pages of arrest for drug possession, theft, burglary, tampering with motor vehicles, armed robbery and armed criminal action. To be exact he plead guilty or was found guilty to many of those charges but has never been sent to the Department of Corrections.
History:
On 6/24/15 Guilty of Theft given 2 years probation
1/13/17 Guilty of Receiving stolen property, Leave the scene, Sentenced to 5 years but instead got 5 years probation
1/13/17 Guilty of Robbery 2nd, Sentenced to 8 years but instead of going to jail got 5 years probation.
4/4/17 probation was revoked sentenced 60 days in jail
7/25/19 Guilty of Property damage, (burglary and stealing charges dropped) Sentenced to 7 years got 5 years probation.
1/24/2020 Charged with tampering with a motor vehicle.
Where does these changes leave the working citizens of our community? It leaves them scared, tired and ready to take matters in their hands. Hard working Americans should not have to live like this. Hard working Americans expect the Judicial system to be fair but yet hold those accountable for their actions when they violate the laws that everyone else has to abide by. Hard working Bates Countians expect the Missouri Department of Corrections to keep criminals in prison to serve the sentence that was handed down by our elected Judges who live in our communities and know whats best for the safety of our communities.
From the desk of Bates County Sheriff Chad Anderson
