Disorderly Synergy

[XLFD]

Last summer, the voters in Mason County agreed to add about $600,000 more annually to the Mason County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) treasury, primarily to fund an additional county road patrol officer over the course of a 24 hour day.  

The voters of Ludington last year also selected Steve Miller to be mayor of Ludington.  On July 3rd, 2019 he implored the locals to be considerate to our visitors set to overrun the area for the next couple of months:

This is a fine message, we are all effectively helping to support many of our neighbors whose livelihoods depend on a strong summer of tourism when we act like good hosts.  Visitors are a lot more likely to spend money and come back if they are treated fairly with courtesy and respect by those they interact with in our neck of the woods.  Some of those well-to-do tourists might even decide to move themselves and/or their business here if they see an area full of polite diplomats oozing pride in their community.

The Mason County Press reports:  "AMBER TOWNSHIP — A 27-year-old Stanwood man was arrested by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office at 8:38 p.m. after a deputy observed a male subject staggering in and out of US 10-31 near Gordon Road on Thursday, July 4. The man was intoxicated and charged with being disorderly."

The deputy made this stop on his own initiative, one would hope that they did so in fear of the man's safety.  For some reason this stop led to an arrest of one of our visitors for disorderly conduct.  Just being drunk and staggering out in public is not enough to get you arrested for disorderly, the statute says you must be " intoxicated in a public place and either endangering directly the safety of another person or of property or acting in a manner that causes a public disturbance."

There is no indication that his behavior directly endangered others (maybe himself), nor any indication he was making a public disturbance, which involves making a commotion that actually disturbs others in the area.  There's not a lot of houses there, nor did anybody generate a complaint about the man or his activity.

Therefore, one may infer that any sort of disorderly conduct arose strictly from the interaction between the deputy and the man.  There has historically been a heavy-handed approach used by the MCSO in certain encounters, where they actually seem to escalate the situation in an unreasonable manner.  The current sheriff has done this himself back when he was on road patrol duty, and has yet to publicly admit any wrongdoing by deputies in the many years he has been road patrol sergeant and sheriff.  The county has settled several lawsuits involving inappropriate uses of force and/or imprisonment.

Had the road patrol deputy played the part of an ambassador, it's probable they should have approached and concluded this encounter in a much different way.  The deputy suspected the man was drunk, so the problem at the get-go was to mitigate a potentially dangerous situation by making sure the man wouldn't get hit by traffic, not to make the man a criminal by broadly expanding a statute that doesn't seem applicable with the information shared.  

This appears more to be a failure of the sheriff's department to properly handle this incident, and if the dashcam was recording the encounter, I think it would be highly educational to the public as to whether this was handled diplomatically, fairly, and proportionately.  Or inappropriately by the 'sober' party.

[XLFD]

I missed this one earlier, it is also reported in the MCP and happened on the day before, see whether you can figure out what's wrong:

LUDINGTON — A 68-year-old East Pointe, Mich. man was arrested Wednesday, July 3, by Mason County Sheriff’s Office deputies in downtown Ludington. According to Sheriff Kim Cole, law enforcement was called to the corner of Ludington Avenue and William Street at 7:55 a.m. for a report of a man sleeping in his vehicle in a business parking lot. When asked to leave, the man allegedly drove out to Ludington Avenue, stopped his vehicle in traffic, exited the vehicle and began swearing at a sheriff deputy. He was then arrested for disorderly conduct.

Once again, disorderly conduct is very specific on what constitutes it.  Swearing at a law officer has been found over and over again to be protected speech, not anything against the law.  Get ready to start paying through the nose because your county's deputies are not trained properly and unlawfully arresting our visitors on false pretenses.

[XLFD]

Also on July 3rd, also by the MCSO, as noted in the weekend edition of the COLDNews:  "The MCSO arrested a 31 year old Baldwin male for being a disorderly person following a vehicle crash at 5:32 PM Wednesday at Johnson Rd. and Bean Rd. in Custer Township."

I can't even think of how this person could be violating the disorderly person statute in that situation.  I would surmise that the MCSO's road patrol has broadened the statute to include any conduct that they find undesirable, whether it be walking funny, swearing at officers, or somehow annoying them at accident scenes.  It should be totally unacceptable, for if any of these 'deputy-created criminals' take umbrage at having their liberty so easily taken from them, the taxpayers of the county will be footing the bill to defend the bad behavior of our browncoats.

[Willy]

It's nice for the economy that tourist spend their dollars here. It would be nice if everyone would get along with the tourists but the sad fact is many of these tourists are just plain rude and inconsiderate of the locals and their surroundings. It's also a sad fact that locals and their needs are put on the back burner by politicians. Sort of like being second class citizens in their own town. Everything is planned around outsiders and locals are expected to foot the bill. So my message to the Mayor would be to think of those that elected you first, then pander to the tourists.

[XLFD]

In compiling Mayor Miller's writings, words, and actions and considering them in their entirety, he does seem to view officials, tourists, and Ludington VIPs in very positive terms and elevate their status.  At the same time, he has a tendency to portray ordinary citizens as those who need to show more fealty and respect towards those other groups, or fear their reprisals.  I agree that he should be able to strike a better balance outside of an election year with a serious challenger.

[XLFD]

Another 'disorderly person' catchall used by the MCSO as reported in the MCP:  "AMBER TOWNSHIP – A 15-year-old Free Soil boy was apprehended by Mason County sheriff’s deputies for disorderly person, resisting arrest and minor in possession of alcohol Monday, July 15, shortly after 4:30 a.m. following a 911 call “reporting a person down alongside US 10 not moving,” said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole.
“Upon arrival, Mason County Sheriff’s Office deputies noticed a person stumbling and staggering down the road in the travel lane,” Cole said. “When deputies approached him, he attempted to flee on foot but was captured following a foot chase."

A staggering minor out at 4:30 AM who takes off fleeing gave the deputies reasonable suspicion enough to pursue, if he was found drunk he would have been in violation of the MIP statute.  Yet there isn't anything in the disorderly person statute that this minor could have violated, which makes the resisting arrest charge unsupported with the given facts. You can generally walk (run or stagger) away from police if they do not articulate a reason as to why they suspect you of some infraction or crime, such activity is not resisting or obstructing until they establish a lawful reason to detain you. 

[XLFD]

Arrested for jaywalking?  Back in June 2017 Steele Hughes, a man with no criminal record, was on a date with his fiancé in Detroit when some police took exception to him jaywalking across a street where such action is not uncommon.  From behind, a cop grabbed his shoulder and wrist, then threw him to the ground.  Despite no crime or resistance, officers cuffed Hughes and arrested him for-- you guessed it:  disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.  

Fortunately, nearby security cameras caught the action which showed the assault on Hughes, totally debunking the police reports of Detroit's 'finest'.  Three days in jail followed, he was suspended from his job.  Cameras show there was no disorderly conduct on Hughes' part and no resisting the unlawful arrest.

The reason it's back in the news is that Detroit taxpayers had to shell out a good sum of money to settle the federal lawsuit Hughes filed.  Undoubtedly, they're also having to shell out even more each year to keep these sad excuses with badges on their police force.

[Willy]

Those officers should be prosecuted for perjury and making a false arrest but I'm sure the settlement in the  lawsuit will help smooth out bad feelings.