The Llano Ledger


Newsletter Text V19

This Website Is Full. Starting With The December 25, 2000 Newsletter, All Future Editions Will Be Posted In The Llano Ledger 2, Found By Clicking http://maxpages.com/llanoledger2.

*******************December 6, 1999******************

As reported Nov. 22, the City of Llano and the Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET) have agreed to an expansion of an earlier interlocal agreement signed in 1996 that expires 5-31-2000. The new agreement is the same as the earlier one and runs for 3 years (6-1-2000 to 5-31-2003). The document is 6 pages of "legalese". The Counties of Blanco, Burnet, Llano, and San Saba as well as the Cities of Burnet, Llano, Lake LBJ Municipal Utility District, Johnson City, Bertram, and Marble Falls are participants. As mentioned earlier, Mason County wisely pulled out of NET when authorities there finally understood the egregious, unconstitutional abuses and corruption within this supposedly "elite" agency.

Interestingly, the attention of readers is drawn to Article IV Sect. 4.01 of the agreement: "The Board of Governors shall be comprised of the agency heads of the participating named Cities and Counties. The remaining agency heads will serve as ex-officio members of the Board (hereinafter "Board"). The Board will elect a chairperson from its membership." Apparently, there is NO citizen oversight of NET, -- if I correctly understand this golden nugget of "legalese". Interesting, no? Certainly makes it easier for officers to harass, intimidate, and abuse innocent citizens they've sworn to "protect and serve", doesn't it?

To his credit, Llano City Manager Philip Cook quickly released all requested documents to this publication without any delay or obfuscation. The request was informally made by e-mail without mention of the Texas Open Records Act. The Fiscal Year 1998-1999 Report provided by NET did not include a description of the statistics, i.e. whether they were arrests, warrants, cases, convictions, etc.. Although Llano City taxpayers were looted $1200 to pay for this agreement, the City Manager did not know the nature of the statistics in the report. I approached Llano City Police Chief James Schilling with the same question. Surprisingly, he had no idea, but immediately called NET Commander Dwight Hardin while I waited. The Commander was not available. I asked the Chief to follow-up and informed him I'd return later in the week. The next day I received an e-mail from Mr. Schilling stating the statistics were indeed "cases". I'm deeply grateful to the Chief and City Manager for their cooperation.

What disturbs me greatly, however, is neither official could answer my question, although the Council had already voted to loot the taxpayers. While I didn't have the time, I imagine I'd have received the same response from the Mayor and Council Members had I polled them. After all, if the Chief and City Manager didn't know... All joking aside, this is sadly a classical example of a "knee-jerk" reaction to a terrible problem, -- the drug scourge. Without examining the effectiveness of NET or even analyzing their statistics, Llano City officials apparently signed a contract with an abusive and corrupt organization whose efficacy is at best questionable, -- as careful examination of the statistics will reveal.

As repeatedly asserted earlier on this website, this writer does not use drugs, and in fact strongly opposes their usage. Sadly, current laws and police tactics do nothing to curtail drug abuse. Although law enforcement will not admit it, drugs are as cheap and plentiful as ever, -- despite the erosion and decimation of the U.S. Constitution by our corrupt police and courts. Sadly, the drug war has been lost for quite some time. I have no simple or easy answer to this terrible problem, but I do know drug prohibition has failed as clearly and miserably as alcohol prohibition did earlier this century.

For the next several weeks, statistics tables will be presented on this website. The software offered by Maxpages supports text only. Graphs and tables are difficult to construct effectively and clearly. The software does not allow more than several spaces between numbers and tends to "scrunch" them together. In an earlier edition, I used "*" characters to separate the figures in a featured table. There were problems nonetheless with readability and clarity. ... I'll attempt to keep the tables as simple as possible to facilitate understanding. -- Bear with me, please. I'll do the best I can.

As mentioned, quite a few statistics will be presented over the next several weeks. Much of the NET stats will be compared to those obtained from the examination of the jail booking records. -- There is too much to be covered in a single edition. Besides NET and the jail records, there are other issues that need attention before the end of the year as well. ... If not handled properly, however, statistics can not only be abused and meaningless, but dry and boring. ... I'll carefully walk the tightrope. ... We'll see what happens. ... Okay?

Figure 1 is a compiled data table of five monthly activity reports for Llano County provided by NET:
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Fig. 1. Llano County Monthly Activity Data Compilation Table.

June 1999 Arrests/Warrants: 1
July 1999 Arrests/Warrants: 2
Aug. 1999 Arrests/Warrants: 2
Sep. 1999 Arrests/Warrants: 6
Oct. 1999 Arrests/Warrants: 2
Total *** Arrests/Warrants: 13

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According to NET, a total of 13 people were jailed in Llano County on drug charges from June through October 1999. Remember this statistic is for ALL of Llano County. NET has not provided a separate figure for the City of Llano. Interesting, no? Considering the amount of money looted from Llano County, the City of Llano, and LBJ MUD, did the taxpayers receive any "bang for the buck"? You decide. Readers should also remember the membership fee is not the only expense involved in participation in the Task Force. -- Those expenses were not included in the material provided by the City Manager.

Figure 2 is the case load table provided by NET for Llano County for fiscal year 1998-1999 (June 1, 1998 to May 31, 1999):

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Fig. 2 Llano County Case Load Table Provided by NET for FY98-99.

Quarter********1***2***3***4***Total
Llano County***7***6***10**1****24
Llano**********9***6***2***1****18
Kingsland******6***2***9***4****21
Horseshoe Bay**2***0***0***0****2
Sunrise Beach**0***0***1***1****2
Buchanan Dam***1***0***0***16***17
Valley Spring**0***0***0***0****0
Total**********25**14**22**23***84

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For the entire fiscal year, the City of Llano had 18 cases worked by NET. ... Any bang for the buck? Again, you decide. -- At what price? The harassment of numerous citizens on our roads? Notice also, the fiscal year 1998-1999 case load and the subsequent June to October 1999 monthly activity figures are NOT comparable. -- Like apples and oranges. Arrests/Warrants statistics are not the same as case load numbers. ... Arrest figures are ALWAYS higher than case numbers. ... Case numbers are ALWAYS higher than the number of convictions. The fact that NET did not use the same statistics in all material provided to the City Manager is at best disingenuous and deliberately misleading. Interesting, no? Yet, Llano City officials questioned none of this before looting taxpayers. Worse yet, arrest and case load figures are indeed poor indicators of an agency's true effectiveness. A far better statistic would have been the number of offenders convicted. Notice, NET chose not to provide these figures. Why?

As mentioned in an earlier edition, there were many people incarcerated in the Llano County Jail on writs (warrants), the nature of which is unclear in the booking records. This statistic is carefully being compiled and will be presented in a future edition. How many of these unidentified writs involved drug charges subsequently dropped for whatever the reason? Good question, no? This is precisely why it is terribly difficult to assess whether there was any deliberate overloading of the jail by NET or Sheriff's Deputies. Whether or not there was in fact any deliberate attempt, however, the number of inmates incarcerated on relatively petty charges is indeed high. This figure is also being compiled and will be published in a future edition. While the number of NET arrests may or may not be significant, what about the conviction rate? A lot more digging will have to be done.

Sadly, NET has a well-earned reputation for conducting warrantless searches. Worse yet, there have been numerous credible allegations of unconstitutional tactics used by abusive officers to place enormous pressure on citizens to sign consent to search forms. This publication has received a number of complaints from NET victims too intimidated to allow publication of their stories.

The paralyzing fear experienced by so many is precisely why fascist organizations like NET operate with impunity, -- while our illustrious DA and his apparently equally corrupt cohorts ignore their oaths of office. Readers are gently reminded this is the United States, -- not Nazi Germany. Innocent citizens DON'T live in fear of abusive police agencies and their corrupt handlers.

It's indeed time for NET Commander Dwight Hardin to fully explain the nature of former Co-Commander Brent Nichol's demotion to sergeant, -- supposedly for "administrative reasons". What "administrative reasons", Commander? Why wasn't he fired? ... Does he have too much on his fellow officers? Equally pointedly, why wasn't Nichols criminally investigated? Credible street sources strongly assert this officer is "dirty" as well as abusive. Two attorneys have also privately asserted NET has lost cases in the courtroom when Nichols in effect pleaded the Fifth on the stand during interrogation. Where's our illustrious District Attorney Sam Oatman?

... A gentle reminder: As previously mentioned, the pop-up and banner advertising belongs to Maxpages. _The Ledger receives no income from either, and remains non-profit. As always, this publication needs and appreciates donations from readers. Sadly, no other publication is willing to challenge corrupt and abusive officials. Readers can expect continued aggressive, relentless, officious, tireless pursuit of our most egregious offenders. ... Figuratively speaking, a "take no prisoners" approach, regardless of whose toes are stepped on, feathers ruffled, or tail feathers plucked. Things CAN change in our community. Be part of it. Help me to help you.

Tim Chorney, Publisher



Tim Chorney, Publisher
P.O. Box 997
Buchanan Dam Tx. 78609

llanoledger@mailcity.com

Page Updated Tue Oct 9, 2001 1:31pm EDT