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The evil empire of Warren County Sheriff Larry Cleveland is nearing an end.
The walls are tumbling down.
 The beginning of the long awaited and warranted end of the dictatorial reign of Larry Cleveland came with the sinking of the Ethan Allen and the now infamous "blow in my face" test implemented by Cleveland in his determination that his buddy, boat captain and former state trooper Richard Paris hadn't been drinking and wasn't under the influence of drugs.
Let's not forget that the supervising officer of the sheriff's marine unit is Lt. Robert Smith, convicted of driving while intoxicated and causing the death of a young Brant Lake man. Although a part-time sheriff's officer at the time he caused the fatal accident in 1989, he wasn't terminated by Cleveland and then sheriff Fred Lamy. He was advanced to a full-time position, then promoted to sergeant and now to lieutenant in charge of the marine division which is being nationally criticized for its handling of the Ethan Allen accident.
Witnesses at the lakeside that fateful date last October tell of the sheriff's marine patrols arriving on the scene and allegedly standing on their boats watching while private boaters were trying to rescue people.
The Ethan Allen tragedy came on the heels of the highly critical state audit of the sheriff's department undertaken by the state Comptroller's office and released last fall which revealed the mishandling of money by Cleveland and the sheriff's department.
http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/audits/2005/counties/warren.htm
And then there was the revelation that Cleveland had apparently taken it upon himself to give away taxpayer property without authorization, allegedly giving the New York State Police the office furnishings from the former department quarters at the municipal center when the agency moved into the new multi-million public safety building.
There's the long known problem in the sheriff's department involving discrimination involving females and the pending complaints before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. No female investigators, no female sergeants. Cleveland won't even hire a female patrol officer unless it's a lateral transfer or one moving from communications into patrol division.
Larry Cleveland is not as autonomous as he likes to think he is. This control obsession of Cleveland is dangerous. He can't simply dispose of taxpayer owned property without the approval of the county board of supervisors and the appropriate advertising and bidding process for surplus property.
The public is getting fed up with Cleveland and what's more important, the public is finally beginning to realize what and who Larry Cleveland is.
Now Cleveland's got corrections officers who are playing Robo Cop on the Interstate, chasing female motorists at 100 mph because of what the correction officer perceives as a traffic infraction and then unbelievably frisking the female on a traffic stop.
Cleveland's got unmarked cars out chasing speeders but who are instead causing accidents by doing illegal u-turns in traffic.
It's a bunch of Keystone Kops but then it didn't just start. It's always been like that as long as Cleveland and former sheriff Fred Lamy have been in control of the county's law enforcement. It's just that now the spotlight is on and more people are watching, and rightfully so. Public scrutiny of Larry Cleveland is long overdue.
Then there's the matter of Jeff Clarke, who Cleveland seeks to terminate because he fired his gun at a fleeing motorist whose vehicle had just knocked a radio from the belt of another officer.
Who is Larry Cleveland to be sitting in judgment of anyone? This is a person that should not be in any position of power and definitely not in law enforcement. He should have been prosecuted and jailed a long time ago. This is an individual who has been accused of sexual molestation of children. His primary accuser successfully passed a polygraph test; Cleveland refused to take a test.
Cleveland was in such power in 1999 at the time of the sex scandal that reportedly the district attorney, who had plans on prosecuting Cleveland, was told by the Republican powers that be in the county that he wouldn't be endorsed for another term because he planned to bring charges against Cleveland.
But now the Republican power in the county is flailing with the resignation of Mike O'Connor and his rumored legal problems. Does former sheriff's investigator William VanNess, now chairman of the Queensbury Republican Committee, have aspirations to further climb the political ladder-does he have his eye on becoming sheriff? We sure he does as he's been talking about it for over eight years but that would be like going from the kettle into the fire. This is the individual who allegedly erased exculpatory material from a videotape to guarantee a wrongful conviction and helped to cost Warren County taxpayers over $200,000. VanNess isn't someone Warren County residents want in office either.
Cleveland's judgment was so flawed that he chased a motorcyclist through the congested streets of Lake George at the high of the tourist season during the early 80s, causing the death of an innocent elderly Canadian woman pedestrian and maiming the cyclist, all for a speeding ticket.
Shortly thereafter, Cleveland was involved in yet another accident allegedly involving speed, enough for the county's insurance carrier to threaten to stop covering the county if Cleveland continued to drive a county vehicle.
And Cleveland's high speed antics and tactics continue although now as sheriff he has no fear that he will be disciplined by a superior officer or the board of supervisors.
The only ones who control him now are the voters and we don't think he can't survive another election, especially without the county Republican endorsement.
The lawsuits against Cleveland and the department for his unconstitutional policies and practices are piling up, obligating the taxpayers of Warren County for his obstinate, belligerent, retaliatory practices and abuse of position. For more than 10 years, Cleveland has violated the equal protection rights and due process rights of North Country Gazette publisher June Maxam, retaliated against her for her exercise of First Amendment rights, engaging in an unconstitutional prior restraint by refusing to provide NCG with copies of news releases that other members of the media are provided, refusing to provide public information to the NCG. This vendetta of Cleveland against the publisher for her reports concerning the Warren County Sheriff's Department escalated into multiple false arrests and unlawful imprisonments, including his failed attempt earlier this year to unlawfully incarcerate her after filing alleged falsified reports and affidavits with the Warren County Court.
Larry Cleveland should never be in a position of authority and power anywhere. For all too many years, he has abused that power, both within the department and in the public. There are horror stories from department members of acts by Cleveland, of the favoritism exercised. There are allegations that he has used his position to threaten, to retaliate against and control department members, members of the Republican committee, the media, other public officers and the public at large while conversely covering up for and protecting individuals who should have been prosecuted long ago.
Perhaps the largest contributing factor to Cleveland's reign of terror has been and continues to be The Post-Star and in particular, reporter Don Lehman who acts as Cleveland's public relations firm rather than a watchdog for the public. By their own admission, when the county and ultimately Larry Cleveland had a huge image problem with the capsizing of the Ethan Allen and the deaths of 20 senior citizens, Cleveland himself called Don Lehman at home and immediately sought to engage the wheels of damage control by trying to control what the local press revealed about the accident and how the sheriff's department handled it.
The Post-Star has long been recognized for its biased coverage of the Warren County area, its selective reporting and attacks on certain individuals while covering up for others and in particular, the slanted reporting pertaining to Cleveland and the sheriff's department. The daily newspaper failed to publicize the highly critical state audit of the sheriff's department. The Post-Star seems to be more interested in covering Saratoga County than they are in reporting the news of Warren County leading many to question just how much has The Post-Star covered up for Cleveland and others in Warren County government, especially the courts.
The daily newspaper fails to report when lawsuits are filed against the sheriff's department and the county, doesn't report their outcomes, fails to report when cases brought by the sheriff's department and district attorney's office are dismissed after seriously financially obligating the county and its taxpayers. The Post-Star is more about what it doesn't report than what it does.
That could change with a new publisher, one who doesn't have any roots to the area and who presumably isn't controlled by Cleveland. Best of all, the new publisher is a woman. Cleveland has long had a problem with women, especially aggressive women who don't cowtow to him.
Now that the Cleveland reign is spiraling towards demise, even The Post-Star can't cover it up anymore and inching away from Cleveland who presumably has already been told not to plan on seeking reelection in 2007. With the demise of county Republican chairman Mike O'Connor, Cleveland's support base is crumbling.
A letter to the editor by Queensbury resident Steve Knickerbocker appearing in The Post Star this past week was right on target, starting off asking "Is Larry Cleveland for real?"
"His sergeant Tony Breen is almost run down and King Larry wants to fire Jeff Clarke for shooting out the tire of the speeding car?"
While we concur with Cleveland that Clarke should not have fired at the fleeing car, we don't think termination is warranted. Cleveland himself has failed in far worse judgment calls which resulted in the death and serious injury of individuals yet he wasn't terminated. In fact, he was hardly punished.
And how are the due process rights of Jeff Clarke protected. Although he's afforded the right to a mock administrative hearing, ultimately Cleveland has the final say as to whether or not he'll keep his job. That's not due process, that's a dictatorship---an unlawful, unconstitutional autonomy that deserves to be overthrown by people power.
While Knickerbocker claims he doesn't know Breen or Clarke, he knows them well enough to know that Sgt. Robert Breen is commonly known as "Tony" and that Clarke is no "kiss-up" to Cleveland. No doubt if it had been Larry's "best friend" John Shine who had shot at the fleeing car, he would have been awarded the Sheriff's Medal of Honor and commended at high noon in front of the Warren County Municipal Center instead of threatened with termination.
Cleveland's power base is crumbling and the walls are tumbling down around him.
It's about time.
The public will be much safer and better served without Larry Cleveland as Sheriff of Warren County.
8-29-06
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101205ClevelandWarrenCo.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/010106PoliceFurnishings.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/123105EthanAllenDWI.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/050106SheriffFingered.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/040106ByeByeLarry.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/072906NotExactlyRight.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/030706FailToJail.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/021906ColorOfLaw.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/081606ShootingOfficer.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/051606IllegalTurn.html
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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