Somebody help me out here. In Crandon, WI, the perp was only 20.

[raccoon]

Someone posted, "Sheriff's Deputy at age 20?" and received the response,

"Not uncommon in rural areas...

It's one of those "college degree preferred" jobs where they like somebody with a degree in law enforcement, but the reality is that with only 11,000 residents in the whole county, that's not likely."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=3020056#3020273

My impression was that the job market in this general area, especially Michigan, was very soft. Seems like there would be college-educated people applying for law enforcement positions even in a small town like Crandon. Law enforcement positions, IME, do include benefits--hard to come by these days.

Of course, it's possible small towns like this are reluctant to hire outsiders, thinking that they won't stay long anyway.

Any thoughts?

[ret5hd]

1. The reluctance to hire outsiders (IMO) has more to do with...

the fact that the "outsider" wouldn't be as apt to let the mayor's son out of that DUI or the councilmans daughter out of that Simple Possession charge.

[raccoon]

2. Good thinking. nt

[Freddie Stubbs]

3. Many law enforcement jobs only require an associates degree

[Nitrogenica]

4. I am very familiar with Crandon, my wife grew up there, and

we have a lot of relatives there. Some of them are the most racist, closed minded, Bush supporting people I have ever met. I remember when they visited me in Minneapolis they could hardly say anything without some racist insult about the neighborhood we live in (Keith Ellison's district).

I don't know about broad brushing all small towns, however in Crandon, there definately is a hatred of "outsiders" by some...however they call them "tourists".

My wife doesn't think it's much of an issue, however, she says most of the law enforcement officers, including her brother who's a Vilas County sherriff, have been in law enforcement all of their lives.

[NorthernSpy]

8. Straight outta Crandon!: Crandon's murder rate is now 300 per 100,000...

That's 4.5 times higher than the murder rate of Compton, California -- the murder capital of the United States!

Some of them are the most racist, closed minded, Bush supporting people I have ever met. I remember when they visited me in Minneapolis they could hardly say anything without some racist insult about the neighborhood we live in (Keith Ellison's district).

Hope they do something about that white-on-white violence problem of theirs.

[EST]

5. In the rural area where I live, bringing in someone from "out of town"

would be widely viewed with suspicion and seen as an insult.
The decision to employ a twenty year old, however, seems to be to have had to have been a "good ol' buddy" choice. There are twenty year olds who have the maturity to resist yielding to emothional impulses but they are the exceptions, not the rule.

I don't know the people of that area or how the fellow was chosen for such a position of responsibility, but as a reasonably mature human with a lot of years of experience, it seems to me that some political heads should roll--figuratively, of course.
It was a really dumb idea.


Edit to add: There is no way in hell that late teens or other twenty somethings are going to have any respect for a contemporary, even with a badge. Since we don't have a good treatment of why this rascal went off like he did, it's probably safe to assume only that these were people he knew and in whom he had some kind of enormous emotional investment. Bad combination.

[papau]

6. there's a talk show thought that he was bullied by these folks in school but was working on being

friends with them - a blame the victim scenario that he himself did not buy per his friend that was with him post the shootings and before his death.

But reality is that in a small town you can't just ignore folks you don't like or that hurt you because they are always around you.

It would obviously have been better if he had moved away from the family - but nobody wants to do that - and most folks are under the mistaken impression that they can change the people around them.

[BadgerLaw2010]

7. It is massively hard to draw outside talent for *anything* to the North Woods.

There's actually a very active effort at University of Wisconsin to try to encourage law students to go into private practice in more "outstate" areas, because of how dramatically underserved it is.

Basically, people not from there don't want to go there, and a lot of the less insular young people want to leave.

It might as well be a different state from the Chicagoland and I-94 corridor parts of Wisconsin.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. That's my post you're talking about...

And having grown up in a rural area, several of the "kids" from my high school wound up as police officers, sherrif's deputies, and fire fighters. None of them went to college -- although many have taken classes at the local community college (local being fifty miles away) and some may actually have associates degrees by this time.

You have an incredibly small labor pool to draw from in these areas. Forest County's population is only 11,000 and it tends to skew older (kids tend to leave for the big city after high school). Your only hope for recruiting is to find somebody who really (really) likes hunting and snowmobiling and wants to live in the county for lifestyle reasons. But the fact is, if you really want to be a cop, this isn't the job for you. Sherrif's Deputies in Forest County spend more time rescuing drunken FIBs from their overturned boats that fighting crime.

[raccoon]

10. FIB's? nt

[LondonReign2]

11. FIBs = Fucking Illinois Bastards

It is a term of endearment...really! ;)

[deaniac21]

12. No matter where you live there is a very fine line between criminal

and police.

[ret5hd]

13. Line? What line? I don't see no stinking line!