Word on the grapevine for months has been that there is a culture of secrecy within the town of Dewey Beach. Word has been that if you scratch a little below the surface of the town, a hemorrhaging wound will appear. The latest scandal to rock the small beach town has to do with 12-year Dewey Beach Police Dept. veteran Erik Campbell. 

According to his attorney Martin Haverly: “Erik Campbell was retaliated against and harassed in a variety of ways simply because he filed grievances with the Dewey Beach Police Dept.” 

Grievances that Campbell supposedly filed:
*Town Manager Gordon Elliot abused the DelGIS Criminal Record System
*A failure to implement the use of taser guns.

Retaliation:
*Excessively demoted by Present Chief Mackert
*Mackert said: “you’re making your own life harder than it has to be by filing grievances” 

Campbell has said basically was demoted just for doing his job. The most startling is the above alleged quote of Dewey Police Chief Samuel Mackert. Mackert has a colorful past of his own. None of us forget the crime Mackert was convicted of in 1996, do we? I’m sorry.. It would be wrong to bring up past charges and crimes when dealing with a brand new case, right? Enter Pat Wright.. (To be continued below) 

“Hello I’m Sam Mackert” — When I asked Haverly if others with, perhaps, a more colorful past had been promoted above Campbell, his response spoke volumes: “It’s hard for me to discuss all the evidence. I believe there would be some people that we could compare.. Those people are third parties, they have rights, too.” 

The Retaliation Continues? First His Rank, Now His Good Name? Enter Pat Wright
How odd a coincidence that directly following my interview with Haverly comes chiming in former Dewey Mayor Pat Wright.. “I really like Erik as a person, He’s a nice guy, but, I want to bring up a previous lawsuit that was brought against Erik.” Ta Da. Let’s bring him down a notch, shall we, Pat? “They make some accusations against Erik that are sort of consistent with his personality, and he got off on this one, but the town of Dewey Beach stood behind him and they’ve always stood behind him.. and Erik, this is not the first time he’s got into a little bit of trouble… It just shows you that there is a consistent problem with Erik.. but, I don’t really want to get into it.” 

However, according to the Cape Gazette: Rob Witsil, acting town attorney, said he sees no correlation between the suits. Then why bring it up except as an assault on Erik’s character? Also, who alerted the Gazette as to the existence of the 2003 lawsuit that Campbell was involved in? 

Lest We Forget
To me, the uncovering of the 2003 lawsuit looks undoubtedly like a smoke screen.. In fact the fog was so thick coming to work on Tuesday morning; I barely made it in alive. The questions still remain…were Campbell’s original grievances legit? Did Elliot abuse the DelGIS system to look up the background of a town employee? Was Campbell retaliated against for breaking that cone of silence? …and what about those tasers, anyway?

Just a few thoughts to get used to posting on this blog:

This could be a daily topic on the radio show, the interest is huge.  Georgetown police Chief Topping mentioned his forces spend about 70% of the department resources for what amounts to just over 30% of the Georgetown population.  The medical community and the local schools are having a tough time handling the immigration influx for sure, but the most difficult stories to hear are from the everyday Sussex Countians who deal with the crimes associated with the “undocumented” residents.  The drunk driving, driving without insurance, and the accidents with unlicensed drivers stories hurt the pocketbook of the legal resident here.  The costs associated with special Spanish language court nights are also very real.  And do the pictures taken in Georgtown by Sheriff Reed really say “MS-13”?  Yes they do.  Georgetown seems to be turning a blind eye to illegal behavior, just for the sake of keeping the peace with our new Latino neighbors.  I hear stories of code enforcement officers turning a blind eye to housing violations by Hispanics. The police chief admits to letting immigrants get away with using aliases and carrying fake documents evident by this blurb from the State News:

Georgetown Police Chief William Topping said his officers are trained to ask immigrants in traffic stops or other encounters for their “real name” and their “work name.”“We tell them, ‘We don’t care what you tell Perdue, but you need to tell us your real name,’” Chief Topping said. His force of 18 officers now includes two Spanish speakers, and two years ago the local court instituted a Spanish arraignment night each Tuesday.
Chief Topping said local police don’t try to determine a person’s immigration status. They don’t accompany federal immigration agents on raids. Chief Topping said the goal is to win the trust of the Hispanic community so crime victims are willing to work with police, without fear of being deported. “My take is that they’re not leaving. My best bet is to make them educated about the criminal justice system here, and I definitely feel like we’re making headway,” Chief Topping said.What would happen if you were using a  fake name around town?  Perdue seems to know that fake names are being used by employees, (you’d have to be brain dead to not see this in Georgetown)  but take a relaxed attitude, according to this from the News Journal:What would happen if you were using a  fake name around town?  Perdue seems to know that fake names are being used by employees, (you’d have to be brain dead to not see this in Georgetown)  but take a relaxed attitude, according to this from the News Journal:About 75 percent of the 1,700 employees at Perdue’s Georgetown plant are Guatemalan. Spokeswoman Julie DeYoung said employees must present proper documentation to be hired. However, the company is not in a position to say whether the documents are valid, she said.
What would happen if you were using a  fake name around town?  Perdue seems to know that fake names are being used by employees, (you’d have to be brain dead to not see this in Georgetown)  but take a relaxed attitude, according to this from the News Journal:Hey Perdue, call an auditor and check out the validity of your I-9 forms if you want to be a good neighbor. What would happen if you were using a  fake name around town?  Perdue seems to know that fake names are being used by employees, (you’d have to be brain dead to not see this in Georgetown)  but take a relaxed attitude, according to this from the News Journal:What would happen if you were using a  fake name around town?  Perdue seems to know that fake names are being used by employees, (you’d have to be brain dead to not see this in Georgetown)  but take a relaxed attitude, according to this from the News Journal:

What would happen if you were using a  fake name around town?  Perdue seems to know that fake names are being used by employees, (you’d have to be brain dead to not see this in Georgetown)  but take a relaxed attitude, according to this from the News Journal: 

About 75 percent of the 1,700 employees at Perdue’s Georgetown plant are Guatemalan. Spokeswoman Julie DeYoung said employees must present proper documentation to be hired. However, the company is not in a position to say whether the documents are valid, she said.

 

Hey Perdue, call an auditor and check out the validity of your I-9 forms if you want to be a good neighbor. The town of Georgetown simply has no leadership.  Even Mayor Wyatt in the latest issue of El Tiempo Hispano talks about  riding with the police and letting intoxicated Hispanics, drinking publicly in the streets, walk away after being caught red handed by police.

The problems associated with illegal residents will only get worse unless Georgetown starts acting a little like Hazelton PA.