WTF, you get what you vote for.
There’s a new sheriff in town in Washtenaw County, Michigan, who is pushing for major changes to how the sheriff’s department enforces laws and policies that she says are important to protecting the environment.
Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, a former deputy who became a social worker, is focused on protecting the community “from the negative environmental and human health impacts of pollution and climate change.” Dyer, a Democrat, was sworn in earlier this month, becoming Washtenaw County’s first female sheriff after she pulled out an upset victory in the Democratic Party primary in August and ran unopposed in the general election.
In a phone interview with The Daily Wire, the new sheriff emphasized that under her leadership, the sheriff’s department will drastically change its outlook on environmental issues and said that she wants to implement an “Environmental Crimes Unit” in her first term, which would focus on looking into “air pollution, water contamination, and hazardous waste management.”
“The sheriff’s office historically hasn’t been necessarily a strong champion in this work, but there’s no reason we can’t be,” Dyer said.
Washtenaw County — which encompasses Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located — had the 10th highest crime rate among Michigan counties in 2021, and in each of the following years, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office reported over 1,000 assault offenses, over 900 larceny/theft offenses, and more than 100 sex offenses.
Dyer told The Daily Wire that bringing down violent crime in Washtenaw County is “connected” to fighting for environmental justice and prioritizing officers’ “mental health and wellness.”
“It’s all connected. Looking at, number one, I talked a lot about officer mental health and wellness. Officers can’t effectively do their jobs if they’re not taking care of themselves. Looking at the environment, looking at corporate polluters, looking at the quality of life for residents, it has a really big impact on wellbeing.”
Dyer argued that it’s important for the sheriff’s department to focus on “creating better environments for the community.”
Instituting environmental policies in the sheriff’s department would begin with reducing vehicle emissions from the department’s patrol car fleet, according to the new sheriff. To accomplish this, Dyer suggested placing new systems in patrol cars that cut back on gas or potentially moving to electric vehicles.
“We have the largest fleet in the county,” Dyer said. “So we’re thinking about moving toward reducing vehicle emissions. There’s another sheriff’s office, I believe it was in Santa Barbara, California, and they put idling reduction systems in their cars, saved 260 gallons of gasoline. Also adding remote starters so deputies aren’t leaving their vehicles running all day, so it’s easy to turn them on and off — things like that.”
Dyer said she plans to cut back on the number of patrol vehicles on the road and put two deputies in a patrol car instead of one, a move the sheriff said will help cut back on emissions. The main reason for pairing up deputies, according to Dyer, however, is to “help reduce vehicle crashes” and “lower stress” on officers who are currently working 16-hour shifts.
“The last thing I want is officers out here sleep-deprived with a gun, angry, driving around. No one wants that,” Dyer added.
Asked if the sheriff’s department has any plan to hire more deputies, Dyer replied, “We do need to fill some spots because we are probably the shortest in road patrol that we have been in a very long time, which has created a lot of forced overtime, which has hurt morale, hurt staff, and in turn, has hurt the community.”
“We’re trying to get hiring up. It has been harder to hire in law enforcement because everyone is hiring,” the sheriff continued. “So that is something we’re definitely focused on.”
Dyer wrote on her campaign website that she will prioritize “diversity” and “inclusivity” in the hiring process. She lamented that “the Sheriff’s Office is predominantly male, white, and not representative of our LGBTQ+ population” and vowed to ensure “that hiring practices are inclusive.”
The new sheriff will partner with a leftist prosecutor, Eli Savit, who was just re-elected after running unopposed, according to a report from Bolts. Savit was first elected to office in 2020 amid the protests and riots that spread across the country after George Floyd’s death in police custody. The leftist prosecutor has taken a soft-on-crime approach to criminal justice and has also pushed “environmental initiatives in Michigan and across the country.”
Dyer also said she’s looking forward to partnering with the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office to go after corporate crimes, such as “wage theft” and “tip theft.”
“Hand-in-hand with the environmental crimes is also the corporate crimes,” she said.
www.dailywire.com
There’s a new sheriff in town in Washtenaw County, Michigan, who is pushing for major changes to how the sheriff’s department enforces laws and policies that she says are important to protecting the environment.
Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, a former deputy who became a social worker, is focused on protecting the community “from the negative environmental and human health impacts of pollution and climate change.” Dyer, a Democrat, was sworn in earlier this month, becoming Washtenaw County’s first female sheriff after she pulled out an upset victory in the Democratic Party primary in August and ran unopposed in the general election.
In a phone interview with The Daily Wire, the new sheriff emphasized that under her leadership, the sheriff’s department will drastically change its outlook on environmental issues and said that she wants to implement an “Environmental Crimes Unit” in her first term, which would focus on looking into “air pollution, water contamination, and hazardous waste management.”
“The sheriff’s office historically hasn’t been necessarily a strong champion in this work, but there’s no reason we can’t be,” Dyer said.
Washtenaw County — which encompasses Ann Arbor, where the University of Michigan is located — had the 10th highest crime rate among Michigan counties in 2021, and in each of the following years, the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office reported over 1,000 assault offenses, over 900 larceny/theft offenses, and more than 100 sex offenses.
Dyer told The Daily Wire that bringing down violent crime in Washtenaw County is “connected” to fighting for environmental justice and prioritizing officers’ “mental health and wellness.”
“It’s all connected. Looking at, number one, I talked a lot about officer mental health and wellness. Officers can’t effectively do their jobs if they’re not taking care of themselves. Looking at the environment, looking at corporate polluters, looking at the quality of life for residents, it has a really big impact on wellbeing.”
Dyer argued that it’s important for the sheriff’s department to focus on “creating better environments for the community.”
Instituting environmental policies in the sheriff’s department would begin with reducing vehicle emissions from the department’s patrol car fleet, according to the new sheriff. To accomplish this, Dyer suggested placing new systems in patrol cars that cut back on gas or potentially moving to electric vehicles.
“We have the largest fleet in the county,” Dyer said. “So we’re thinking about moving toward reducing vehicle emissions. There’s another sheriff’s office, I believe it was in Santa Barbara, California, and they put idling reduction systems in their cars, saved 260 gallons of gasoline. Also adding remote starters so deputies aren’t leaving their vehicles running all day, so it’s easy to turn them on and off — things like that.”
Dyer said she plans to cut back on the number of patrol vehicles on the road and put two deputies in a patrol car instead of one, a move the sheriff said will help cut back on emissions. The main reason for pairing up deputies, according to Dyer, however, is to “help reduce vehicle crashes” and “lower stress” on officers who are currently working 16-hour shifts.
“The last thing I want is officers out here sleep-deprived with a gun, angry, driving around. No one wants that,” Dyer added.
Asked if the sheriff’s department has any plan to hire more deputies, Dyer replied, “We do need to fill some spots because we are probably the shortest in road patrol that we have been in a very long time, which has created a lot of forced overtime, which has hurt morale, hurt staff, and in turn, has hurt the community.”
“We’re trying to get hiring up. It has been harder to hire in law enforcement because everyone is hiring,” the sheriff continued. “So that is something we’re definitely focused on.”
Dyer wrote on her campaign website that she will prioritize “diversity” and “inclusivity” in the hiring process. She lamented that “the Sheriff’s Office is predominantly male, white, and not representative of our LGBTQ+ population” and vowed to ensure “that hiring practices are inclusive.”
The new sheriff will partner with a leftist prosecutor, Eli Savit, who was just re-elected after running unopposed, according to a report from Bolts. Savit was first elected to office in 2020 amid the protests and riots that spread across the country after George Floyd’s death in police custody. The leftist prosecutor has taken a soft-on-crime approach to criminal justice and has also pushed “environmental initiatives in Michigan and across the country.”
Dyer also said she’s looking forward to partnering with the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office to go after corporate crimes, such as “wage theft” and “tip theft.”
“Hand-in-hand with the environmental crimes is also the corporate crimes,” she said.
New Sheriff In Major Michigan County Wants To Fight Violent Crime Through ‘Environmental Justice’
There’s a new sheriff in town in Washtenaw County, Michigan, who is pushing for major changes to how the sheriff’s department enforces laws and policies that she says are important to protecting the environment. Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, a former deputy who became a social worker, is focused on...
