Kershaw County Sheriff and Federal agent Jim Matthews claims tactics save lives, continues to build police state
by Jeff Mattox
Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews is claiming his tough tactics are the reason for a 70% drop in DUI related deaths in the rural South Carolina County. 70% decline sounds like a major victory for this former DEA agent and is being used by the sheriff and his media guru wife Heather Hoopes to tout what a great thing he has done for the county but things are not always as they seem. Last year there were 4 DUI related deaths in Kershaw County, out of 62,000 residents, and the sheriff claimed there was an epidemic of drunk drivers in Kershaw County even as the numbers clearly show that there is little problem relative to the total residents in the county.
This year there are a total of 4 DUI related deaths and yet the sheriff wants to ignore two of those and claim a great reduction. This is just a tactic used by law enforcement to justify their actions and their jobs. If we see a drop from 7 to 5 deaths the percentage drop is great even though relative to the total population it is insignificant. State wide there were 26,000 DUI arrests out of a total population of 3.2 million which is 0.008125% of the population hardly an epidemic but does make some great headlines for the government propaganda machine.
DUI deaths fluctuate with each passing year as does the total number of highway deaths and can be attributed to many factors including weather, what day a holiday falls on, or even how many squirrels are on the roads, but there is little to prove that anything the sheriff or SCHP does effects these numbers. For fun let’s take the 12 deaths in Kershaw County from last year and divide that by the number of residents within the county, 62,000. This easy math problem shows that the percentage of residents killed in accidents is 0.0001935% of the entire county population. The sheriff says there was an epidemic of drunk driving deaths but with a total of 4 alcohol related deaths the percentage of residents killed is small, around 0.0000645%.
Of course Matthews, along with almost every law enforcement officer, will never talk about these numbers because it makes their jobs seem insignificant and the cost benefit does not add up. That is why they use the total number of deaths, whether higher or lower, as the starting point because any change at all gives greater credence to either how good a job they are doing or why they need more money, cops, and heavy handed tactics to battle a boogeyman that really does not exist.
This is not to say I advocate driving while intoxicated it is merely to point out that law enforcement plays with the numbers in order to justify anything they do and secure more funding. The fact is drunk drivers are a very small percentage of the overall population and law enforcement along with all their proponents have created an illusion that there are drunks in almost every vehicle on the road.
Politicians, media, and law enforcement use statistics to baffle the public with bullshit.
It is important to recognize that whenever government itself enters into policy debate, it has the ability to drown out all other voices, and has done so in the law enforcement arena here.
As the NHTSA web site shows Law enforcement is well versed in these tactics. They use them to great effect when talking about drugs, DUI’s, Rapes, robberies and many other scenarios. The federal government is law enforcement’s best friend providing anything needed to sway public opinion, influence judges, and even prosecute cases.
Sheriff Matthews and his Media propaganda are touting his use of aggressive tactics as a reason for lower death rates and a great accomplishment even though they know it has nothing to do with law enforcement in general. Had the number gone up Matthews would be touting an epidemic and calling for more money and cops to defend against the tide of DUI’s. Every media outlet around Kershaw County promotes the law enforcement line while all voices in opposition are ignored or demonized as radicals or extremists.
Whenever you hear law enforcement use statistics grasp a large box of salt to take with what is being espoused because hidden behind these statistics is the underlying truth. They are playing with the truth to promote their own agenda. Remember it this is a game for money and power, it is that plain and simple.
“We’re out to change behavior”, Matthews said,” We’re not out to ruin someone’s day.”
The administrator of the KCSO Facebook page said this about checkpoints,” Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office @ Tim Taylor: I am not a fan of those checkpoints, but the courts have ruled them legal. Not the old drug checkpoints which are not, but the DUI checkpoints are. I don’t even like the term “checkpoints.” It has a sinister connotation. I would rather have officers out patrolling.”
Then in an article on the KCSO page SC trooper Kelly Hughes states, “We will have a lot of DUI checkpoints; we’ll have saturated areas where we see most DUI crashes occurring and we’ll have some nighttime safety belt enforcement.”
Matthews has never denied the use of checkpoints, just that he does not like them. His deputies regularly participate in partnership with the Highway Patrol in order to give him some sort of plausible deniability.
Fear is the tool of law enforcement and Matthews’ officers are under “orders” to make traffic stops for any infraction no matter how minor and to gain the driver’s permission to search the vehicle. This is done by intimidation and threat. Usually the officer will say something like, “do you mind if I look inside the vehicle?” If the driver questions the officer the response will be along the line of,” If you have nothing to hide why don’t you want me to look in the vehicle?” They may even say something like this,” It will be a lot easier on you if you cooperate.” They may even threaten the driver with a warrant but the whole stop was in fact made to garner a contact and make a search, what is known in the realms of the DEA as” fishing for gold”. The idea is twofold, first to make every person afraid of police and two, increase tickets and arrests to make it look like they are really making a difference and raise revenues. These tactics border lining on terrorizing the population and in particular the youth of the county should not be tolerated.
If we are going to tolerate these kinds of actions then why not have checkpoints at all intersections? Why not install breathalyzers in all vehicles? Remember, if it is fair to all and it is for the safety of all why should you mind if every time you get in your car you must blow into a tube before starting it? Now that is going too far you say? What’s the difference between checkpoints and in car sobriety checks other than the frequency of the check? And, would it make the roadways even safer? And, if you don’t drink and drive what do you have to hide? Is there something that you are not telling us? “I have been stopped many times” stated one 19 year old man,” They always want to search my car. I have gotten only one ticket and that was for a seat belt but it always comes down to the search.”
I refused to let them search my car and the guy started threatening me and yelling” said another young driver,” They target all us young people. All my friends hate them.”
One older man from Kershaw County stated, “Matthews and his goons have a rob and pillage policy.” They claim that all this ticketing saves lives but people still speed down the interstate and they keep writing tickets. I think it is about money and power and less about safety.”
“All he wants is his face on the TV” said another “He cannot prove that his gestapo tactics have changed anything except people don’t trust them anymore.” The 40 something, mother of three said.
“Matthews won’t even talk to someone who complains, he has some guy named Templar that runs interference for him.”
“His town hall meetings reminded me of something that the Nazis would have. You had to submit written questions and the sheriff went through them and only answered those he wanted to and ignored the others. He is a coward; I think he is a small man scared of his shadow.” stated yet another Kershaw County resident.
Force and intimidation are the tools of tyrants no matter if it is for good or evil.
To place a population under perpetual state of fear is the mark of a tyrant and to force those same people to pay for its application is despotism. With every passing year the American surveillance police state becomes increasingly powerful and over reaching. Each time the public allows these tyrants another encroachment on the rights of individuals the Constitution fades in its importance.
Each and every step of the way the excuse given is it is all for the safety and security of all and we, as individuals, must give up a little more of our rights in order to protect us all.
Where do we draw the line in the sand? When is enough, enough? The past one hundred years has seen the growth of a police force that looks and feels more like an occupying force rather than a sheriff elected to protect the rights of the individual from majority rule.
We have become a nation in living in fear, promoted and kept alive by those who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and the rights contained within. Government and law enforcement have partnered together, each standing to gain power and control, at every infringement of individual rights, and grow their respective organizations.
DUI related deaths in Kershaw County are not down 70% yet the sheriff is painted as a hero, but the king has no clothes.
Their lie is they are providing security; the truth is they are taking away freedom.
Sheriff Matthews has been well trained in police state tactics, as his web site shows, including media propaganda and public information training (Edward Béarnaise would be proud) from the DEA as well as airport Interdiction at the NWO’s Denver Airport again under the DEA.
Matthews and his lovely wife, Miss Heather, are now seeking a major increase in funding as he continues to use the federal playbook to justify his vision of a world of safety by force.
In what can only be characterized as self- promoting conceit Matthews blames, county council, and the people themselves for not providing him with everything he wants for his police state.
“The powers that be and the public have allowed this problem to increase over time and now we are faced with an expensive fix.” Matthews wrote in an article in the Camden based Chronicle and Independent, a longtime supporter of Matthews. The “expensive fix” he is referring to is revealed as he compares his department with the adjacent county of Lancaster who has 12 deputies per shift while Kershaw County has either 6 or 4 depending on the time of day.
He writes that both departments responded to “approximately” 43,000 calls for service over the course of last year. “They (Lancaster County) have about 10,000 more residents. The difference is they handled this with 12 deputies per shift. As a result Lancaster’s response times are significantly shorter and ours remain unacceptably long. Lancaster can prevent crimes while we are relegated to simply responding to them after they occur.”
There are many things about this statement that are revealing and so I will take each in order.
First, Matthews plays on words when he writes 43,000 calls for “service”. As 911 calls come in the are routed to the proper service, law enforcement, EMS, or fire and one may respond while another may not, in fact most calls are for EMS services according to sources in the Kershaw County Emergency services department. So the truth is Matthews has exaggerated the case load of both departments to again push his agenda.
Second, Matthews claims the Lancaster is able to prevent crimes even though they respond to the same amount of “calls for service”. How does Lancaster prevent crime? Are the phone calls coming in coming from psychics or do they have some kind of pre-crime squad intervening? The fact is cops rarely, very rarely prevent anything. Response time is rarely critical as by the time a call comes in the crime has already been committed and the police are there to clean up and make a report.
Matthews wants a massive increase in funding estimated, if fully implemented, to be a $2.5 million increase in addition to the doubling of the KCSO budget since 2009 which was primarily funded through a solid disposal waste fee passed by Kershaw County Council in 2012 raising $1.5 million half of which went to the KCSO.
Sheriff Matthews may actually believe his rhetoric after all he has spent his entire adult life within the halls of the federal government’s law enforcement indoctrination centers and has been trained in the art of propaganda. Matthews is a government agent, one of the best, and he is doing his master's bidding.
Slowly one step at a time, hidden behind the cloak of safety and security, Matthews is building, with the help of his friends, the Fed and local politicians, a brutal, massive, expensive, police state.
Matthews is not alone. Across the nation police departments and sheriff offices are being infiltrated with federal agents like Matthews. They come in on white horses, armed with honors galore and once in office they start to build their little part of what will ultimately become a full-fledged totalitarian police state where citizens will be subject to stop at any time day or night.
They promise security but what you get is tyranny.
As the New Year begins Kershaw County citizens, as many across the nation, will be forced to pay for their own enslavement by those who claim the opposite. What is up is down. Lies have become truth and right has become wrong.
The people will be subjected to another massive propaganda assault by the government and promoted by media outlets across the land.
Will the people be fooled again? Of course and Kershaw County residents will move one step closer to 1984. The big question is, how much more will they take? The sad answer appears to be, whatever their masters dictate.
Feel free to make your own voice heard by contacting the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department. Their contact information is listed below:
At a recent Kershaw County Council meeting a spokesman for the county hospital, Kershaw Health, gave a brief presentation on their newest project, “Live Well Kershaw”. The new program has the stated goal of” making Kershaw County the healthiest in the nation”. Sounds great on the surface, I mean who does not want healthier lives for all? Who is against good health?
How do you think they are going to get you or any of your friends, to eat and live healthier?
The government has for years been telling us how to eat better. Billions in treasure is spent each and every year on the horrors of unhealthy living and yet people get bigger and lazier every year as the commercials and labels pass by unnoticed by most. Is this what the people behind “Live Well Kershaw” have planned, A massive re-education plan for mass media, social media, and direct contact in order to sway you to a different lifestyle? Think that will work? That’s part of the plan and to get the community on board these partners are creating focus groups of citizens in an effort to get citizen “buy in” and make them responsible for success or in an almost assured outcome be blamed for the failure to meet the lofty, all most impossible, goal.
The use of focus groups is a Hegelian- Dialectic method of controlling the group discussion to garner consensus for a predetermined outcome. It is a favorite of socialist and fascist alike and is a staple in their tool bag. Through a series of these “open to the public” focus groups a plan or a list of goals will be established that all the community is expected to sign on too. These goals just so happen to coincide with the first stated goals of the sponsor of the action, in this case the collaboration known as “Live Well Kershaw”. Who are the collaborators and what is their agenda?
In order to understand what is really going on here we must find out where this whole idea began, back to the genesis if you will.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest philanthropic organization in the United States devoted to exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton ,New Jersey. The foundation’s mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans. The foundation has $7.5 billion in assets, generating grants approaching $400 million annually. The foundation aims to use these private resources in service of the public; and in a way that promotes new public policy, inspires action from the private sector, changes systems for delivering the best health care to the most people. For those who don’t speak gobble-de-gook what they are saying is they want managed health care provided at least partially by the private sector. Whenever you here the term the best for the most they are talking the rationing of something.
The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation has been pushing their agenda since the early eighties and using their grant money given to university’s for specific reasons are able to produce all the data, studies, and experts they would ever need in support of their ideas for health care. Since the foundation has been in existence health care cost have increased tenfold even though most of the country listens too and follows the advice of their many minions.
These foundations, of which there are many, have their own resources tucked away in trust funds that bring in the never ending and in fact growing resources to push their own agenda. These foundations are unaccountable to anyone from the outside, not a company not a president, not Congress and most certainly not the public. The Carniege Foundation is for education the same as the RWJF is to health care. There are as many foundations as there are causes in the country all of them pushing an overall socialist/fascist agenda of government control through public private partnerships.
The RWJF is the prime source of funding for the next in line, the Population Heath Institute at the University of Wisconsin which has tasked them with producing the County Health Rankings which can be used to rate any performance measures taken within a certain experimentation zone. The collaboration then finds a county who will let them try out their experiments on an unsuspecting citizenry and another partner to help administer the program. They found these with Kershaw Health and the University of South Carolina.
So now we have the players and it is a list of intellectuals and college professors who want to use you in an experiment to change the way you eat, exercise, live, and yes the way you think..
But in order to accomplish this there must be facilities for you to use as we march toward the goal of being the healthiest county in the nation.
The return of the” Penny for Progress” which it just so happens the hospital was a prime sponsor two years ago, is coming back. The proposed tax was to have paid for new recreation facilities throughout the county but it was defeated in the 2010 election cycle. The tax raised its head for a brief while this past spring but was too restrictive with the way the revenue had to be spent for county council to vote to place it on the ballot but now it is coming back and it is better funded and supported by even more special interest groups than ever.
The idea is that if we build it they will come. The reason you are not healthy is that you do not have the proper place in which to exercise. They do not count the private gyms, parks, woods, or any other place one might exercise, if one wished, oh know it can only be in a government provided, taxpayer funded facility.
Along the same lines this cabal wants to implement a “complete Streets” program. Complete Streets seeks to incorporate bike paths and sidewalks in all future road projects whether it is new roads or upgrades to existing roads. Again this is the theory of build it and they will come. What are the costs that will be added to each mile of complete street? Liberals will say, the benefits outweigh the cost or you cannot put a price on your health but it is always their way when spending your money. Does common sense say that with sidewalks and bike paths across the county the sale of walking shoes and bikes will soar? I would venture to say not but I could be wrong.
This new program, Live Well Kershaw, is yet another attempt to control the people. It is just another in a long list of collaborations funded by unaccountable foundations whose agendas are socialistic in nature on a global scale. The good news may be that, short of force (rules, regulations and laws), their only tool is propaganda but if this fails they may have to resort to the use of force. Time will tell but sooner or later they will come for your Big Mac and the super-sized soda. Until then, Live Well Kershaw.
Kershaw County Council (KCC) Voted 6-1 last Tuesday to create a new fee for solid waste disposal. The $55 fee will be added as another fee to the property tax bills of every property owner in Kershaw county. About 21,000 residents are affected and the fee is estimated to bring in $1.5 million to the county coffers.
The reasons for this new fee at best convoluted if not purposely vague as to confuse the public. KCC Administrator explained it this way, "This (fee) will create a standalone fund independent of the general fund for solid waste to have its own revenue stream coming in. We will be doing everything we've been doing as far as convenience centers, landfills, and recycling, but this will give us the ability to see improvement and increase in services." The bureaucrat continued saying the solid waste department will also not have to compete with other departments, particularly public safety, now that it has its own independent revenue stream.
For most people to understand what Mr. Carpenter said I will translate the bureaucratic pig Latin into plain English: "We want to spend more money and a fee on solid waste is just a ruse to fool the public."
When Carpenter said the waste department would no longer compete with other departments he was really saying, "If we can fool the people we can keep the money budgeted for solid waste in the general fund and completely refund the waste department." In other words KCC did not lower property taxes the same amount that this fee would raise thus increasing their general fund by $1.5 million.
This was never about creating a standalone department or even about solid waste, this was about one thing, raising taxes to grow government. KCC is made up of four Republicans and three Democrats and yet this new tax passed by a 6-1 majority.
Republicans around the county are outraged as one resident explained, "They're all in bed together. They know what they are going to do long before it happens."
"This ain't nothing but highway robbery! Scumbags, all of them!" said another man as one after another opinions were voiced.
If this was never about solid waste what is this all about?
It is about $1.5 million and the players are already starting to show themselves as they came before KCC as proponents of the new fee.
Sheriff Jim Matthews spoke as a proponent but he said nothing about the solid waste "problem". Instead, Jim brought his wish list starting with 32 new cars and various other things he would request if this new fee "freed up" funds in the general fund. He is in support of this fee and sees it as his best opportunity to continue to build his vision of a police state.
This new Tax, fee or whatever you want to call it is and in fact was designed to fund Matthews and grow Kershaw County government. Republicans and Democrats came together, voted to steal more money, and will move to spend that money on more revenue generating proposals of the sheriff. KCC after voting for this new tax amended their budget to include these new pennies from heaven. Wonder what they will spend them on?
Kershaw County residents are starting to realize that KCC cares little about the unemployed, the poor, people on fixed incomes or the middle class. KCC looks at their constituents like the golden goose which have a never ending supply.
Once again we see another example that their are very few differences in either party.
The people are waking to this fact and realizing it is instead them or us. When is enough enough? No one really knows but may I suggest to council they watch the sale of these items, pitchforks, torches, tar, and of course feathers. Any movement in those markets may give them a clue.
Monday morning a process server made his way to both the SCGOP and the SCDP offices to serve letters of protest of the primary elections in the state senate district 35 primary. The protest brought by five citizens and registered voters from the district alleges that both parties have ignored the law and both Supreme Court rulings and certified illegal candidates who then remained on the ballot during the June 4th primary.
This ongoing battle has become a stain on the election process as voter turn out was at historic lows.
Both the republicans and the democrats have gone out of their way to ignore the court and now face a protest from voters. The protest letters force the state parties to hold hearings in which both sides will present their cases.
Chad Conelly's minion Matt Moore was the official from the SCGOP who was served. Matt was not happy about this. After seeing this writer's name on the protest, he told the process server,"Tell Jeff to quit harassing Chad on the Internet." Sounds like I have been hitting a nerve. Matt, sometimes the truth hurts. Chad Conelly and Dick Harpootlian are up to their eyeballs in this scandal. The are the elected to lead the party and part of their duties are to make sure all county parties follow the rule of law.
The fact that certain county parties did not follow the supreme court requirements is not just some rogue party chairmen but actions sanctioned by the state party chairmen and their staffs. The two parties have not lived up to the letter of the law and must be held accountable. Our elections and the faith of the people are on the line.
Our Republic relies on a fair and honest elections to survive. If it were not for citizens standing up these two parties, they would have stolen an election and gotten away with breaking the law.
We will see what the two chairmen will do as hearings will be scheduled on Thursday.
Stay tuned as the Votergate scandal continues to unfold.
Sheri Few's skeletons are falling out of her closet into a huge pile for all to see. Cleverly disguising herself as a "tea party" type conservative, she has blundered her way into the campaigns of Michele Bachmann and Katrina Shealy and apparently did so without a license for her"consulting business" for much of that time.
According to one Kershaw County source, Few actually got a five-figure salary for which she and her assistant preached abstinence to mostly black audiences. So far, however, I've been unable to find verification of this.
Most people outside Kershaw County know Sheri Few from her runs for political office where she has managed to lose every time. The odds may have been against her politically in those races but she never seemed to want to help things by at least displaying a winning personality in her personal and political life. According to someone who knows her personally, she is hardly the most beloved person in Kershaw County.
Unfortunately for Few, it seems the gravy train dried up when Bush left office and she had to actually work for a living. Then times got really tough. It seems Sheri Few had trouble making payments on her Jaguar according to public records in Kershaw County. In fact, other members of her immediate family seem to have had some tough spots there according to the public records. For someone used to living the high life by milking the system for tax-slaver money and then having the gall to make speeches as if she were a tea party fiscal conservative, Sheri was probably desperate to restore her standard of living.
Having achieved some renown among South Carolina's conservative circles, Few cashed in her undeserved reputation in first being paid as a consultant for Michele Bachmann and then working for Katrina Shealy's campaign. Unfortunately for the Shealy campaign, Sheri Few did not deliver as they had hoped and was let go.
Most political consultants/operatives would have the sense to lay low after such a humiliation. If they want to ever be hired again, they'd show discretion and work hard to restore their reputation and get results. For those "consultants" who are fluff, however, such an honorable tactic might not be an option.
So, what does Sheri Few do? She sues for even more money. It will be interesting to see just what she can get out of such a lawsuit when, according to inside sources, she didn't have sense enough to get a written contract ahead of time and had verbally told the campaign that they could let her go anytime they wanted to.
After being paid thousands of dollars already, Few could have just kept her mouth shut and gone on with her "business." Now one has to wonder how serious of a consultant she was when, after only two clients--Bachmann and Shealy--and a very scant record of success, she now sues her second client. Who in his right mind is going to hire someone to run his campaign when she behaves like this in a field that, if nothing else, requires a lot of discretion. Has she, as some have suggested, gone over to Jake Knotts to get a paycheck? He certainly has the money to give her the kind of salary she would want after his having peddled influence for years while handing out taxpayer funded money and tax breaks to his cronies. Jake Knotts would love to have someone after his own heart on his team.
A lawsuit during a campaign is equivalent to a dirty trick. The fact that it's done to a former client means that she'll never again be trusted in the field of political consulting. Sheri Few is set to be hoisted high by her own petard. In addition, she made the threat well ahead of time that she wanted the extra money or she was going to sue. Such a threat sounds like blackmail to a lot of folks, especially when the suit is essentially a frivolous distraction when there is no written contract. Few was obviously hoping to frighten the campaign into giving her a "severance package" of sorts. When she didn't get it, she got vindictive, and hoped to hurt Shealy politically with negative press. And we may yet find that there is some involvement with Jake Knotts who makes a point of putting his dirty fingers into every political pie in the state he can get a hold of.
With Sheri Few's latest actions, she can't help but appear to all as a money grubbing grifter scrambling for every crumb she can get at other people's expense. It's a shame to say it but in this state, that makes her the norm rather than the exception. She doesn't act like she's out to promote principles. She acts like she's out to get whatever she can get while she can get it. My only surprise is that she didn't start working for Jake Knotts from the very beginning.
