The American Spectator

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Interdepartmental Cooperation Fails

By Joseph Lawler on 9.4.09 @ 5:27PM

In Jericho, Arkansas, a police officer has apparently taken a scrimmage between cops and fireman to the max: first the cops ticketed the fire chief for speeding twice in one day, and then when the chief complained in court he upped the ante by shooting him on the spot.

It's a story that really has to be read in full to be believed. It seems that this tiny town of 174 residents had a police force of seven that really stretched its mandate to the absolute limit.

"You can't even get them to answer a call because normally they're writing tickets," said Thomas Martin, chief investigator for the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department. "They're not providing a service to the citizens."

Now the police chief has disbanded his force "until things calm down," a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff's deputies are asking where all the money from the tickets went.

That's right -- the police chief straight-up disbanded his police force. Is there any precedent for that?