Elected through Terror

Untitled Part 27

Another reason for the cool reception sprung from the problem the city was facing was the challenge of their existence as a legitimate city by the State of Oregon Attorney General's office. They were no longer allowed to send their police officers to the State run Police Academy and their new officers could not be certified.

It was no secret that I was a strong supporter of Attorney General Frohnmeyer and the Board on Police Standards and Training. That may have been one more point they were unhappy with me about.

I felt I was in my element; I was the Sheriff meeting with another police officer and of course the Mayor and, it would seem, with a reserve.

I WAS the Sheriff; the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the County and I had earned my expectation of respect from the citizens.

I knew it would take time, but I was confident that eventually they would come to understand that I was a fair person. While I was not naïve, I also wasn't dealing with reality, but those tales will come later.

While the Chief had gone to and graduated from the Oregon Police Academy, she really didn't have much contact with officers from other departments. It became quite evident that she had very little experience. The reserve had no contact with officers outside their commune and no real interest in law enforcement.

I tried to find some common ground. I was told there was no common ground. There was no crime on the ranch or in the city. It was a crime free city. They were Peace Officers, not Police Officers.

They were there to protect the citizens from people on the outside that might come into the area and commit crimes; crimes that would NEVER be committed by their members. (This was a mantra I was to hear multitude of times over the next few months.)

I asked questions of the Chief, - I was genuinely there to learn about the department and the Chief - how large was her department, what type of ongoing training do they have; just normal questions between police officers.

However, the reserve would answer my questions. The Chief would either just agree or add a minor note or two when the reserve was finished.

Finally, I turned my back on the reserve and pointedly asked the Chief some questions about her background, the reserve couldn't help herself, and she had to answer.

This confirmed what I had first suspicion when I had tried to set up the meetings and when I entered the room. Chief Barka was a figurehead in charge of the department in name only. She had very little or no authority over the police department.

I liked Barka, she seemed to be a nice person, but she was not a law enforcement officer either by nature or demeanor; with training in a real Police Department she might have been a decent officer, but she wasn't at that time.

That also would prove true as we later, in the Fall, started our investigation of a number of the Rajneesh leaders on accusations of attempted murder, arson, conspiracy to commit murder, arrange illegal marriages, germ warfare, voter fraud, wire tapping and a myriad of misdemeanor crimes.

It should be noted that the vast majority of the members of the commune had nothing to do with the crimes and conspiracies. These crimes were perpetrated by fewer than one hundred members; most were the leaders of the commune, although they used many of the other members as pawns in minor roles.

The majority of these members only wanted to live and be near the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. They worked and played hard as commune members on the property; they worshipped the Bhagwan but had nothing to do with the decisions that were made concerning the commune or the notorious activities. They had no idea they were even carried out until later.

After I had talked for a while with the 'officers,' the Mayor came into the room from a back room with a flourish, sitting down at the table. As I had surmised he had been somewhere in the building watching and listening to what was being said.

I figured he was just waiting, trying to get a handle on my methods, etc. before he came into the room. He came on the attack immediately; he said I was a politician elected by people who wanted his people driven out of the county.

Yes, there were a few that felt that way, I replied, and many citizens of the county had grown to distrust the commune and their methods. However, most didn't care if they were here or not, they just wanted to insure they obeyed the law.

I told him I had been elected because I had a solid reputation as an officer for fairness and firm enforcement and I had excellent management and administrative skills. I told him that I was a Police Officer first and foremost and I knew and enforced the law.

I went on to tell him that if it was necessary I would stand between the commune and the other citizens of the county to insure the commune's rights were protected. I would enforce the law no matter who chose to break it.

We sparred back and forth over that and some more issues. As I said, he did not like nor trust me. It was obvious to me he considered that I was just a politician that was going to throw some sand on the skids of their operation; I was to be treated with contempt and distrust.

While I treated him with respect, I didn't care for the man. He was an egotistical jerk as far as I was concerned.