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By Marc, October 27, 2011 6:52 pm

Geez, when I suggested that Sheriff Charlie Jett’s visions of flash mobs looting Stafford County convenience stores were affecting his policing strategy, during the #BananaMan brouhaha, I had no idea that several weeks later that Fredericksburg would be the sight of a “dangerous” Thriller flash mob at Quaker Steak & Lube in Central Park.

If this happened in Stafford, we could only imagine the response by Sheriff Charlie. We know how he treats kids in banana suits (especially in an election year). How about teens dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller?

It’s clear that his policing strategy can use a major reboot. Stafford County has seen five consecutive years of increased crime, including a 47% increase in violent crime. It would have been even higher, but recently Sheriff Charlie suddenly found a six (6) year old “glitch” in HIS 2005 crime numbers – how convenient right before an election.

It’s time for a new policing strategy. On November 8, you can help Stafford County change course and move in the right direction by voting for Chuck Feldbush for Stafford County Sheriff!

Comments (2)

By Marc, October 6, 2011 9:50 pm

It seems that Sheriff Jett wasn’t a big fan of our recent post about crime being up big in Stafford County.

So instead of fighting crime Sheriff Jett did what any reasonable person would do: he set out to slice and dice the numbers to try to change the narrative. The problem is that it didn’t work.

I find it interesting that a month out from Election Day that Sheriff Charlie suddenly finds a 6-year old “software glitch” in HIS 2005 crime numbers. Glad to see Sheriff Charlie is on top of things. One has to wonder what other “glitches” he’s overlooked?

Despite his “new” numbers, crime is still on the rise in Stafford County. Jett’s recent attempt to mask 5 consecutive years (2006-2010) of increasing crime in Stafford shows just how serious he is taking the disturbing uptick in crime in the county – he ISN’T!

If we discount the 2005 numbers because of Jett’s 6-year “glitch,” per capita crime in Stafford County is up 13% and violent crime is up 47% from 2006 to 2010. For comparison’s sake, Prince William County’s overall per capita crime rate has fallen 10% and their violent crime rate has also fallen 20%. During this time period we’ve had more overall and violent crime, per capita, then both Spotsylvania and Prince William respectively.

Source: Virginia State Police

Source: Virginia State Police

Crime isn’t the only thing that’s been on the rise in Stafford over the last 5 years as his department’s budget has also increased a whopping 42% over that time period. I wonder whether Jett used HIS faulty numbers to justify huge increases to his department’s budget?

Jett is clearly more interested in playing with the numbers then keeping us safe. Maybe if he spent more time in Stafford County instead of pursuing his political career the last several years, he could have done more to address the rather disturbing increasing crime trend. Of course, he would first have to admit that there is a problem.

Admitting there is a problem is the first step to recovery.

Is Sheriff Jett’s 6-year computer glitch an oops on the scale of Marilyn Monroe’s dress blowing up over her knees by a passing train? Can we expect MM’s patented pout on Charlie’s face next? Stay tuned…

Comments (1)

By Marc, September 3, 2011 10:40 am

According to the Virginia State Police, crime was up in Stafford County for the fifth straight year. It wasn’t just up, but has soared by 60% since 2005. Worse yet, when strictly looking at violent crimes, crime has soared a whopping 66% over that same time period. Violent crimes include the following subcategories: Murder and Non-negligent Manslaughter, Forcible Rape, Robbery and Aggravated Assault.

At this point, you must be asking yourself how this stacks up in our region? For comparison purposes, let’s take a look at Spotsylvania County.

Table 2. Population/Demographics of Stafford vs. Spotsylvania County, Source: U.S. Census Bureau

As you can see from Table 2, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population and demographic makeup of the counties are nearly similar over the last 10 years. Additionally, Spotsylvania is a neighboring county in our same region. So we would expect a pretty similar rise in crime, correct? WRONG. Over the last 5 years, in Spotsylvania, overall crime has actually fallen 1.5%. In Stafford, overall crime has soared 60%! During the same time period, in Spotsylvania, violent crime has slid 25%. In Stafford it has soared a whopping 66%!

Stafford is clearly headed in the WRONG direction. Worse yet, according to Stafford County, the Sheriff’s office budget has increased by 52% since 2005. Even worse, the Commonwealth’s Attorney budget has increased by 82% since 2005. I’d say that taxpayers are NOT getting a good return on their tax dollars!

The rise in the Commonwealth’s Attorney budget could have something to do with their practice of asking for jury trials too often. Last year alone, they requested 600% more jury trials than Spotsylvania County. In fact, they were second to only Fairfax County in the number or jury trials held last year.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t necessarily take issue with the budget increases so long as they are producing results. After all, public safety goes hand-in-hand with providing a safe learning environment for our children – which is an issue that is extremely important to me. We can’t keep throwing money at our problems and getting zero accountability in return.

For 72 years the Chichester family has controlled the Commonwealth’s Attorney office. Daniel Chichester has now endorsed his top prosecutor, Eric Olsen, to take the family reigns. Likewise, Sheriff Charles Jett has held his post for 11 years. Sheriff Jett was recommended by Sheriff R.M Williams who was recommended by Sheriff Ashby and so on. Talk about a good ol’ boy network.

It’s time that Stafford citizens demand accountability and ends these family dynasty’s. It’s not even about how long these families (or networks) have served. It’s simply about results and they are not there.

It’s time to sweep the courthouse clean and elect Tim Barbrow (I-Stafford) as our new Commonwealth’s Attorney and Chuck Feldbush (I-Stafford) as our next Sheriff on November 8, 2011. Stafford is in dire need of a new direction. We need a return of accountability and results!