Read Part I     Part II

PART III: Going forward

By Erik . . . That which does not kill you will only makes you stronger, and there are lessons to be gleaned from every experience, even the most negative. In that vein and to that purpose, here are my key takeaways:

• The intensification of sweeps here in Missouri are here to stay and pose an ever-increasing threat to registrants;
• The Marshals are promulgating false and populist disinformation, both to their own personnel and to local law enforcement;
• The operational-level law enforcement officers passionately believe the disinformation and thus are inherently more aggressive and dangerous.

So, having gone full circle, I am back at the beginning and ask, first, has anyone else observed a significant increase in their state regarding these sweeps over the past two to three years?

As for the second question(s), let me quickly insert my own conjecture. While I never was a cop, I was in the Marines for 22 years and can guess as to how these task forces are created.  First, they are staffed with a request for volunteers.  This means that the ones wanting to be part of this have, almost assuredly, already formed negative opinions about persons on the registry, the danger they pose, and what is needed to keep them at bay. Any subsequent training will only act as confirmation bias.

Next will be the training.  This should not be confused with technical or corporate training.  This “training” will be done in one day and completed using three or four haphazard PowerPoint presentations along with a data sheet.  There might even be a short quiz at the end.

Lastly, there will be a cool name, like “Operation Chomonator,” or something equally obtuse, that is supposed to capture the public’s imagination, convey the noble purpose of the unit, and will sound good in sound-bites.

Now they are ready to go out and save America by thumping rapists and child molesters.

My second question is this: Does anyone have any insight as to what the Marshal’s source documents are or how they are presenting their training?

In the hopes that the broad reach of NARSOL will find someone who can answer “yes,” I suppose the more important follow up question is: Can we influence this data to reflect facts?

It would also be interesting to know whether the practice of no one wearing their bodycams, no one wearing their name tapes, no one identifying themselves on the team and so forth, are all part of the overall strategy, or if this is left to the individual teams’ discretion?  Perhaps more importantly, are the team members instructed that basic Miranda-style rights are not applicable to sex offenders?  So, instead of advising those not on supervision that they have the right to remain silent and not answer questions, are they instead trained to threaten them with arrest and incarceration if they do not answer all questions to satisfaction?  There is much to be accounted for, and I’m guessing most can be answered by looking at a couple of PowerPoint training presentations.

In conclusion, Missouri has 114 counties and many hundreds more townships, city police agencies, and metropolitan police departments with precincts.  Thus, without hyperbole, the U.S. Marshals have the ability to shape and influence thousands of Missouri officers each year.  It is the U.S. Marshals that are considered to be be the unquestioned authorities for all things “sex offender.”  Assuming these are nationwide programs, then that number will easily broach thousands of units and tens of thousands of specially designated law enforcement officers who will receive this “training.”

I sought the advice of two close friends before making this piece public. The first reminded me that “Statistics don’t lie; statisticians lie,” and then pointed me to an article where even solid facts by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) can be manipulated by cherry picking and stovepipe analysis.  I’ve read it before, but if you’re unfamiliar, this is very informative.

My other buddy, referring to me talking to low-level law enforcement, reminded me, “When you go down to wrestle with a pig, all you’ll do is get muddy, and the pig ain’t gonna learn shit.”

The post U.S. Marshals conduct Blitzkrieg compliance checks on remote Missouri farm first appeared on NARSOL.

Read Part I

PART II: The truth and nothing but??

By Erik . . . I’d love to say how brave I was in the face of this adversity, but I folded like a coward and answered all further questions because I just knew he was right.  I’ve found many errors on my registration over the years, 100% of them not my mistakes but entry errors.  I simply went to the jail and got “Nicole” to fix it, and that was that.  However, I assumed I had missed my home phone being incorrect and now must politely cooperate or be cuffed up just as the neighbors were coming over for lunch.

The punchline to this not-so-funny joke is that the second the cops left, I ran upstairs and checked my registration, and there was my home phone number, plain as day and totally correct, not only on the most recent but on all forms going back more than four years. So, now I’ve proven to be a fool and a coward.  Great.  So much for being a leader in our community…

At any rate, back to the cops. Once they were done with their interrogation, I calmed my nerves and regained some wits and attempted to engage them on the subject matter.  Immediately the largest and most aggressive of them stepped up from behind me into my space and announced that these sweeps were critical for public safety as the U.S. has over 10 million registered sex offenders with more than one million unaccounted for at any given time.  Before I could retort with NCMEC’s number, the lead marshal chimed in.  She was a slender female and kept an unwavering hostile expression.  “I’m the regional coordinator (or some such title) for sex offenders and I see the numbers daily.  They are at the top for recidivism.”

I jumped in and said, “Well, if you control for ‘failure to register’ crimes and other non-sexual offenses…” She didn’t let me finish but retorted that these crimes were not included in the numbers.  She said, “I’m talking about additional rapes, further child molestation, and receiving child porn after being placed on the registry.  Sex offenders are the worst recidivists.”  She was adamant and quoted some more figures; others chimed in as well, supporting her misinformation.  The lead sheriff piped up and stated that they had already arrested three registrants earlier that day.  That was his justification for why these sweeps are needed.  In the military, we call that type of circular reasoning “a self-licking ice cream cone.”

The mostly one-way conversation continued for a few more minutes, but none of it is worth repeating as one can guess how accepting they were to any actual facts.  They always countered with very detailed “alternative facts” which they didn’t hesitate to spout with the utmost confidence.  As a lower-than-whale-shit sex offender, I’ve got exactly 0.0 credibility.

For those familiar with this issue, it is a well-known fact that persons on the registry have about the least degree of recidivism no matter how you categorize state and federal crimes.  There are numerous studies over nearly three decades now that show this repeatedly.  There are no legitimate studies by either state, federal nor academic sources that would back up what this lead marshal stated.  None.

The whole conversation was extremely upsetting, and I was rattled for days afterward. I’m not particularly upset that cops lie.  Not only is it accepted practice in this country for law enforcement to lie to citizens, but information suggests that they are actually trained on exactly how to lie for both informal questioning and recorded interrogation in order to yield a desired response.

No, what really bothers me is the fact that they were telling the truth — the truth as they have been taught.

These deputies and marshals are all low-level employees.  They are neither appointed nor elected to their jobs; they are not politicians.  I left the encounter with the feeling that these people all really believe the disinformation they’ve been fed through their training and that they feel passionate about their jobs.  They truly believe that they are protecting society and saving children with these Gestapo style tactics and that I really am the bad guy.  I’m the one who will rape women and sexually assault their children unless there is constant monitoring and intimidation that renders me into the role of a harmless and flaccid scumbag.

History has shown us time and time again that when a group of people in power believe that they are a member of the righteous, that makes them extraordinarily dangerous.  There is no doubt that if I had tried to run, even on my own property and with them trespassing with no probable cause nor warrant, they would have unloaded their magazines and felt fully justified.

My parting gift before their departure was that the lead deputy stated that he was going to mark this interview as “hostile” even though I spoke only to truth in a calm and reserved manner.  Unbelievable.  I guess I should expect armored vehicles to pull up next year.

Watch for Part III, the conclusion, coming soon

The post U.S. Marshals conduct Blitzkrieg compliance checks on remote Missouri farm first appeared on NARSOL.

PART I: Is this U.S. law enforcement or the Schutzstaffel?

By Erik . . . After another challenging but insightful interaction with law enforcement, I would like to pose a question about increased U.S. Marshal activity regarding operational teams with local law enforcement.  These teams aggressively check registry data for persons on the sex offender registry at their listed residences.  There has been an uptick in activity here in Missouri along with more aggressive tactics.  I would like to have a better understanding about what’s happening on the national level and also about the source material that they are using for their training.

For nearly the first three years of being released following my incarceration for a sexual offense, I was comforted by the fact that no one ever harassed me out where I live. I’m on a remote farm in a large, mostly rural county.  That comfort was shattered a year ago when three large SUVs rolled up to the farmhouse and discharged three local deputies and three U.S. Marshals, all complete with weapons, tasers, and vests.  They said calming words and assured me they were just there for a “compliance check” but then surrounded me, which sent my dogs into an absolute frenzy.

The first words out of my mouth were, “My parole officer used to come visit me for the same reason.  She was by herself, just five feet one, and didn’t carry any weapons at all and yet felt perfectly safe.  Why the SWAT team?”  I said this with a grin hoping to inject a bit of levity into the situation.  They were not having it.  I was taken aback at how quickly the officers grew more aggressive after I asked a very basic question, but I soon learned that intimidation is the name of the game.

I won’t ramble on concerning this aspect as I worked with investigative journalist Steve Yoder after this incident, and he wrote an excellent piece about this practice.

Steve clearly outlines the “why,” and it is the same old story.  Sex offender sweeps provide both money and outstanding publicity. In the minds of law enforcement, nothing demonstrates protecting the public more than arresting “sex offenders.”  What he couldn’t garner from his interviews was information about the recent level of increased activity.

Thus, I decided that the best way to investigate this topic here in Missouri was to call the state sponsored therapists for registrants on probation or parole; this group definitely has their “ears to the ground.”  I started with my old therapist, and she said right out of the gate that this has been all the chatter for weeks now.  I asked if she thought this was a post-pandemic rebound and she said no, and that this was definitely an increase in activity with the marshals.  I then started cold calling therapists across the state and got much the same thing.

Then in early February of this year, 2023, I got round two.  I pulled up to my farm, and three police vehicles whipped up and followed me to the farmhouse. As before, they were armed for bear and surrounded me outside my car.  My first thought was that I needed to video this encounter as I noticed last year that no one was wearing their bodycams.  I pulled out my phone and managed to snap two still photos before I was told to put the phone away.  I recognized the lead for the county sheriff with his clipboard and the lead for the marshals but none of the others.

The lead sheriff said, “Same deal as last year, Erik.  What’s your home phone number.”  I answered but then said, “I’m not on probation or parole, my registration is accurate, and I don’t have to answer any of these questions.”  Again, my calm and accurate statement evoked rage from the officer.  He stated that if I didn’t cooperate, he would arrest me on the spot for any little error on my registration.  He went on, “And you’ve already lied to me, Erik.  I asked for a home number, and you gave me one that’s nowhere on your registration.  I can arrest you right now.”

Part II

PART III

The post U.S. Marshals conduct Blitzkrieg compliance checks on remote Missouri farm first appeared on NARSOL.