Authority Problems

There was an authority problem in Clarke County and Sheriff Slater was the problem. He was elected sheriff only because of his father, Phillip Slater, a businessman extraordinaire. They had many connections with other big businesses and high-ranking political officials around the state. 

The dilemma with Sheriff Richard Slater was that he was a racist bastard. The only person he looked out for was himself and not the people he was serving. The injustices of the sheriff were not apparent to the average citizen when he started his first term in office. Then as he became more familiar with the territory, he began to show a darker side to the people.

It was the final year of Sheriff Richard Slater's term, and he was up for reelection. The TV cameras were surrounding him more and more, and he loved the limelight. Always ready to promote himself any way he could.    

Be it through the articles about him, the compelling, powerful speeches he gave, or his creative campaign commercials. 

A member of the press stopped Sheriff Slater and asked, "Is it true that you will be running unopposed?"

“Why yes, it is! I do not mean to toot my own horn, but it is the smartest move for the county because I am the best at it, and nobody wants to cross me.”

“It sounds like you will have an easy campaign in front of you.” the man said.

“Well, this job is not an easy one, but I trust that everything will go as planned for me.”

Ryan Taylor wanted to get away from his high-pressure job as a Chicago police officer. He had experienced many different stressful situations and seen some gruesome crime scenes. After the murder of his wife Angela, Ryan wanted to get out of the business for good and relax. So, he moved into Richard Slater’s territory, not knowing his true calling yet. 

Ryan Taylor found his true calling after he had watched a story on the local news about the shooting of Jamal Davis. Who was only 15 years old and fit the description of a robbery suspect. An African American male/ tall with a slender build/ in a black hoodie and jeans. He was shot because when the officers were making the arrest, he adjusted his pants, which looked like Jamal was reaching for a weapon to the officers, so they put 13 slugs into him and came to find out that he was unarmed. Jamal was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. 

This incident troubled Ryan because when he watched the security camera footage from the gas station in the news channel story. He said to himself, "Those guys are too quick on the trigger! Are they all blind? Poor use of judgment by the officers."

He thought that it was just an isolated incident, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Not long after the Jamal Davis shooting, there were other complaints of excessive force, racial profiling, and other related issues. There was a common factor, and that was Richard Slater.

The officers in question all worked with Richard Slater, so his poor work habits rubbed off on the officers. They never got reprimanded for their actions on duty, so the community wanted to know what is going on. 

People began to gather outside the sheriff's station, with signs in their hands for a protest. A man picked up a bullhorn and addressed the people.

"Good morning! My name is Ryan Taylor. I wanted to inform the sheriff that I will be running against him in the upcoming election! I am an accomplished former officer of the Chicago police force. And want to stop the uprising of the police brutality of this department. A change is needed now! I promise to make the streets safe for everybody and stop the senseless harassment by officers. Doing this by separating the wheat from the chaff by selecting better-qualified officers for the job."

The crowd was growing, the cheers and applause heard by the sheriff and his coworkers. The sheriff watched the scene unfold from his office window and yells at the crowd, "What the hell is this? Do you think you come in and take my job, Mr. Taylor? Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

The tensions were rising as officers came out the doors towards the protestors. Then someone threw a rock, shattering a window, and shouted, "You bastards killed my son for no reason other than your stupidity!"

The sheriff laughed as he leaned back in his chair. Thinking, "I've got this election in the bag." and "There is no way that idiot could challenge me, I have all the power and connections here."

A deputy burst into the sheriff's office saying, "Sir, that crowd is becoming restless. Should we do anything about it?"

"No, I don't need any bad publicity. Just tell them that the party is over and to go home now."

A few months had passed with no trouble from the sheriff and his men. The sheriff wanted to keep clean and under the radar. Then a case of racial profiling came to the surface. Joseph Knight was walking down the street of a high-end neighborhood. The officers stopped him because he looked out of place in that area. So he was arrested by the officers.

Word of this spread like wildfire amongst the people. Then a Ryan Taylor rally was set up in Copper Creek Park the following Saturday. Ryan was out there shaking hands and giving hugs to the people as he was about to give his speech.

"Hello everyone! I want to thank you for being here to support me today. I've been motivated more and more every day since I started my campaign. I plan to fix the authority problem if I am elected your new sheriff. I want to stand up for what is right and to free you from the yoke of Sheriff Slater. I have found my true calling and this is it! I am putting everything on the line, asking for your help as I go forward with this new endeavor. I have seen good times and bad times in my life. I want to make this a good time for everybody. Change is necessary for all lifeforms to survive, it can be difficult, and take time. We live in a dynamic world that is shaped by actions. Change provides the opportunity for knowledge. Knowledge is gained by using information that we get through our various sources, being discerning and, forming the ideals that we believe in and willing to fight for."