Three Officer-Involved Shootings in Three Weeks: A Disturbing Pattern

Three Officer-Involved Shootings in Three Weeks: A Disturbing Pattern

In just three weeks, our county has witnessed three separate officer-involved shootings — a fact that feels less like coincidence and more like a clear and troubling pattern. It’s impossible not to ask: where is the leadership? Where is the accountability? And most importantly, where is the concern for the people — the very citizens these deputies are sworn to serve and protect?

From the outside looking in, it seems that the Sheriff’s priorities are skewed. His concern appears centered solely around shielding his deputies from criticism, rather than addressing the systemic issues that these incidents highlight. There’s no visible urgency to reflect on the mental health crisis plaguing our community, no effort to improve public safety on our roads, and certainly no investment in meaningful de-escalation training that could prevent so many of these tragic encounters.

Instead, what we are left with is a sheriff’s department that seems to operate with impunity. Deputies race down our streets at 90 miles per hour without sirens, without warning, showing little regard for the lives they put at risk along the way. Meanwhile, the community grows more anxious and fearful — not of the criminals, but of the very people wearing badges.

Rather than promoting tactics rooted in communication, patience, and compassion, it seems the standing order is far too close to “shoot them a lot.” And with each new incident, the message becomes clearer: escalate quickly, use overwhelming force, and worry about the consequences later — if at all.

This isn’t just about a few bad calls. It’s a failure at the leadership level — a refusal to confront a dangerous culture of aggression over understanding. It’s a refusal to recognize that many of the people deputies encounter are struggling with mental health issues, and that lethal force should always be the last resort, not the first instinct.

The silence from the top is deafening. There’s no public acknowledgment that something is wrong, no commitment to independent investigations, no new training initiatives, no community meetings to address fear and anger. Just the same tired line: “We support our deputies.”

Of course, we all want to support our law enforcement officers — but true support means giving them the tools they need to do their jobs better, not just giving them free rein to use deadly force with minimal oversight. True leadership would mean protecting both deputies and the people they serve, by emphasizing training, compassion, and accountability.

The community deserves better. We deserve leadership that values our lives enough to prioritize mental health resources. We deserve deputies who are trained to de-escalate, to calm, and to save lives — not to end them in a hail of bullets. And we deserve roads where we can feel safe, knowing that those charged with protecting us aren’t putting us at risk through reckless behavior.

Three shootings in three weeks. That’s not bad luck. That’s a warning sign, flashing bright red. If the sheriff refuses to see it, if he refuses to act — then it’s up to us, the citizens, to demand change.

Because we will be heard. Because this is our county too.

Would you like me to also help you tailor this for a social media post, a letter to the editor, or maybe a speech?