All cut and dried, eh? First off, Sheriff Boan is head and shoulders above the guy he replaced. As a citizen of Kershaw County, it is nice to have a Sheriff again, rather than a reputed former G-Man who really had disdain for citizens and our rights, as well as the rights of his deputies. I understand Sheriff Boan’s frustration with the way things are now, where every use of force a policeman deploys has the potential to be not only a career ender, but to finish your life of by sending you to prison.
I believe the church where the main incident covered here occurred, or one in its area, had been the victim of several auto breakings not long before the incident with Deputy Goldsmith and the Sims man. I believe this sentence by the author was in error. “Despite finding nothing illegal, he proceeded to detain Sims without probable cause for an arrest.” Wrong! Given past crimes against churches and/or attendees in that area, indices of public intoxication, possible hit and run damage, and other possible factors such as Sims being somewhere he likely had no business being and that holster but no visible gun, I would say that Mr Goldsmith had plenty of probable cause to detain Sims.
Media and ambulance chasing lawyers have always had a knack for exaggerating any conflict between police and criminals to the favor of the criminal and the detriment of the cop. This appears to be no exception. Regarding the female that Goldsmith allegedly struck at the jail, what might she have done to warrant that? I feel like there is much more to the story than just Goldsmith walked up to her and struck her for no reason. What is the rest of the story on that one? What was she doing prior to that incident?
Much seemed to be made of the number of times Goldsmith struck Sims and his account vs the very poor and grainy video shown. What your average citizen will never grasp or understand, is how adrenalin, fear, physical exertion, and like factors play on your perception of an incident. It is very easy to lose count of the number of punches or baton strikes that were administered during such encounters.
I have read articles by experts in self defense, of both citizens and police, telling investigators they fired one or two shots, when the empty case count or other evidence indicated six or more shots fired. This is not a willful attempt at deception, but an honest misperception brought about by adrenalin and other factors as noted above. Many of these self-defense experts caution citizens and police to not trap themselves into giving a number of shots fired to investigators, due to the appearance of deception when none may be intended, as happened here.
As to the video created by Boan, so what? Men in high stress environments have long used humour to deal with events that occurred on the job, and for good-natured ribbing regarding these events. In the same department, when they were located inside the courthouse , fifty plus years ago, there was a murder in the county of a storekeeper during an armed robbery. A KCSD Sergeant, now deceased, was part of the manhunt searching for the storekeeper’s murderer. Back then, the rules for shooting a fleeing felon were more relaxed than today, though this incident would likely have passed muster, even today. The Sergeant happened upon the murderer, who was armed. The murderer fled and the Sergeant pursued. The Sergeant fired one shot from his revolver and struck the murderer in one of his butt cheeks, bringing him down. The murderer was apprehended, eventually tried, and convicted of his crimes. The media said he was shot “in the hip”, but it was his butt cheek. The Sergeant was ragged afterward about shooting him in his buttcheek. He said he was trying to hit him in the leg, drawing the comment from others that he should have aimed for his butt, then. The next day, someone in the SO had cut a “Snuffy Smith” cartoon out of the newspaper. The cartoon involved someone talking to a stranger about taking a shortcut through Snuffy’s woods to get somewhere they were going. At some point, the traveler taking a shortcut through the woods, wound up being chased by a big vicious bear and roughed up a bit. Someone wrote the murderer’s name on the traveler’s picture and the Sergeant’s on the bear’s. It was taped to the door of the radio room for about a week and gave everyone who walked by a mild chuckle.
Like Sheriff Boan’s video, the cartoon did no actual harm. It wasn’t politically correct and no doubt, some would have not found it humorous, but it did no harm.
Sheriff Boan has consistently demonstrated care for citizens’ rights, such as right after our Legislature passed “Open Carry With Permit” a couple of years ago. I was pleased to see Sheriff Boan issue orders to both 911 Dispatch and his deputies, that his deputies would not respond to calls of a citizen openly carrying a firearm if that was the only reason for the call. Under that (then) new law, it was now legal for a citizen with a CWP to openly wear a firearm. Absent other suspicious factors such as lurking around the back or side of a business, brandishing the weapon, shouting or other abnormal behavior, there just really was no reason for police to accost or harass a citizen who is exercising a legal right under the law. Ditto Sheriff Boan’s handling of our newer Constitutional Carry where he said, and I am paraphrasing, “it doesn’t matter what I think or anyone else thinks of this law. It is the law and we will respect citizens’ rights”.
One more thing I have admired about Sheriff Boan’s way of doing things. He has one of the very few departments in SC that has not encrypted all of their radio traffic so citizens have no idea what is going on unless and until media finds out and tells us. A few years ago, we had an ice storm. I listened to his deputies, going beyond their job description and call of duty, getting their own chain saws and cutting up and removing fallen trees, limbs, and other debris from Kershaw County roads, for the safety and convenience of our citizens. That they were getting out of their cars in the cold and making roads passable for us, much sooner than if we had to wait on SCDOT, meant a lot. In my opinion, any Police or Sheriff’s Department that encrypts their dispatch channels, has lost any and all claims to “transparency”, which so many love to claim but do not have.
I hope Sheriff Boan continues to serve for many years to come.
An incredibly stupid and loutish comment by KC Citizen…..may s(he) someday be on the receiving end of that which s(he) so casually excuses.
Also the author Mr. Fancher should not refer to the victims of Mr. Goldsmith as “civilians”. Civilian means non-military. Yes as we descend further into a police state, there is a tendency to unofficially promote policemen and deputies to military status. But so far, at least technically, this is not the case.
Whenever a thick blue liner does virtually anything that draws public scorn there always appears the loyalist who defend and excuse any action up to and including outright murder by one of their own.
As Nancy states above the fact KC Citizen refers to the indigenous population as “Civilians” is important as it shows the clear mentality that the people are the enemy or at least potential enemies of the state and should be treated as such. This attitude has become pervasive and has been further enhanced by the forever wars and those returning from combat into law enforcement. The value of human life, at least those not wearing a magic badge is diminished in war and that attitude has infected nearly every LE agency in the nation.
The Goldsmith “hanging” was a show trial just to restore a semblance of trust and cover up the fact that Boan and many others knew about Goldsmith for years and went out of their way to recruit him back to be what he has always been, the “hammer”.
In the end will this case make any difference? No.
The beatings will continue until moral improves. Any law, any order will be enforced. Just doing our jobs. Nothing to see here, please move along.
The Cryptic Commenter September 13, 2024 at 5:34 pm
Anarchist extraordinaire Jeff.
Such a faux pax as you allege by KCC.
Seems to be absent from his or her comment.
How do you get that they used the word “civilian” in their post?
Observing this word in their post, I do not.
Likely, you are delusional.
Expedient relief might be achieved by taking your Thorazine.
5 comments
All cut and dried, eh? First off, Sheriff Boan is head and shoulders above the guy he replaced. As a citizen of Kershaw County, it is nice to have a Sheriff again, rather than a reputed former G-Man who really had disdain for citizens and our rights, as well as the rights of his deputies. I understand Sheriff Boan’s frustration with the way things are now, where every use of force a policeman deploys has the potential to be not only a career ender, but to finish your life of by sending you to prison.
I believe the church where the main incident covered here occurred, or one in its area, had been the victim of several auto breakings not long before the incident with Deputy Goldsmith and the Sims man. I believe this sentence by the author was in error. “Despite finding nothing illegal, he proceeded to detain Sims without probable cause for an arrest.” Wrong! Given past crimes against churches and/or attendees in that area, indices of public intoxication, possible hit and run damage, and other possible factors such as Sims being somewhere he likely had no business being and that holster but no visible gun, I would say that Mr Goldsmith had plenty of probable cause to detain Sims.
Media and ambulance chasing lawyers have always had a knack for exaggerating any conflict between police and criminals to the favor of the criminal and the detriment of the cop. This appears to be no exception. Regarding the female that Goldsmith allegedly struck at the jail, what might she have done to warrant that? I feel like there is much more to the story than just Goldsmith walked up to her and struck her for no reason. What is the rest of the story on that one? What was she doing prior to that incident?
Much seemed to be made of the number of times Goldsmith struck Sims and his account vs the very poor and grainy video shown. What your average citizen will never grasp or understand, is how adrenalin, fear, physical exertion, and like factors play on your perception of an incident. It is very easy to lose count of the number of punches or baton strikes that were administered during such encounters.
I have read articles by experts in self defense, of both citizens and police, telling investigators they fired one or two shots, when the empty case count or other evidence indicated six or more shots fired. This is not a willful attempt at deception, but an honest misperception brought about by adrenalin and other factors as noted above. Many of these self-defense experts caution citizens and police to not trap themselves into giving a number of shots fired to investigators, due to the appearance of deception when none may be intended, as happened here.
As to the video created by Boan, so what? Men in high stress environments have long used humour to deal with events that occurred on the job, and for good-natured ribbing regarding these events. In the same department, when they were located inside the courthouse , fifty plus years ago, there was a murder in the county of a storekeeper during an armed robbery. A KCSD Sergeant, now deceased, was part of the manhunt searching for the storekeeper’s murderer. Back then, the rules for shooting a fleeing felon were more relaxed than today, though this incident would likely have passed muster, even today. The Sergeant happened upon the murderer, who was armed. The murderer fled and the Sergeant pursued. The Sergeant fired one shot from his revolver and struck the murderer in one of his butt cheeks, bringing him down. The murderer was apprehended, eventually tried, and convicted of his crimes. The media said he was shot “in the hip”, but it was his butt cheek. The Sergeant was ragged afterward about shooting him in his buttcheek. He said he was trying to hit him in the leg, drawing the comment from others that he should have aimed for his butt, then. The next day, someone in the SO had cut a “Snuffy Smith” cartoon out of the newspaper. The cartoon involved someone talking to a stranger about taking a shortcut through Snuffy’s woods to get somewhere they were going. At some point, the traveler taking a shortcut through the woods, wound up being chased by a big vicious bear and roughed up a bit. Someone wrote the murderer’s name on the traveler’s picture and the Sergeant’s on the bear’s. It was taped to the door of the radio room for about a week and gave everyone who walked by a mild chuckle.
Like Sheriff Boan’s video, the cartoon did no actual harm. It wasn’t politically correct and no doubt, some would have not found it humorous, but it did no harm.
Sheriff Boan has consistently demonstrated care for citizens’ rights, such as right after our Legislature passed “Open Carry With Permit” a couple of years ago. I was pleased to see Sheriff Boan issue orders to both 911 Dispatch and his deputies, that his deputies would not respond to calls of a citizen openly carrying a firearm if that was the only reason for the call. Under that (then) new law, it was now legal for a citizen with a CWP to openly wear a firearm. Absent other suspicious factors such as lurking around the back or side of a business, brandishing the weapon, shouting or other abnormal behavior, there just really was no reason for police to accost or harass a citizen who is exercising a legal right under the law. Ditto Sheriff Boan’s handling of our newer Constitutional Carry where he said, and I am paraphrasing, “it doesn’t matter what I think or anyone else thinks of this law. It is the law and we will respect citizens’ rights”.
One more thing I have admired about Sheriff Boan’s way of doing things. He has one of the very few departments in SC that has not encrypted all of their radio traffic so citizens have no idea what is going on unless and until media finds out and tells us. A few years ago, we had an ice storm. I listened to his deputies, going beyond their job description and call of duty, getting their own chain saws and cutting up and removing fallen trees, limbs, and other debris from Kershaw County roads, for the safety and convenience of our citizens. That they were getting out of their cars in the cold and making roads passable for us, much sooner than if we had to wait on SCDOT, meant a lot. In my opinion, any Police or Sheriff’s Department that encrypts their dispatch channels, has lost any and all claims to “transparency”, which so many love to claim but do not have.
I hope Sheriff Boan continues to serve for many years to come.
An incredibly stupid and loutish comment by KC Citizen…..may s(he) someday be on the receiving end of that which s(he) so casually excuses.
Also the author Mr. Fancher should not refer to the victims of Mr. Goldsmith as “civilians”. Civilian means non-military. Yes as we descend further into a police state, there is a tendency to unofficially promote policemen and deputies to military status. But so far, at least technically, this is not the case.
Care to elaborate on your attack of Kershaw County Citizen?
Understanding your point would be helpful.
Not everyone agrees with you.
Trying to understand your point.
Whenever a thick blue liner does virtually anything that draws public scorn there always appears the loyalist who defend and excuse any action up to and including outright murder by one of their own.
As Nancy states above the fact KC Citizen refers to the indigenous population as “Civilians” is important as it shows the clear mentality that the people are the enemy or at least potential enemies of the state and should be treated as such. This attitude has become pervasive and has been further enhanced by the forever wars and those returning from combat into law enforcement. The value of human life, at least those not wearing a magic badge is diminished in war and that attitude has infected nearly every LE agency in the nation.
The Goldsmith “hanging” was a show trial just to restore a semblance of trust and cover up the fact that Boan and many others knew about Goldsmith for years and went out of their way to recruit him back to be what he has always been, the “hammer”.
In the end will this case make any difference? No.
The beatings will continue until moral improves. Any law, any order will be enforced. Just doing our jobs. Nothing to see here, please move along.
Anarchist extraordinaire Jeff.
Such a faux pax as you allege by KCC.
Seems to be absent from his or her comment.
How do you get that they used the word “civilian” in their post?
Observing this word in their post, I do not.
Likely, you are delusional.
Expedient relief might be achieved by taking your Thorazine.