Idaho Falls has had the wool pulled over our collective eyes by the liar, thief, and cheat that is Kimball Mason and his gang of cronies. I sat at his sentencing hearing, watched his children grieve over their father, heard the great things Kimball has done over his lifetime, and I too felt this was an isolated incident and Kimball Mason’s sentence was fair.
Then the revelations came out that people were removing guns and stolen property from Kimball Mason’s home on Hartert Dr. The police raided his home, and found numerous guns that Kimball had taken but swore up and down he had destroyed. Kimball also swore up and down that he acted alone and not a single other person had knowledge of his actions.
Now, I am now angry.
Idaho Falls is now collectively questioning who we can trust? I think we can trust our Idaho Falls Police Chief Kent Livsey, because he is the one who initially started the investigation against Kimball and he is the one who appears to have initiated yesterday’s search of Kimball’s home.
However, there are several others whose trust Idaho Falls has reason to question in light of this new development. The Post Register listed several local lawyers and cops a few days ago that had ‘unknowingly’ bought or were given weapons from Kimball. They all ought to be questioned and warrants served to search their properties. How many more local lawyers and cops could be implicated in this?
A local gun business that has stood for numerous years was listed as having received several weapons from Kimball. That business, the owner, the employees, and patrons of that gun business ought to be questioned and warrants served to search their properties.
It is boggling to everyone’s mind why the state Attorney General’s office apparently never searched Kimball Mason’s home in the first investigation. There were 33 guns still unaccounted for, and they apparently took Kimball Mason at his word that he destroyed the guns, even after he admitted lying several times during the investigation? The only three possible conclusions are that our state investigators lack an ounce of common sense, they incompetently performed their jobs, or they played the good old boy game and didn’t push hard enough. Either way, the state’s investigation of Kimball Mason needs to be investigated itself.
Idaho Deputy Attorney General Jay Rosenthal was quoted in the Post Register as saying finding the missing guns in Kimball Mason’s home was “… obviously unexpected.” No, it would be obvious to have searched his home earlier in the investigation when 33 guns were still unaccounted for. What is obviously unexpected is the state’s failure to search the home earlier.
What we have here in Idaho Falls is turning out to be our largest official cover-up ever. Kimball Mason is turning out to have been the biggest fraud, liar, and arrogant corrupt prosecutor ever in Idaho Falls history. His extreme arrogance is exemplified by the fact that he kept numerous stolen weapons in his home during and after the investigation. One gun is even reported to have still had an evidence sticker on it. Kimball was not stupid, he was so confident his home would not get searched that he brazenly left them where they should have been found immediately.
I liked Mayor Linda Milam and I like Mayor Jared Fuhriman. However the corruption, lies and cover-ups are appearing widely across Idaho Falls, and the Mayor’s office may have information they are not giving up. I think Jared Fuhriman did an awesome job as an Idaho Falls detective, however even he should be subject to the wider investigation since he was in a position of being close to Kimball Mason for a long time. When the case first broke, I recall Mayor Fuhriman surprisingly defended Kimball Mason in the media, which raises more suspicions now.
I am not confident we can trust anyone in Idaho Falls (besides Kent Livsey) or from the state Attorney General’s office now. I demand either Mayor Fuhriman or the state AG’s office appoint a special investigator from out of state, preferably a few states away, to come in here and conduct a full investigation.
Mayor Fuhriman’s letter to Judge Woodland that was read during sentencing acknowledged the embarrassment and damage Kimball Mason had inflicted on the city of Idaho Falls, and that it would take years to rebuild the trust. If this case is not investigated the right way, that trust is at risk of never returning, and many careers will soon be over at the next election.
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Once the whole story comes out I think you’ll be somewhat eased about your concerns with the initial investigation. I channeled one of my sources that would know the story and found out what happened. I’m not at liberty to tell it right now as they don’t want the whole story out til charges are filed next week. But suffice it to say you’ll be mollified quite a bit when you find out. There were mistakes made by the AG but the mistakes were believing Kimball.
Without a doubt there is going to be a lot of new charges filed next week and when that happens the whole story will come out. There still could be some issues as far determining if anyone else was helping Kimball. There is at least one person who definitely should be charged as it sounds like he was Kimball’s partner in crime. Its a big name and its going to create quite the stir.
Apparently there are some very angry AG people right now. I think Kimball is going to be staying in prison for a long long time. There isn’t going to be any plea bargains this time.
Sorry to be cryptic on this but until charges are filed I’m not sure whats available for the public and whats not and I don’t want to lose my sources. Also, I think at the end of the day you’ll find that you can trust the police and Dane Watkins. They both have been very open and determined to bring this whole thing to the light. Perhaps it may be found that an individual officer or prosecutor (I’m not saying there is so don’t read into this) was involved but if there was it was isolated and not endemic of the either department as a whole.
My temper flared after hearing of the guns found at Kimball Mason’s home after he was sentenced to prison. I’ll likely be ashamed of myself for reacting so strongly with so little information, but hey I’m human and that was my honest reaction.
Chiasm left this chatbox message that indicates Kimball may still be the sneaky loner (or only one of two crooks) rather than widespread ineptness or corruption:
chiasm : And the PR made the same mistake I did and others I’ve talked to did. They assumed that AG screwed up by not searching Kimball’s house. Suffice it to say the house was searched and the guns weren’t there at the time of the search. But when the guns were brought back from where they were being hid it was quickly discovered. There was no screw up at all at least in this aspect.
(Hope you don’t mind me adding that as a comment, Chiasm, it seemed to fit with my, well, my fit I threw about it.)
I have a question if Kimball Mason’s wife is culpable and a potential accessory to his crimes? I find it hard to believe he had so many weapons in his home and she never questioned why he never payed for them?
Suppose even he kept them somewhere in the house that she didn’t know about, if they were removed and then brought back in the last few days, someone in the household knew about it.
Who lives in Kimball Mason’s home or has unfettered access to it? Someone must be an accessory to this crime.
I’m in pure speculation mode here and could be wrong but this is how I think things will play out from here on.
There is one prominent person who is looking at possible prison time right now besides Kimball. Ordinarily I’d say he would be offered a deal in exchange for full disclosure on Kimball but given his position that may not be an option. He might get a partial deal which will keep him out of jail but no matter what he’s going to lose his job I’m sure.
Kimball is going to get hit with a bunch of new charges this week and I think he’ll plead guilty to all of them before trial. Thats because they will also either charge or threaten to charge his wife and / or adult children since some if not all of them will be shown to have committed crimes as well. I doubt the wife and kids knew what Kimball was doing when he committed the thefts but after the fact and during the trial some if not all of them clearly assisted in concealing stolen property. I’m guessing that in exchange for a guilty plea by Kimball they’ll let the wife and kids off the hook. I can’t imagine any husband or father who would let his wife and kids go to jail to save himself. But the more I learn about Kimball the more I wonder.
I was also very upset to hear that Kimball Mason had been playing the system for fools all along. But the more I thought about it the better it made me feel that he finally got recognized for what he is, an arrogant, self-important criminal. I hate to think that somebody else’s misfortune would make me feel better but in this case it does. He almost got away with practically coming off as the victim until the new search of his home this past Friday. I do feel sorry for his family and I really would like to think they weren’t involved. I hope not.
By the way, on the website of the Idaho Attorney General’s office it doesn’t have the newest information as of Monday 6/5 at 1:30 pm local time. It still addresses Kimball Mason’s original sentencing from last week. There is a quote from Lawrence Wasden as follows:
“The sentence in this case is, as it should be, harsher than that usually received by offenders with no prior criminal record,†Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. “It is a just punishment that holds accountable, and imposes serious consequences on, a public official who abused the public trust. It is important that Idahoans have confidence in their government, and, as this case reflects, I am committed to insuring that the citizens of Idaho have government they can trust.â€
I wonder how long it will be before they change that. It appeared to me that the AG office dropped the ball in this case but I hope the new information will prove me wrong.
Another thing I am wondering about is why Kimball Mason could do so much business with Ski’s Gun Shop without them having some kind of idea of where he was getting all these guns. And don’t they have some kind of accountability as a gun dealer to do anything about it? And not only Ski’s but some of the other attorneys, police, etc. that Kimball Mason was dealing with. Does anyone else have any thoughts on that?
Suzanne Hobbs on Channel 6 just broke a new Kimball Mason story with many of the details I’ve been hinting at so for those that didn’t see it here is what happened last week. Also it appears I was incorrect in one small detail that I’ll mention.
Kimball gave a LOT of guns to John Stosich who is also a Bonneville County Public Defender. Stosich was already involved because Kimball allegedly sold a gun (Stosich’s explanation) to Stosich about four years but to date no money exchanged hands. Wish I could buy things like that and never have to pay.
When this whole thing started to go to trial Kimball turned over (i.e. hid) a bunch of guns (all the ones seized last Friday) to Stosich who claims it was because Kimball would now be a felon and couldn’t possess them. Curiously though Stosich turned them all over to Kimball Mason’s adult son the day after Mason was sentenced and brought them back to the Mason residence. IFPD received a tip (I know how they got it but that wasn’t mentioned so I still can’t comment on that)that there were guns in the house. They got a search warrant and you all know the rest.
Where I was incorrect was that this was actually the first time the house had been searched. Apparently they wanted to search but Kimball refused permission and a search warrant was denied back when they tried to get one before the sentencing. I was under the impression they had searched it.
There are also new allegations that Kimball has been accepting money in exchange for dismissed charges. I kind of wonder where the person claiming this was when all this was going down. Not saying I’d put it past Kimball given everything else but the timing is weird. If you read all original reports you’ll see that others claimed this as well but I still have to wonder why someone would wait til now to come forward.
This is going to be very ugly though. Stosich was already implicated with the gun he “bought” but never paid for. Now he’s very implicated. So basically you had the prosecutor on one side and possibly the public defender on the other colluding in cases to get money and guns. I can smell the appeals being written already.
I’d bet money that when the dust settles Stosich loses his law license and is charged. As I mentioned earlier though it wouldn’t surprise me if he get some sort of plea bargain in exchange for info on Kimball. And going by the news at least one of Kimball’s son’s is implicated – I didn’t know which family member it was
As I said they would, the police and Dane Watkins office came out clean in this. I personally despise Kent Livsey (for reasons having nothing to do with this) but in this case I think he is completely clean and is guilty of only the same thing so many were – trusting Kimball. He and Watkins are also not holding back on mistakes they made and they are both trying to make sure that everything is brought to light.
One ironically funny thing I learned from the news is that odds are that Kimball Mason has no clue whats going on. Apparently new prisoners get no phone calls or visitors during processing which takes 10-14 days. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when he learns that his six month vacation is going to turn into 5 years or so and that his good buddy Stosich and his son could be rooming with him.
How Ironic that the man who has spent most of his life prosecuting others to jail or prison time, should now be spending most of the last part of his life being prosecuted and punished.
Mr. Mason was an arrogant and ignorant man. They say give the man a break he made a mistake. Look at all the good things he has done for the city. How about all of the hundreds of lies and law violations, I bet they out weigh the good he has done. Even worse he knows more then the average person that they were illegal actions. He spent his career prosecuting many people who do lots of good for the community, but made one mistake. Did he have sympathy for them because of one mistake? NO, We already know the City of Idaho Falls Police department is corupt because of this. How can we now respect there authority?
Just curious – how are the Idaho Falls Police corrupt because of this? Please explain.
It wasn’t illegal for Kimball Mason to take all those guns out of evidence. Most if not all had legally been forfeited to the city. It was standard operating procedure in fact to take those guns and then sell them or destroy them. Where Kimball broke the law is that he is required to bring back any proceeds he made to the police which he didn’t do as he lied saying he destroyed them. If Kimball had traded guns for new guns and brought those to the police no crime would have been committed. Or if he had just actually destroyed them again no crime would have been committed.
If Kimball brings down a lawful court order to release the guns that is signed by a judge are the police supposed to call the judge and ask “Hey judge, did you really mean to sign this order?” If a judge signs a legal court order the police are expected to follow it not question it. The oversight on Kimball was through the judges not the police.
Where the police were negligient to a degree was that Kimball was able to slip a couple of forged releases past the evidence custodian (this is ONE officer not the whole IFPD). But again when your getting countless documents from a person in authority who you have no reason to distrust your probably not going to closely inspect every single one.
If you can show how the police colluded with Kimball to do all this please do so. If you can show how the police were in fact corrupt please do so. Or perhaps you should just explain what your real bias against the police is – did you get arrested one time, get a ticket you don’t think you deserved, or what?
Joe V. — you need to relax and learn more about the situation before you start typing away — –all of your misinformed opinions.
News Ch. 6 I believe — has the entire State investigation available — PDF files. Check out this link: http://www.kpvi.com/ and look on the right side — a little folder with Kimballs Picture. Read the interview transcripts. Pay close attention to the interviews of IFPD Administration. Some of these illustrate classic examples of what you have serving in that Department now — at the upper admnistration levels. This may open some eyes as to how this was overlooked for so long — Sometimes Barney Fife is too busy drinking coffee, eating donuts and pulling in a rather decent paycheck for really not doing much at all. Check it out
Oh, and one last thing — John Stosich once looked down from his high horse at me with discust . Sat in judement of me over something he knoew nothing about. Guess what John … I am kicking back — waiting for the show to begin.
ex IF Cop, I admit I may be wrong, but that was the passion of the moment and that’s life, man 8^) I admit I probably am entirely misinformed, but several others have expressed they agree with me so we’re likely a misinformed city. We beg to be informed about this episode.
Good comments, look forward to hearing more from you.
Hey exIFPDcop
Someone sure didn’t look very “smart” did they in that investigation.
)
LOL!! You got it chiasm!! Its that mentality — and that lack of “staying sharp and focused” that let this happen for so long. There are a number of those folks down there. Most really are honest and trying. They have just risen one notch (maybe 2 in some cases) above their actual level of ability — and can’t leave a good paying job where they really are not required to do much — if anything. so they sit down there — drink coffee — and do not really much at all.
It’s unfortunate that cases adversely affected by Kimball’s behavior will likely not be re-visited.
I wonder how many families were negatively impacted by the absolution of those who were truly guilty.
Perhaps that’s the real travesty in this whole ordeal.
I’ll likely have to eat some words about questioning who we can trust after the Kimball Mason scandal fallout, especially regarding Mayor Fuhriman. I know he’s a good guy, it’s just I and many other residents are boggled this episode has dragged out and the truth seems to sputter out. I’m waiting to see the charges brought first (hopefully this coming week).
I can see I wasn’t alone in questioning the depth and breadth of this scandal. Today’s opinion page of the Post Register featured Mary Beckman also questioning who we can trust and how far this scandal will go.
Wasn’t John Stosich fired from the Bonneville County Public Defender’s office a few years back
for accepting illegal payments or something along those lines? Also, what about all the
lawyers that had their clients forfeit guns? Didn’t they know what was going on?
I can’t believe you’re all still buying the city and county’s official position that nobody knew anything and that Chief Livesey is personally responsible for the city’s investigation. Livesey didn’t begin his investigation until after Jimmy Caudle complained that his gun was missing from the property room. Seems his attorney was the only defense attorney willing to fight for his clients rights to retain his gun rather than forfeit it to the city. There have been allegations of sex and money in exchange for dismissals for years. Just so happens that no one in a position of authority wants to go after another in authority for fear the microscope would be turned on them. Believe me, they knew then and they know now. If you are all under the delusion that Kimball was the only corrupt official on our community roster, you’re in for a rude surprise when the iceberg hits. Kimball is only the tip of that iceberg. The best is yet to come if you are all willing to ask the tough questions and listen to answers you may not want to hear.
Chiasm wants to know where the people who are making allegations of money in exchange for dismissals were when this whole thing started. If you know anything about the Jimmy Caudle case, you’ll know the answer. After Jimmy blew the whistle on his missing gun, he couldn’t leave his house without being arrested. The misguided powers-that-be downtown blame him for this mess instead of blaming Kimball. The folks who were asked to exchange money for a dismissal could not have possibly believed that anyone in a position of power would believe them. Before this started, would you have believed them? I still can’t fathom that Livesey expects us all to believe that he initiated the investigation. He paid no attention to what was going on downstairs until Jiimy refused to be silenced about his missing gun. Jimmy threatened to sue, which he eventually did anyway, and the police were forced to investigate. Dane could have brought the charges himself but he’s too much of a pansy to bring charges against anyone in power so he passed it off to the AG. In the long run, that would prove to be the right decision but it was made for the wrong reason. When his officers are caught lying, he covers it up by bullying the defendant rather than pressing charges. The corruption goes way beyond Kimball’s office.
Jimmie Caudle got arrested because of many things none of which were police harassment as you imply. He was arrested many many times for violating a restraining order between he and his now ex wife, A_______ (leaving out her whole name but putting an initial just to make it clear I know what I’m talking about – if you actually know anything about Jimmie you know who I’m talking about). She was likewise arrested many times for the same thing. He was arrested once when a gun was fired by him during an argument, probably a drug deal, gone bad – and it wasn’t self defense. He was arrested for DUI at least once. He was arrested many times for driving while suspended and he was arrested for evading police. This is all public record if anyone cares to check. The paper makes a big deal about how he was arrested 30 times and only convicted 10 as if that means the other 20 were invalid arrests. Thats not the case. The arrests were valid but many of those 20 were dismissals in regards to the mutual violations of the restraining order that he and his ex-wife were committing. Police HAVE to arrest if there is evidence of a violation, they cannot give warnings on these. But when both parties are mutually violating the order it makes it hard to convince a jury you have a real victim. And when you have two professional victims like Jimmie and A______ its doubly difficult since any jury is going to end up thinking they both are at fault (which they were). Thus many of these charges were dropped or consilidated (i.e. we’ll dismiss three violations of the civil protection order if you plead guilty to one – a common legal practice to save the expense of a trial). Again even though the police knew full and well that both Jimmie and A_____ were equally at fault they are REQUIRED by law to arrest if they can prove a violation even if they know that Jimmie or A______ would turn around a violate it themselves the next time.
And you might wish to check your case history. Jimmie Caudle didn’t start the Mason investigation. As has been reported pretty much by all the media the whole thing blew up over an SUV that Mason took. The issue with Caudle and his gun came up not long after and further blew it up. Caudle just gets all the attention because of his so called starvation protest at the jail. Its funny though that Caudle lost no weight while in jail – can you say lying for attention? He was a closet eater – he pretended to not eat but would binge on many occasions or so those in the jail say.
But back to the my original question.
I asked about the new allegations that Mason was accepting money in exchange for dismissing cases. I wondered where the guy claiming this and others like him were during the investigation and during the run up to the trial. No one says a word and no one comes forward. But suddenly after the trial people come out with these claims.
It certainly wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Mason did this. One thing I’ve never done here is defend Mason. I think he was a crooked SOB. I’ve just argued against ridiculous allegations of favortism – watch the Derek Tingey case out of Rigby – he’s the school employee who embezzled at least $40,000 and maybe up to $100,000 from the school – much more money that Mason took – and then compare as they are very comparable cases – both Mason and Tingey were trusted employees who stole – both were essentially public servants. If I’m wrong I’ll admit it but I’ll bet Tingey gets less than Mason got. And if I’m right I wonder if all those crying “Mason got favoritism” will be willing to eat their words. I’ve never said that this is all Mason should get as I think he should have got more and I think Tingey should spend time in prison. But reality is that non violent embezzlers with no criminal history rarely do prison time.
And now I’m arguing that Jimmie Caudle isn’t Mother Teresa.
One other thing about Caudle which I should have brought up in the last post, Caudle was arrested 30 times according to the Post Register. How many of these arrests happened BEFORE the Mason thing came to light? Nearly all of them were, thats how many were BEFORE. That alone blows the whole harassment thing out of the water unless the police were preemptively harassing him because they knew that at some point in the future, thanks to their precognitive powers, he would make allegations against Mason.
Inside Observer,
Are you trying to prepare us for other offices of judicial system being involved, more private or prosecuting attorneys, law enforcement or more people in all of those categories? Or, something entirely different.
What I don’t understand at all, and perhaps either you or Chiasm (or someone else) could give me some insight about, is Mayor Fuhriman. My memory may be faulty, but I thought Mayor Fuhriman was often the spokes person for the IFPD. Would it be conceivable that Mason would work with Mayor Fuhriman (prior to him becoming mayor) on any cases to issue press releases, or not? Or, would Officer Fuhriman’s information come from within the IPD and thu comments to the media were made with no interaction with Mason?
And while I’ve read Chiasm’s post about Jimmie Caudle, and it’s clear he and the wife Chiasm wrote about, were having DV issues (and violations), is there some other original crime with Jimmie Caudle that landed his gun into the evidence area? I seemed to have missed that. Can Jimmie Caudle’s attorney be named publically, becaue if I understand both Chiasm and Inside Observer, it sounds like this lawyer wasn’t part of the “club” or didn’t want to play ball with those who routinely did.
How would Mason have accepted $$$$ in a plea bargain? I guess you can tell I’ve had no interaction with criminal and prosecuting attorneys. It may sound like a simple question, but to those of us who don’t know the specifics of how things are done, I don’t understand how $$$ could be given for a plea bargain. Or, is the implication that between the Mason and the defendent’s attorney there was $$$$ as an “arrangement.”
For those who are ordered to pay restitution for their crimes, how do they pay that money (to whome, or how is it collected etc.). It’s my understand those kinds of restitution dollars often go to the Crime Victims Reparations fund. But, I might be wrong.
And I’m curious about one other thing. Given all that has happened with Mason, then the questions about Stosch, which group or groups of the following professionals, do you think is struggling with all this information the most: IFPD, Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, the public defenders, Bonneville County prosecutors or the private practice lawyers-or others that I haven’t named, are the hardest hit by what has been determined about Mason to date? It seemed to me that Mason, through the various stages of his career, has worked with all or most of these sub-groups of law enforcement. Which of the above groups do you think are probably handling all this information the best? I do realize these are your personal opinions and I appreciate you and potentially others, sharing your honest beliefs.
Experts, please help me out with all that I don’t understand. And, unfortunately, I do believe Inside Observer that there is a lot more to come.
Great questions! I would refer most of your questions back to the KPVI website where the entire report from the AG’s office is available.
To answer your questions about how did people “pay” their restitution, read the transcript from Kelly Mallard’s interview. Kelly was formerly a prosecutor but left when Dane got elected. Kimball was born and raised here and has been a “public servant” since the early 1980’s, so of course he knows everyone.
It was interesting in the report how when the county told the police department they could no longer apply for forfeiture due to time restraints, the police department immediately turned to Kimball. So don’t tell me they didn’t know he was willing to “bend” the law. The report makes it quite clear that the issue of Caudle’s gun came up BEFORE the issue of the Suburban. As Chiasm stated so eloquently, Caudle is no mother terea but the majority of his problems weren’t with his ex-wife but many were. As for not having been arrested a bunch of times since he reported the gun, well, it would be hard to be arrested when you’re sitting in jail already.
The AG did name CAudle’s attorney, and it should be noted that they rarely mentioned anyone else’s defense attorney. I truly do not know why. But I suspect that may have more to do with the fact that his attorney was already disclosed when the media released copies of the order signed by the district judge to return Caudle’s gun. The order had his attorney’s name on it. His attorney only lived in Idaho Falls for five or six years so he would not have been a member of the “club”. He is reputed to be the only attorney in Idaho Falls who will take a case to trial. Unfortunately, he moved away but he comes in to take the tough cases every now and again. Good for him. Hopefully his efforts will keep the justice system on their toes.
As for what I’m trying to “prepare you for”, I din’t know anything specific but I am a student of human nature. No one will convince me that Kimball acted alone or that others weren’t participating. If not by commission, by ommission. Again read Mallard’s interview. He had to know what was going on and never said a word to anyone. He just watched. Shame on him. The local government has been controlled by a small group of people for decades. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When we don’t turn over our elected officials every so often, we invite the kinds of problems we’re experiencing now.
In the last three elections we had the opportunity to balance the power, put fresh faces in office and we chose to go with the name we knew (not necessarily trusted, but knew). They’ve all been there so long, they can’t possibly think they’re not autonomous, and they are as long as we don’t do our part by going to council meetings, voting, asking questions, etc. The hardest part for many of us will be accepting that we all share responsibility by not asking questions and choosing to just go about our lives without paying any attention to what was going on downtown.
I am however personally aware of other cases that will be breaking into the news soon and it isn’t going to be pretty. It’s time to clean house, folks. I can’t remember who said it, but it was great. When any politician turns his eye to his reelction, his focus is NOT on his job and it’s time to send him home. We have another chance this fall and I hope we take better advantage of it than we have in the past.
As for your question about who has been hit the hardest, I think they’re all carrying a portion of the shame. The prosecutor’s weren’t coordinating their cases with the city (see Jimmie Caudle, his misdemeanor case should have been wrapped up with his felony case), the police department wasn’t following procedure on releasing things from the property room (the city prosecutor would NEVER take things out of the property room except for trial. If a gun was to be traded or destroyed, that transaction would be handled by a member of the police department, not the city prosecutor – EVER!), the public defender’s and defense attorneys are looking bad because they apparently weren’t fighting for their client’s rights (just rolling over when Kimball wanted whatever had been seized, maybe so they could share?), the city mayor and council because they weren’t doing their jobs in overseeing Kimball’s work (ALL public officials are subject to some sort of scrutiny), and on and on.
And finally, we as the public for again, not paying attention. When a defendant is charged with a crime, it’s too easy (convenient?) to say, well, he deserves whatever he gets. But in reality, if we don’t fight for their rights, we’re next in line to lose ours. Soemtime, they are NOT guilty, and sometimes they’re being overcharged to make room for a plea. We just choose not to worry about it until we find ourselves or someone we love in the gun sights of the justice system. And I’m sure the head of every department is wondering about the integrity of everyone underneath him, and those who DID know what was going on and said nothing are surely having some sleepless nights. The comment that there are many good people downtown is correct and that not everyone is corrupt, but if we turn a blind eye to what is happening, aren’t we just as guilty?
Inside Observer,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Ironically, after I had written what I had here, I did start to read some of the KPVI documents. Among them being the transcripts of interviews with John Stosich and Kelly Mllard. WOW- – what an eye opener.
I did learn that attorney’s name who was representing Jimmie Caudle. Unless I’m confused in what I read, or information was wrong in the local media, isn’t this the same attorney who is now representing the mother charged of involuntary mansluaghter, S.B., in the terrible tragedy that ended her son’s life? I might be wrong,but I thought it was the same person.
Time is a factor for me, so I’m pro-rating how much I read on KPVI at a time. For whatever reason, I’ve decided to read all the transcripts other than Kimball Mason’s first. It interesting to read the difference in what read like straight-forward answers from some people (like Dale Storer) compared to others interviews.
I didn’t know the Ron Swafford originally represented Kimball Mason. I think I got that correct from the transcripts. I probably haven’t gotten far enough to find out why Kimball either got told or thought it might be a good idea for him to get an attorney other than his landlord (Swafford), if I read that correctly.
No, he is not the same attorney representing the mother. His name did appear in the PR because he is representing a defendant on drug charges in Jefferson County that made front page news for a day or two. Our media is so quick to move in and destroy someone’s reputation but when the facts start rolling in and that person is not what they were made to appear, the media is nowhere to be found. I think Rush calls that drive-by media, doesn’t he? I heard a rumor that Kelly Mallard lost his contract with the county to do the conflict public defender’s cases. Does anyone know anything about that?
All of you people who have posted comments are crazy!!! I have been friends with Kimball Mason for over 25 years and I have known him well. He is not the kind of person that would do something like that. So you can all —- — ——– — —-!!!
Of course you are right. Kimball Mason (and you) are the only normal ones. The rest of us are all crazy.
Mr. Ericsson … the man was caught red-handed. Good people sometimes do rotten things, and while I’m in no position to speak about Mason’s person, he did some bad things then tried to cover the whole thing up.
So good person or not, he did those things. It’s time you accepted that. Let the law judge him just like it would judge anybody who committed the crime.
Well, if that really was Todd Ericsson commenting above, did you ever report back on that serial number of the gun you bought from Kimball Mason that you gave to your son? http://www.kpvi.com/mason/document041.pdf
Otherwise, the other comments are on target. He admitted his guilt, said nobody else was involved, then other guns that he swore were destroyed were found IN HIS HOME, one even with the evidence tape still on it.
And your last comment is edited, I would hope you could communicate with others without reverting to sounding like an old drunk in a bar.
I am suprised at how cold you people are. I, personally, do not know Mr. Ericsson, but all he tried to do was protect his friend and you went after him like hungry dogs. And what do you people know about Kimball Mason? How do you know he is such an evil and sinful man? If all your information comes from the media…well, that explains it. I mean, come on. You went after his family. Do you really have to kick the dead dog? This mistake has ruined his life, partly because of all the horrible things the newspaper and news stations have said. I kow Kim Mason, and he would not have given the guns away to other people if he had known it would get them in trouble. He is a good man, and the media and you play him out to be a greedy, horrible man with no morals or standards. And some of the guns that the police confiscated from his house (while his children were home alone) are his grandfather\’s that he had given to his son. He wants to know when the police are going to return his possessions to him.
Ummm: “Mr. Ericsson … all he tried to do was protect his friend and you went after him like hungry dogs.”
Ever hear those in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks?
I linked to the record that he had one of the stolen weapons. The last reported was he would look into returning it. Is Todd Ericsson still holding onto stolen property? The city of Idaho Falls would like it back.
I also had to edit Mr. Ericsson’s comment because it was below adult discussion standards.
“…you went after him like hungry dogs.” He wrote an out of line rude comment and won’t acknowledge what he did with one of the stolen weapons he has in his possession.
No, we didn’t go after him like hungry dogs, but we ought to.
I’m going to both say “I told you so” and admit “I was slightly wrong” in this post.
Derrick Tingey was sentenced today to 3-10 years for stealing $600,000 (THATS SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND FOLKS) from the Jefferson county school district.
Worst case scenario for Mason is that he stole much less than $100,000 and probably less than $50,000. Mason got 1-5 years. Tingey got 3-10.
Given the relative disparity of dollar amounts they stole the sentences are pretty equal. Both were in positions of trust in the community (Oh woe the public trust – a much overrated concept IMO). Both screwed the public. Both are going to prison.
I’d say this proves that Mason got an appropriate sentence in terms of what others get who do similar crimes.
You are still free to argue to that such people should be punished harsher. But stop with the insane arguments of favorable treatment.
I’ll have to admit you were right (and wrong I guess) on that.
You know, I’d have to say Derek Tingey should get a harsher sentence because stealing from a school district is like stealing from a charity.
You have to wonder how a poor school district could not notice $600k missing, though? How long a period were his crimes spread over? Schools are so strapped, how could they not notice the missing money?
What does that say about their controls, their district administration?
None of you have so far asked the question of how Mason happened to have possession of two different district court judges personal signature stamps. Obviously he had to know that it wasn’t exactly kosher to have something like that. What about the judges themselves? Are they in on this crime ring too? I agree with the statement made earlier that this needs looked into much deeper. It will be interesting to follow this & see how many skunks we can dig up from our burrow of officials here in town.
That’s a great point, did he just slip into the judges’ offices to use the signature stamps or did he have his own versions?
Sounded in the report like he had his own copies. Most clerks have a copy of the MAGISTRATE judge stamps so he could have just snatched one of those when the clerk wasn’t looking. More than one person admitted having seen him use the stamps. Why the heck didn’t anybody say anything? Are we that trusting?
How long do we have to wait to see what will happen to John Stosich? Does anybody really think he’ll be appointed to judge?
Trusting or just stupid?
Obviously John Stosich really thinks he could be appointed, that alone is something to be very concerned with
Sorry, I don’t take the paper or get to read the news regularly. What’s up with the Stosich-judge thing? You can’t be serious intimating that he’s looking for a judgeship while being implicated in the KM thing. From what I’ve heard, i.e. shuffling stolen weapons (ok ALLEGEDLY shuffling & and proven stolen) back & and forth between his house & Mason’s, how could this happen? I’m incredulous. If this is true, I will say again that we need to point a longer finger at our current judges, their clerks, and the whole process whereby our judges are selected, as well as how justice has been done in the last few years that Mason has been doing his thing. Something here still doesn’t smell right.
Yeah, the PR reported John Stosich had applied for a judge position. It was somewhere in southeast Idaho, but I don’t know the specifics.
I think it was also reported that Stosich applied before his name got attached to Kimball Mason’s delightful aura. So it’s not likely he’ll actually get it.
The mayor of ST Anthony hired a police chief from out of state. His reasoning was to many times the police would let someone get out of a speeding ticket, or a DWI charge because they were his neighbor/cousin/friend ect. He thought bringing in new people would stop the “good old boy” behavior. He was rewarded with an attempted recall.
Its to bad the state prosecutor had to come in to Idaho falls to set things right re Kimball.
Wow — I wonder if that was really Todd Ericsson who posted above. Hi Todd! Long time no see. From what I read recently — on the AG’s web site — someone was not 100% truthful when questioned by State Investigators! Then, from what I read — more stolen guns were found in the home of your daughter — in Utah. Not sure whats gona happen now — but waiting on “pins and needles” to find out…. If you and/or Stosich go to trial I am taking the day off to come watch!
Oh Todd — one more thing — Kiball was my friend too — and I support him as a person, but hey — he did screw up x 2 and he needs to pay the price. And it sounds now as though he is. I am sorry for he and his family… but he shouldn’t have done the crime — if he couldn’t do the time….
It probably wasn’t Todd that posted.
Todd is currently working overseas and has been for a long time. He, like quite a few other formerIFPD cops, quit to take a job where they train police in developing nations and make much more money than they can ever make at the IFPD. He occasionally comes back to the states so possibly he was here when that was posted.
Ok,Chiasm, but that still doesn’t clear Todd’s name from potential charges of hiding stolen guns. The facts remain that he has been questioned and possibly lied, and/or attempted to hide these stolen weapons from the investigation into misconduct. If he’s been gone that long, then how did the AG’s man question him? Maybe he took off & got out of here while the getting was good. If so, then “HE’LL BE BAACK”…. LMAO !!!!
I think the media/AG’s office hinted that they were still investigating the situation and more charges could be filed?
So who else is still in play here?
I count John Stosich and Todd Ericsson as the biggest potential indictees right now, anyone else?
And what number of smaller players may be indicted or slip through the cracks? Kimball’s son and spouse, who must have known about the stolen weapons in their home? Other lawyers or cops Kimball may have given weapons to? What about those court clerks who saw Kimball using those signature stamps but did not even question it, let alone report it?
Perhaps at the least, the city should send workers to a 1-day ethics seminar at the civic auditorium. If it was good enough for the White House staff, it should be good enough for our city employees.
Did Kimball have much of a budget he controlled? Given his ethical lapses, shouldn’t his budget be audited to see if he was skimming there, also?
Chiasm — I know those guys over sees get on the Internet all the time. I chat real time with a few of them — and have told them about this site –I agree though — it didn’t sound like Todd. The vulgar outblast wasn’t his style. I would say it was a young family member or close friend…. could have been Todd from over sees though
Joe,
Kimball didn’t have a budget, per se. He was an independent contractor hired by the city to act as city prosecutor. As such, he was paid a specified amount of money per year. Out of that money, he had to pay any and all expenses incurred by him in the performance of his duties – rent, utilities, secretarial, insurance, etc.. So there would not be any skimming.
That does bring up the question of malpractice. All attorneys do, or should, carry malpractice insurance because they can be sued for not doing their jobs properly. I wonder …
Did Kimballs’ cronies get away? Take a look at this excerpt from the PR.
“Weapon: Ruger .44-caliber Super Black Hawk revolver, Serial #8396406
Who had it: Frank Sparkman, who stored it in a post office box in Idaho Falls. Sparkman was interviewed by police at the post office and was according to reports, displaying delusional behavior. The gun and a box of ammunition were taken as evidence. IFPD records indicated that they were released to Mason.
Who got it: Mason gave it to Stephen Blaser, a Blackfoot lawyer who represented Sparkman. Blaser turned it over to investigators in January.”
Why is this important? Because I was working at teh PD when all this was goingon and I remember dealing with Sparkman on sevral occasions. I know for a fact the Sparkman made numerous attempts to file a report with the IFPD about Mason stealing his gun. I know for a fact that all of the upper ups knew about it. The story was legend at the department because Sparkman told everyone he could, including the apst and present mayors, and the county prosecutor. But the department gaffed him off time and again. As time went by Sparkman began to hate the cops more and more. Whenever I dealt with him, I got along fine with him because I told him I believed him. Why? Because severel officers told me they knew Kimball had Sparkman’s gun. Were they telling the truth? I didn’t know then, but I sure know now.
In my opinion it took some big balls and little brains to give that gun to Sparkman’s lawyer. It is also insultive to Sparkman. My concern is that a backroom deal was struck between lawyers and a mentally ill person was taken advantage of. The PD wanted Sparkamn off the streets, no question about it. Especially with Kimball pushing the issue becasue Sparkman lived just one block away from him, and Kimball was hearing about in church.
But the big question now falls back to the PD and Livsey, when they say they only knew about Kimball’s thefts after the suburban incident. No they didn’t they knew long before that. But during those days you couldn’t walk by a Captian’s door, or the chief’s office and not see Mason in one of those areas joking and carrying on. By the way, if he wasn’t in one of those offices, he was downstairs working out with………
Todd Ericsson.
So it has finally come out that one of the defense attorneys did actually end up with his client’s gun. That’s more than insulting. It’s unethical. Why doesn’t Sparkman sue his attorney? If he wanted that gun, he couldn’t possibly have been representing his client’s best interests. Has he been reported to the bar?
So we’re on the war path about who will be named the next chief of police but we need to be as actively involved in who gets named the next judge. The cops can try to get away with things, but ultimately it won’t work if an honest person is presiding over the case. Anyone can write the judge and ask about his case. Did Sparkman try that, I wonder? I’m not saying the judges are involved, but we’ve had plenty of back room deals in other appointments, but we should be screaming from the rooftops over who gets named judge. It absolutely positively MUST NOT BE a crony of the department.
I can say that we tried to have Kimball sanctioned by the Idaho Bar Association and they discouraged us from following up on our allegations. I contacted them on several other instances to inquire about our complaint and they never responded. My guess is that they knew about the problems but were never going to investigate, probably because of ‘good ole boy’ politics. We also contacted the mayor’s office regarding Kimball’s behaviour and received the same type of response. None of these people can say they were unaware of Kimball’s action without perjuring themselves. I hope they all stand trail for being complicant in these crimes.
John, I would think that you would be a valuable witness for proving the above allegations. Have you been interviewed by Mike Dillon? Do you have proof of reporting the crimes to the IBA or the mayor?
Hi Paula,
I should have copies of all my correspondances with the various agencies. My complaints pertained to the outcome of my brother’s case, who was killed by a truck driver that was never charged with any crime despite breaking several laws. Does Mike Dillon work for the AG’s office? They too should have my contact information as I sent them numerous letters complaining about Kimball Mason. I would be more than happy to speak with them if asked.
So can they still arrest Ericsson even when he’s out of the country? And what’s being said about other arrests connected to the case?
Well, if Comment #28 really was from Todd Ericcson, it was quite an interesting turn of events for him to get charged for lying about some of Kimball’s guns.
This is a crying shame. The worst of Masons crimes, to include: the majority of the district court, and the gestapo mentalaty style police department “will go on”. This can be proven with certainty that prosecutorial abuse, and overzealous prosecutors have destroyed the personal lives and economic lives of the victims.
The consequences for the overzealous prosecutor is too often the sought-after fame, fortune, power and political position, but the victims (including virtually everyone in the community) are left to pay the bill for wrongful incarceration, excessive criminal proceedings, destroyed families, wrongfully-confiscated property depriving a newly-accused defendant of the funds to defend himself/herself.
Kimball is not the only bad seed…There is currently a young prosecutor (L Kermit) whom needs to be two things: Humane & Ethical and he would be a better person. This is the next bad seed. This prosecutor will have a complaint filed against him with the Idaho State Bar within the next 6 months, “peroid”
Anonymous, what are you taking about, do you not think Mason got what he deserved? the sad part here is that nothing is going to happen to Stosich cause he cried all over himself.
For one thing, the only reason Mason has been charged again is by his own misfortune. Without a doubt his entire case would have been swept, and rest assured, Mason would have had a short stay of execution (law license) and then he would have been practicing in Idaho again. Do not believe for a moment that mason is not GUILTY of more criminal acts. Money, knives, sunglasses, t-shirts, drugs etc. missing, but the real crime is the “prosecutorial misconduct”. Stosich is not free and clear yet, I assume. If you are referring to Stosich as the “other” bad seed, he is not a PA. The other PA is young, green, and namely (L. Kermit). Kermit is the second para. to the blog #58, and that is what should be investigated in regards to the Bonneville County/Mason saga, and the rest of the prosecutors office!!!
I’ve never heard of Mason being involved with drugs and I have never heard of L.Kermit, did he work with Mason? Please explain.
L. Kermit is a given nickname, to be released in the near furure. Now Mason…try investigating his dealings with Wiemer Heating and Air Conditioning.
I don’t think the AG is done yet and I believe more is yet to come. I do NOT think Stosich will be charged. There will be other areas of lawsuits and investigations that do not include the Mason issue that will help disclose some of the conduct of the prosecutors who believe they are above the law and exempt from its provisions. Just stay tuned.
Come on guys some facts would be nice. Lots of mystery here.
OK Just Me…Want a fact. Holding the name; a Lieutenant with the IF Police Dept. committed a felony, (wire fraud) and he was excused!
So were these new investigations brought about by the Mason issue. I mean since the Mason deal happened is the AG’s office now looking into the IF court system, prosecutors, cops, judges etc. I thought the only way they would do this if if they were asked to do so. Do you think Stosich will lose his license? You seem to be well informed. It seem some police officers past and present used add alot of info and have now stopped, whats that all about?
It’s funny that drugs should be mentioned. (comment 61) There are some really interesting stories involving Mason’s partner in crime Todd E.
I wonder if they’ll ever see the light of day?
You know what is all funny…This is such a shallow community we wouldn’t know something drastic happened unless it hit us in the face. My meaning is….we as reasonable/logical minded ones, are sheltered from the real crime’s around us, and has been that way for eon’s. I believe we need a TOWN GENERAL, someone that’s only job is to observe civil rights violations within the community. If one had a pile of money they could start a class action law suit that would smell to high heaven. As I stated in #58 there are others in the PA Office that need ethical evaluations, and some of the current Judges need to be relieved because of this mess. I think this story needs national attendtion inorder to receive a proper investigation, and to include where is the ATF?
I have a little story about something that happened to me years ago, which now ties in nicely with the Kimball Mason – Todd Ericcson debacle. People may or may not find this to be interesting, but I believe that it is. Back about 18 years ago I was a Police Officer on the Idaho Falls Police Department. I got home one morning after working all night, and just as I was getting into bed I received a call from a local FBI Agent. He identified himself, and I knew him. I didn’t know him well, but I knew who he was. He said that he needed to speak with me about something. Thinking that this was in regards to me being a reference for someone’s security clearance I casually said “no problem, I am going to bed now, but will be getting up around 4.†He said “no – you don’t understand. I need to see you NOW.†This sort of freaked me out and I asked “am I in some kind of trouble or something?†He said “you might be.†I threw on my clothes and drove immediately to his office, which in those days was located near Lomax and Yellowstone. I walked in and sat down, wondering what in the world could be happening. This FBI Agent threw a paper and an envelope onto the table in front of me. He said “does this look familiar?†I looked the letter over and had never seen it before in my life. It was a letter that someone had written anonymously to the FBI Office – sent to the FBI office in Montana, if I remember correctly. The letter was obviously written by a cop – by the words used and the content of the letter itself. The letter described then Idaho Falls Police Detective Todd Ericcson and it alleged some very unethical, improper and illegal activities on his part. As I read the letter, I remember thinking that this was obviously someone who had worked closely with Todd, and apparently had seen these things happen first hand. The letter described illegal searches, and some other improper investigative techniques that were illegal. It described actual crimes that were committed. Since these were crimes allegedly committed by a Police Officer against citizens, the FBI had a duty to Investigate because these were potentially Civil Rights violations – and therefore had Federal Jurisdiction. I read the letter and put it back on the table and said “so?†The FBI Agent told me that I had written the letter to defame Todd’s character, and that I was in some big trouble. I explained to this FBI Agent that personally I had heard rumors of many of the things in the letter – but that I never seen any of it first hand. I also said that if I had seen any of it first hand I would have written the letter myself – and signed my damn name to it. I told him that though I personally believed that everything in the letter was likely true, I had no first hand knowledge – and therefore was NOT in a position to write such a latter to the FBI. This Agent continued to push me for a “confession.†I could not believe how hard he was working to discover who wrote this letter against his Lil’ Buddy Todd. I told him that from an investigative standpoint it was ridiculous to devote FBI time and resources to discovering who wrote the letter in such a accusatory way. I recommended that it might be better if he used an equal amount of time and energy investigating the allegations, to see if perhaps they were true. It was just very sad that this FBI idiot didn’t care at all about the alleged violations of law. All he wanted to know was “who wrote the letter against his friend?†Now, many years later this interesting but not entirely surprising turn of events has taken place. Obviously Mr. Ericcson is innocent until proven guilty, and I certainly wish him all the best. But if he is found guilty of this crime, there was a very interesting precursor many years ago that indicated there was a problem. I also think that it is funny now to hear Chief Livsey talk about Todd and the “slap in the face†he has given the Department and all of the Officers. The truth is that Todd was always treated like the Golden Boy before Livsey arrived, and if my memory serves me correctly – even after. He had some friends in high places on the Department, and always seemed to me to be receiving special treatment. When he left the Department I remember thinking “wow – that’s a civil law suit that the city just dodged.†The fact is that the 2nd time that Todd was hired (rehired) on the Police Department it was about 1997 or 98. Livsey was there. Livsey would have likely been involved in that rehiring process in some way, and even if he was not personally involved, he is responsible for it because he was the Chief of Police. Now given some of the things that Todd was allegedly involved in – and given the questionable nature of his character and previous work history on the Department – why in the world would the Chief allow him to return to the Department? Frankly I was floored when I heard they had hired him back. It’s funny now, to read the Chiefs words in the news: “I didn’t trust him.†Well then why did you rehire him? And the Captains knew or should have known what a liability Todd was going to be. Most everyone else did. It’s a little club down there. As long as you belong to the right “group of friends†– life is good. And the “slap in the face†the city police received? That happened the day they hired Todd back. So this slap in the face wasn’t just Todd’s fault – was it Chief?
Very interesting, I have a question for anyone, do you think John Stosich knew the guns he held for Mason were stolen? Also, has anyone had any bad dealings with him? Just drives me crazy that he seems to be getting away with this. Though maybe he really didn’t know, you would think because he had one of the original stolen guns he would have been more on guard.
I spoke to Livsey when he was going to re-hire Todd, and told him it was a bad move. He then told me he had polled the various supervisors and the vote was 50-50 to rehire him. I told him Todd’s reputation, and Livsey blew me off. I told Livsey he was making a mistake, and I was so sure of it, I had been willing to face Livsey face to face over this re-hiring.
So are there any current officers like Todd?
Did Stosich know? Good question. As soon as I heard that Kimball was in trouble I knew immediately that Todd was likely in the mix somewhere. They were best of friends. And right there with Kimball — everywhere he went… you guessed it. I can say that the investigation that the State is doing is a good one. The “ship is going down” — so now it will be every man for himself. All the rats will turn on each other to save their own skin, so if he was involved — it will come out. Thanks for the input FormerPD. Pretty sad when a Chief has such a bad feeling that he has to “poll the Officers” and then goes ahead and hires when its 50-50. Now he has the nerve to say he went to the Investigators because he didn’t trust him. He (Livsey) put a damn badge and a gun on him — when he didn’t trust him. He deserves this slap in the face — though the good decent cops do not.
OK so I think I’m getting obsessed with this Mason deal. Will Mason’s family be charged? (Ha ha sounds like Helter Skelter part II) Also do you really think Mason will make it to trial in February? How does that help him?
I’ve heard rumours that there are a lot of people who in the 80’s were in the police, courts, and local law offices that are grateful a certain person is now deceased. Mason has apparently named him as an accomplice who was widely involved in shady dealings back when Mason first came on the scene. I’m withholding the name so as not to disparage the dead on what may just be rumours.
Rumour – would that be MC? Now THAT is where the real stories are. No one will ever know all the truth behind that one…. The Skyway Bar — Drug arrests — and rumoured ties to the PD. If Mason named MC — I would love to hear the details on that one. I do not know anything about any of that — other than what I have heard. It was very odd though. The State could never catch the bad guys dealing their drugs at the Skyway Bar — until the one time that they hit the place without letting the City PD know about it. The real truth behind that one would make the Kimball Mason saga seem like a few little girls in Sunday School. But we will likely never know.
The info I have heard follows:
I have spoken to a few officers that worked narcotics when Todd did and it was widely assumed that he might have not have been on the up and up. When the IFPD was left out of multi-agency drug investigations, there was a higher rate of success on drug warrants. At first, Todd’s partner was let in on the info, but when the higher ups at IFPD learned about it, they ordered Todd’s partner to keep Todd in the loop. Needless to say, the partner had to be excluded from any further multi-agency investigations. That info came to me from what I consider to be an unimpeachable source, and I believe it.
I know others in the department were aware of the rumors as well.
has anyone heard anything about Todd today? Wasn’t today the day that he was so turn himslef in?
Just watched the news, excellent question, why IS Ericsson the only one being charged. Stosich would have never contacted the police about the guns he had, he had to have know they were stolen what a weasel…. and what about all the others. I for one plan to make as large a stink about this as I can. I’m not condoning Ericsson but sounds to be like he is the only one who was a true friend, ethics not law here.
From Chanel 6
“Police Chief Kent Livsey says today that he not only gave Ericsson’s name to state investigators, but names of other city officers as well ”
Other city officers? Why has Livsey still retained them? If he thinks they need to be named to the state, he had better be doing something about it himself.
The man has lost control of his department. End of story. Too much has been going on right under his nose, and he missed the boat. Especially since he was forewarned about Ericcson from the get go.
This all stems from the favoritism that has gone on long enough. Todd was well connected with several captains as well as Lts and Sgts who were in Livsey “favored circle.” The same goes for Kimball. The officers that knew the truth about Ericcson were ignored. I hold Livsey personally responsible for this entire mess. Time for Livsey to stand and be counted.
there are too many questionable statements from Livsey at this point, and I think he has lost all credibility. as long as he remains, this mess will never get cleaned up because we will never get the full truth from Mason, Ericcson, nor the Chief of Police.
This post is really full of very good information that the “average” citizen in IF, not related to the Police Department would not know, but can glean if they read this all carefully. This “favored circle” that was mentioned above is the key. Todd was part of that circle. One post above mentioned that as Livsey “polled the supervisors” they were split, 50-50. I can tell you that the 50% that for FOR rehiring Todd were those in that circle. The other 50% — for the most part were not. That “favored circle” has mistreated officers that were not a part of it for years. They have also done whatever they could do — whenever they could do it to protect those that are a part of that circle. I have seen it myself. Add to this the fact that a Captains position on that Department is really just early retirement with a paycheck, and you begin to see how this could have happend in the first place. The Captains make quite a decent paycheck, and really do nothing at all. They have been around since shortly after Jesus walked the earth, and why should they leave when all they have to do is show up — sit there and collect a check. It takes 16 men and a shotgun to get a Captain to retire — and there isn’t one of therm down there that is worth their weight in cow dung. Raed Roger Smarts interview with States Investigators that was on the States AG’s website. I will post a link if needed. If you read this interview you can see how disconnected these people are. They don’t know whats happening — and they don’t care. As long as they can pass the tourch when they leave, to one of their own, they are happy. So — poor leadership, complacency and the lil’ Buddy Club is what let this happen. Do you think that maybe the Captain over the evidence room might have been able to come up with some good ideas like maybe tight controls and regular audits if he had been paying attention to his job? Do you think that maybe Chief L should have listened to his people and realized that if 50% believe the guy is a problem — MAYBE he should not take a chance. Do you think that maybe if Kimball Mason was not loosely associated with this Favored Circle maybe someone would have questioned him? It time for Livsey to pack up his things. But then watch closely as the Mayor appoints Mark McBride as the new Chief — and the circle continues…
http://www.kpvi.com/ here is a link to News Ch 6 with the Todd E report. He admites that he had the guns, but claims he “forgot.” Funny. I have some guns that I have had for 30 years and I remember where I got each and ever one of them. It is interesting to note that the Judge who saw Todd in court is allowing him (Todd) to leave the US and go to Iraq to work until April 2007 — postponing any future court activity until then. In most cases they TAKE the passport of an accused felon awaiting trial. IN this case they let him go and work around HIS schedule. This has to make us wonder why? If he never comes back to the US, does that mean that he will not ever be in a position to name names — other people involved? It would be interesting to know in how many other cases in the History of Idaho Falls has a Judge allowed the accused to postpone court/trial and any other legal proceedings because they had to work. I have never heard of it in 30 years! Also, will the Department of Defense (who hold Todds contract) be notified — and will they allow a man recently charged with a felony to work on behalf of the United States in such a way? This is really getting to be rediculous.
Stocish did know the guns were stolen, he even said in an interview, that he asked Mason if they were.
We see the favoritism, again, and again, and now with Ericsson. I bet he didn’t post bail either, and it is another offence to have moved those firearms over state lines.
I stated above, and here is his name; Dennis Tremayne, he commit a felony, wire fraud, and was excused.
Here is what will work for Stosich, he is using the Religious Card. Works here every time, watch.
the wire fraud deal with Tremayne was very different though. He had an old recording on his phone that everyone in his home knew about. It had been there for years. It was his phone, and in Idaho you can record any phone call as long as at least one party on the call knows its being recorded. His wife — during a divorce tried to file the charge claiming she did not know. Because Tremayne is NOT in the little family circle, the FBI came after him. They tried everything they could do to charge him, but because it was HIS phone, they could prove his wife knew about it — she decided to make a big deal about it only after a divorce was begun and it had obviously been hooked up for years they could not charge him. Lets keep the record straight
but I have to support you with the “religeous card” bit in most cases. It can’t help in all cases — but they use it every time, and if there has not been so much damage that it CAN”T be covered up, it works. I saw a ton of temple recommends come out of wallets as drivers licenses in my many years making traffic stops. I don’t mean to be disrespectful — but it is what it is. Just trying to call a fair game.
and Tremayne is not a member of any religeon that I am aware of. And I have known him for 30 years. The waythey came after him — That was a case of “reverse religeous card” I guess…. LMAO
Besides Livsey has no real love for Tremayne. Sure Capt Smart is Tremayne’s benefactor which should give him carte blanch, just as it did for Todd, but Tremayne has gone to bat for the line officers in the past and he has basically washed his hands of Livsey’s circus show.
The religion card does get played, especially by Capt. McBride. Livsey just keeps his back turned to it on purpose. He knows the predominant religion around here and does not want to step in it with them.
the reason the religion card comes into play with Tremayne is because he tends to have a lot of habits frowned upon by that religion.
Funny how just about every officer ever known for standing up to Livsey in one way or another, has left the department either through retirement or moving on to other agencies or careers. In most cases they just got so feed up with the B.S. that they decided it just wasn’t worth it to stay on board as the ship began to flounder on the shoals. I know some of them are posting here, and I think that’s good. They at least can give a different view of things than what the “official” versions are.
To quote the original article here, “Idaho Falls is now collectively questioning who we can trust? I think we can trust our Idaho Falls Police Chief Kent Livsey, because he is the one who initially started the investigation against Kimball and he is the one who appears to have initiated yesterday’s search of Kimball’s home.”
does that feeling still hold true? Or is the bigger picture starting to come imto play?
I think that the bigger picture is starting to come through. I trust Livsey about as much as the rest of the “brass” around that place — and that ain’t much. They need to get rid of everyone above the level of Captain, and whatever you do — DON”T LET THE MAYOR APPOINT MCBRIDE AS CHIEF! Its already been discussed in dark places, and it will be the biggest step possible toward continuing this little buddy system that is so full of complacency, cover up and outright disrespect to good officers who deserve better than the way they are treated — only because they are not in the little “click.” If I was the mayor, the next Chief would be Steve Roos. He is a good man. He is LDS, but thats not the issue. Religeon shouldn’t play a part in any of this. He is the best man down there for the job. He is respectful, fair, honest and has my deepest respect. I’m telling you — that Department would trun around if he was the Chief. And while we are at it — Make Pratt the Det. Captain.
Absolutely dead on about Pratt. That man has forgotten more about police work than most officers will ever learn. The fact that he was severely targeted by Livsey’s chief goon, Capt Smart, for years and never let it get to him, is a testimonial of his strength. Besides the guy is just amazing at whatever he does there.
As far as Roos? Well I can see him being a damn good Chief, and he has always been fair. But, he has never really stood up to the status quo and that says something. I’d support him, but I would worry that he would not have the cajones to really clean house the way it needs to be cleaned.
Approximately how many cops do get along with Livsey and how many don’t? I wouldn’t think religion plays a part with him.
Speakout — you know your stuff when it comes to that Department. I watched as Livsey and his head Goon (as you say..and aptly so) fired everything they had at an inncoent man. Livsey sat by and watched. I have known Pratt since we were teenagers — one of the finest people I have ever known and certainly the best Detective that that miserable department has ever seen. They beat him and beat him and beat him. I know of serious criminal cases — deaths that went unsolved, on my opinion because they sidelined what should have been their star “Quarterback” — and put someone with half the experience and ability on the cases. Angie Dodge was one example. A shakin baby death during that time was another — and more. They had morons working on those cases while Pratt drove around on the nightshift and wrote parking tickets. But they couldn’t beat him no matter how hard they tried. They beat me. I couldn’t stand 5 more minutes of Roger “Smart” or any of the others. But they couldn’t beat Pratt. And after years of beating, they realized that the department would be better served by using Pratts talents and abilities — and he is back where he has belonged all along. The Chief should be ashamed for allowing that to have happend. He allowed Pratt to take such a beating for so long — and yet he allowed Todd Ericcson to be rehired despite knowing what he was like and apparently having 50% of his own supervisors remind him. I thank God every day that I am out of that department. To all you private citizens out there….picture this in your minds; you go to work each day knowing that the bad guys are against you. One may even try to kill you. Their attorneys are after you. They would love nothing more than to rent out your house as extra income. The media is after you. What sells a news paper like dirt on a cop? And even your own department — standing right behind you, is just sharpening the blade waiting to slip it in — between your 3rd and 4th rib. You won’t feel a thing. Its a bad feeling, and one that I know is common on that Department. Its sad. And Pratt endured. Amazing. Hats off to him.
Nice to see this thread light up again! I have to take exception to the quoted comment by Joe Vandal(Post #88) that we can trust Livesey because he started the investigation on Mason. How long are we going to let him get away with the BIG LIE? Jimmie Caudle bellowed in the ear of anyone within earshot, including Livesey and Watkins, that KM had stolen his guns, but both FLATLY refused to do squat about it. Caudle’s guns went missing in 2003. How many people have suffered the loss of the rights, how many cases were handled inappropriately, since that time because these two did not initiate an investigation. Livesey CANNOT be trusted for the very reason that he has told the BIG LIE “I started the investigation (after the suburban in 2005″ and folks like Speakout pick up his banner and carry it forward, refusing to look at the FACTS (all included in the AG’s report) that Livesey and Watkins were completely, totally and absolutely aware of what KM was doing – at least as far as taking property out of the property room – and DID NOTHING!!!!!!!
As for Post #80 that the responsibility for this lies with Livesey, well I would partly agree with that, but I am one of those who believes that a large share of the responsibility for the KM mess lies with Dale Storer, the city attorney. It was his responsibility to make sure that all contracts for the city were properly drafted (KM never even had a contract) and to oversee that department. He did neither. Now, while the city is reeling under this disaster, Storer waltzes into a city council meeting and gets himself approved for another year as city attorney – AND HE HAS NO CONTRACT just like KM. If Storer had done his job properly, this would never have happened – any of it. Period.
So who are we protecting exactly? Storer for sure, Livesey obviously, Stosich without a doubt. Anyone else? What have they got that the rest of us don’t that entitles them to live above the law?
OOPS, sorry Speakout, I misquoted you. I tried to edit it out but I am soo not computer literate. I apologize most sincerely.
Guest (91), it’s not an issue of who does and does not get along with Livsey. You either plant your facial flappers on his posterior or you don’t. And if you don’t, you keep your head down at all times.
Livsey lets the religious idiots run amuck. Why? Because, in an LDS town, you don’t rock the boat of your LDS associated wrecking crew. It’s political suicide. as long as you aren’t directly implicated, and claim a complete lack of knowledge about what is going on, you keep your job. That’s what cowards and two faced politicians do all the time.
I know an officer who once told Ida Hardcastle about the religious problems at the PD. She decided to prove him wrong by asking another officer (an LDS officer) if those accusations were true. Unfortunately for her, he told her they were. She then called Livsey who assured her the PD did not have a problem with religious discrimination. case closed for Ida, as soon as she got the answer she was looking for. And case closed for Livsey because he protected the religion.
I once heard Livsey say Mark McBride was the most amoral man he had ever met, yet capt. McBride is allowed to head up the meat and potatoes division of the pd without any over site. It is that
exact lack over site on Livsey’s part that has played a role in all of this mess with Kimball and Todd. Two people by the way who both display arrogance towards non-LDS individuals in this community.
I wish it weren’t true but it is. It started along time ago, when lowly patrol officers began buy B.Y.U. football tickets for their supervisors, and then suddenly rose in rank faster than any other officers in the history of the PD. It started back when several officers were overheard in the locker room discussing who they were going to get rid of a certain new-hire, because he did not fit the mold of what a good mormon cop should be. The list goes on and on.
what’s even worse is that the LDS wrecking crew is actually a minority when it comes to the actual number of the officers involved, but they account for a large majority of the supervisors, or specially assigned personnel. You don’t need numbers, just the right people in the right place, with a few spies thrown in for good fun.
The religion problem or rather non-mormon religion problem certainly exists in other departments of the city. The personel department is a total joke, but guess who rules there and above.
Insideobserver,
I think I get the gist of your post. I reposted Joe’s original comment, not to critic him, but to show how our perceptions can change from what was initially thought to be the truth and what they are now. With so many comments posted since the beginning, I think a clearer picture of the problems associated with all of this are coming to light. And it is not the bed of roses Livsey attempted make for himself.
You are right that Storer has a lot to answer for, but Livsey was in charge of the evidence room. His lack of knowledge of what was going on under his nose fits the pattern of everything else he claims a lack of knowledge for. Unfortunately in this case, ignorance is not bliss. In this case it is criminal negligence. It is also unbecoming of the type of professional behavior and service we expect from the man who runs a department with so much riding on its’ reputation.
In fact for us wicked non-mormans it is a little satisfing to watch all the pious people fall from grace. From boy scout leaders to cops. Sorry if I offend I know your mostly good people but so are the rest of us.
Ok so Caudle started things and Livsey took credit, who started the second investigation and is Livsey taking credit for that? Is the “TIP” real? If so who is the “tip”?
I think there are several more crooked cops on the force and I want to see them all go down.
I would like to know if Mason’s house was searched during the first investigation? If not, why not? Pardon my conspiracy here, but was he set up for round number two? Not that I care as far as he goes, but I would care as far as the integrity of the PD is concerned.
I also have to wonder why the department finally did initiate something? If Caudle and Frank Sparkman couldn’t get them off their asses, who did? And please don’t mention Roger Smart. the man is an insult to his own name. Unless, Smart got pissed at Kimball for some insult, made sure his own ass was covered, and then threw Kimball to the dogs. It’s just an idea, but it fits the character as far as I’m concerned.
Speakout — no, Masons home was not searched the first time around. Why not? Great question. The truth? they trusted him when he told them that he didn’t have any more guns — plain and simple. Ironic how that “trust” carried through for so long. That was a large part of how this happend in the first place. People trusted him. And I can assure you that “Smart” (and I use the name loosely) didn’t do it as a way of getting back at Mason. If you read “Smarts” interview with the State Investigator it is so painfully obvious that “Smart” was anything but that (smart — get it? smart? haha) He was so badly in the dark that I luaghed my ass off as I read the interview. It was so HIM. He didn’t have the first clue. Mason had actually come into his (“smart’s”)office — made a very suspicious request to keep the Suburban and this “trained and experienced” police administrator didn’t bother to wake up from his nap — wipe the donut glaze of his face and pay attention. I printed it off and saved it. The entire Interview. Its a classic that my family and I will read during the holidays every year from now on! If you need me to, I will post the link to it.
and just in case anyone in police adminsitration reads this post: My name is Jamaul and I live in Queens.
You’re not kidding. I read it too, and man did I laugh. This is the head of the detective’s division? Something bothers me about his testimony though. You know that when they train officers to look for clues that tell you someone is not being totally honest with you. Go back and read Smart’s testimony again and tell me that all the hemming and umming he does isn’t reminicent of those
little tell-tale clues that someone is making it up as they go along, or is trying to remember the script, or is stalling for time.
It’s either that or Smart just doesn’t know how to communicate properly when he’s not allowed to be yelling or screaming (his usual style, which led to his nickname of Rah rah). I know I’m taking a cheap shot, but then i think about all the officers he tried to destroy because he was such an ignorant person, and couldn’t stand it when others knew more than he did or had more talent. which includes just about everyone.
#103 tops it all. Good night, good luck.
Signed,
Jamaul’s brother in SoHo
I appreciate the views of those who really know. Thanks for posting them here.
What would be the best first few steps of action to start cleaning up the PD? Can the public demand a new Police Chief? Would the current mayor allow that, or does Mayor J.F. protect the structure that now exists?
I’m sorry I’m not very informed about Ida. I do know who you are referencing. I did read what was reported above about the religious situation in the department. However, here and there (perhaps in the chat box), some have made comments about Ida. Would someon please explan more? Is it that she’s “see no evil, hear no evil” type, or something else.
What I am taking away from this is Ida wouldn’t do anything to rock the boat with the PD. Is that a correct assessment?
What about Councilman Groberg? As an attorney, how open is he to facts vs. fantasy vs. spin?
Thanks again for all the great posts. You guide those of us who are outsiders through some of this maze.
And, just because you probably didn’t hear it enough when you put it all on the line for citizens who had no idea what was going on at headquarters, thank you for trying to keep the city safer and make it better. I apprecate your efforts.
Thanks OK4now
for those who may not have it and are interested, here is the link to the State AG’s Investigation on this case. http://www.kpvi.com/mason/mason.html
You can find the Interviews of Todd, Kimbal, Roger Smart, Livsey and all of the others there.
A quick sample. Taken directly from Capt. Roger Smarts Interview. This really sheds more light on this case than initially meets the eye:
Roger Smart: “And uh, and, you know we were still wondering, you know whats kind of going on here.”
Another quote from the interview of your Detective Captain:
Roger Smart: “No, I have, I haven’t seen any, in fact that’s one of the reasons why I went to the Chief. It was like this has been sitting here, it’s one of those things that you want to slap yourself over cause you didn’t get on it but I just kind of run into it on the back side of the pile. But…I, and it was more like curiosity as people have to, they, I thought maybe he had just give up on it because he never come back and ask me, what about it.â€
This should help put to rest the primary question being asked … “how could this have gone on for so long?”
FeelinLucky,
You are welcome. I appreciate what good peope do, regardless of religion and especially when the headquarters of an organization (such as a business of PD) are less than supportive of their employees. There is enough tough stuff to deal with on the streets and in court, for officers.
Is there a public appreciation day for peace officers? If not, maybe we should try to get one proclaimed.
If I didn’t totally believe what you have posted, I would say you are funny, funny, funny – like your post above. The problem is, I have read a lot of the AG’s transcript and I once again know you are telling the truth.
You may be a really funny person, but the information you quote is fact. And I find that FACT to be SAD.
Hey, do you think there will be a new AG’s public report on TE?
THANKS AGAIN for the info. and your service.
There is a local law enforcement day every year where officers, deputies and civilians are honored at a luncheon banquet. The problem is that the PD actually has to order officers to attend it, otherwise not very many would show up. Part of that is because many officers don’t feel the process of selecting Officer of the year, and other awards is fairly done. Some of the selections over the years have really been pathetic. But, every once in a while they get it right.
I remember the year they finally got smart and honored Jeff Pratt. The best thing about it was Pratt didn’t show up and accept the award. It wasn’t out of spite, or anything like that. If you know Pratt you know he is a low key type of guy who just wants to do the best job he can. The other problem is that Pratt could easily be officer of the year on a consistent basis. I mean, the guy is really that impressive.
I remember laughing my ass off because I guess nobody told Livsey that Pratt wasn’t going to be there. Kinda like a scene out of Ferris Buhler’s day off. Buhler….Buhler….
After reading all these insults to Chief Livsey I have to add a comment, we just may be hearing from past (before Livsey) Golden Boys, its hard to tell how many but very most I’m guessing around 8 Max. Does anyone realize Livsey is the ONLY city leader, council person, judge, prosecutor, etc., etc., who has had the guts to talk publicly about all this, I don’t think it matters what he says it will be twisted in order to fit a bad guy image. I know nothing about him but if you continue none of the others mentioned about will speak, I think IFZ won a little prestige today, good for you. I also think its great to get your frustrations out. But I have to wonder its this sour grapes???
You bring up a good point. however, I don’t see anyone referencing the days before Livsey as being any better. The problem is that you have not payed attention to a lot of what has been said here. Sure, there are some demeaning comments, but more statements are actually accusations that seem to hold merit.
For instance, the claim that Livsey is not to be commended for bringing this to light, stems from the plain and simple fact (provable fact) that at least two different citizens tried to bring this issue to the Police Department’s attention and were brushed off. Where was Chief Livsey then? Other issues brought up here are just as equally valid, including the re-hiring of Todd Ericcson.
Livsey was the only city leader who had the guts to talk publicly about this? He actually hasn’t said a lot, and what he has said, we are now finding out was not as forthright as he would lead us to believe.
I can safely bet that at least 4 officers posting here are not from the previous administration. When Monty stepped down, the network that was place then, is still mostly the same one that is there today. A lot of officers pinned their hopes on Livsey : That he would clean it up, but he did not.
If he has to take a little insultive criticism along with it, so be it. I watched that department erode because good officers were being overlooked or mistreated. And all because they simply wanted to do the best job they could and not be dragged into the politics. They couldn’t. You had to pledge your undying devotion to one power click or the other, in order to be left alone, or have protection.
The sour grapes come from the disgust at what has been going on there for several years now.
I’ll put up a wager. I’ll never post hear again if the IFPD will hire an outside agency to conduct an in depth study of the moral, and the perceived fairness of the administration. If they come back and say everything is fairly good, not even great, I’ll quit posting.
Better yet, let’s get the mayor to set up a citizen committee that has the ability to respond to complaints, criticisms, and concerns about what goes on over at IFPD. Let them hear from officers, and the public. Let them report back to the mayor and make recommendations for action. maybe then this blog and others related to it would become anemic in its’ content.
Speakout, my hat is off to you. Well said. I was hired my Chief Pollock (sp) and worked for Capt Montague as well. I worked through Monty’s time as Chief, and I too pinned many hopes for change on Livsey. It only got worse. At least with Bob and Monty you knew where you stood. They were very good and decent men. They were behind you — even if you were wrong they did what they had to do only with some respect and sincerity. You speak the truth, and you are so right on. Funny. No one on here offerring up others versions of these people. Sometimes, when people don’t want to listen, they call it “sour grapes” and go to another, more friendly post. But this is an issue in this city. and people should pay attention to it. You and I and others didn’t start talking until people started asking questions — like how did this happen? We are just trying to help provide some answers.
I would like to make a point… I know that we “few of sour grapes” are not the only people that are on, or have been on that Police Department and own computers. Will someone please say something nice about the work ethic, charachter, performance and/or abilities of Livsey, Smart, or any other Captain or above on that Department please? Lets balance this out and hear about some of the good these guys do for the City and the Officers. Please. I will start. ah…. hmmm. Speakout, will you start?
Speakout
Thanks for clarifying, it was well said.
I promise I’m not trying to offend and I have tons of respect for you guys, though I wish you would smile more. I want the truth as much as you concerning all this, we all should. I think I’m missing something here and I do have two questions regarding your post.
#1 When and by who was Livsey commended for bringing this to light and
#2 who were the “two different citizens” that were brushed off.
Feelin Lucky,
I am listening I just want the truth.
By the way, what ever happened to Chiasm
Someone asked for good things Livsey has done.
- Switched to blue uniforms from the ugly brown ones
- Car per officer program. There is much confusion over this with the public but overall it saves money as cars last much longer with it and have less maintenance. And officers pay $50 a month to offset the gas they may use.
- I’m struggling to think of anything else.
There is a potentially bright future at the police department as there are some excellent lower level supervisors. Steve Roos, Darren Cook, Ken Brown (if he removes his head from someones posterior), Joe Cawley, Steve Hunt, and a few others all are good. There are some bad ones as well but hopefully they and the NPO’s daddy are stuck at their ranks. If they can continue to advance in the ranks and not be destroyed by the chief and certain captains the department will become well again providing McBride is not made chief. And Speakout and FeelinLucky are dead on about Pratt. I can only hope to one day become half as good as him and if I do I’ll be the 2nd best officer on the department. Too bad the brass feels otherwise about him.
I have always prayed for the day that outside influence would straighten up this podunk town. I have lived here since the early seventy’s.
I feel in my heart of hearts that this Mason saga will not effect the overall governmental/political issues that have plagued this town, and many alike surround us.
I bet the worst will never be heard unless a Grand Jury investigates. Will not happen. We need to remove some of the current Magistrate Judges, and some of the current Prosecuting Attorneys.
You know how horrible it is for some of these judges to get chummy with some of the prosecutors. We need to clean-up law enforcement, this is beginning to be a police state. This community has far to many law enforcement officers, and they need to be trained in, DISCRESSION. The courts are full of biogas citations and charges. Now comes the prosecution, Larren Covert for example: I’m aware of a gentleman who has been persecuted by this man for almost a year. First he was charged for a misdemeanor, and after 9 months Covert didn’t have a case, and he threatened the plaintiff to plea or he would amend the charge to a felony. Well if you’ve ever heard of prosecutorial misconduct and/or malicious prosecution here it is. Charged “felony”. I also had written #58 para(2). Larren has been practicing for just barely 1 year, who in the hell is his boss!! It is certain Laren has no intent on proceeding to a fully jury trial, and the damage is done anyway. Can you get a job with a felony charge? What other privileges has he lost? Check out case #Bonn. Co CR-06-1053 it will make you cringe.
Who has commended and praised Livsey? The Post Register.
Who were the two citizens? Caudle and Sparkman. If you read earlier posts it actually talks about Sparkman in more detail.
I have given kudos to several officers in this post. I have also stated several times that there is a select few degenerates in the Pd that have ruined things for many officers. I have also made it known that many of the officers are good men.
I have to take disagree with guest 3910 on one person he mentioned, that is Ken Brown. If any of you have followed open mic for city workers (the original posts, not the new one), there is a very questionable concern about how he manipulated the authority he was given to get his wife hired in a position at the animal shelter that Ken just so happned to be in charge of, and the previous manager, he just happened to get fired from there.
In other words, Ken Brown is already displaying the type of attitude and behavior that we have been raging against in this forum.
I used to think Ken was better man than that, but I was wrong. And I am sorry to have to say that. But Ken made his own bed and I think he doomed his ambitions for being chief right there and then, at least as far as I am concerned.
Otherwise our guest was right about the many officers he did mention. If I was chief I’d automatically make Cawley and Cook captains, but I would let them go out in the field as well because they do so well out there.
I enjoyed post 122. You are correct — there are some wonderful and talented guys below the rank of Cpt. Cawley, Cook, Roos and Hunt are all great people. The city should be proud to have guys like that. I have not said a bad word about them. My concern is with the Captains and Chief — and my fear is that those few good leaders will be held back so that the Ken Browns of the Department (little Roger Smarts) can flurish. So there IS hope. I’m telling you. Mayor — just don’t put McBride in as Chief. That will carry this cycle on for another 15 years. And to Roos, Hunt, Cawley Pratt, Tremayne. I miss you guys!
Could someone post a link to the place to read about case numbers like the one listed above?
Thank you
what do you mean by case numbers?
I think they are referring to post #123.
I’m not sure what Barneydog means by case numbers, but here is my guess. I think he/she is referring to Post #123 and the words, ” #Bonn. Co CR-06-1053″. We may not know the correct terms, but where could a regular, non-city employee, who is also not a member of the legal profession, find info about that case?
County Court clerks office would be my guess. The court cases usually match the police case numbers, unless it’s a civil filing.
Yes, you’re correct on all counts. Thank you. I was hoping there was somewhere to read the details of these cases online, but probably not. I’m not sure which thread it was in, but there was a mention of KM and his dealings with Weimer Heating that I was intrigued by, also. Anyone in the know care to elaborate on that one?
If the citizens of Idaho Falls REALLY care about stopping this type of corruption, and making sure that it does not happen again its time to take some action. Do what must be done to recall that Judge for letting an accused felon leave the US and for allowing the Judicial System to work aroung the accused CRIMINALS schedule. See to it that Chief Livsey is suspended with pay while a very serious and indpeth investigation is conducted into his payment to Todd E. And let the Mayor know that we all now understand the little “buddy system” that goes on down there at the PD and we will not sit by and allow a new Chief to be appointed when Livsey leaves, that is a part of that club. Go outside and find a top notch Police Administrator with tremendous education, experience and ability. A city this size can draw that kind of talent, and does not have to settle for less. There has been so much talk about this — “how could it happan, why did it happen, how can we prevent it from happening again.” Time to step up and take some action.
You need to read todays post register. Ericsson is just a nut case.
I think the Chief is just another example of the Division Heads not being able to use their expertise because council members (politicians) think they know better.
I hope you IFPD outsiders are taking this thread with a grain of salt! There seems to be several ex-officers posting and spewing their sour grapes. Speakout, you seem to have a lot to say, but I suggest you tell the truth. You lost all credibility with me when you brought up the 20 year old BYU ticket lie and the “religious” BS. The good officer you malign by regergitating the BYU ticket lie, bought two tickets for him and his wife from a Captain whose son was attending BYU and reselling tickets for a profit. Several other officers including some brass also bought tickets from the Captain. Since the tickets were purchased in a block, the seats were naturally close together. You either intentionally repeat an old lie for your own benifit or were so out of touch to know the truth, anyway everyone knows the truth now. Your praise of Pratt is nearly sickening. He has developed in a fine detective but it wasn’t always that way. Maybe all your spare time spent throwing back cold ones on the old boat has clouded your perspective. I wish all you old ex-cops would stop venting your old gripes and thowing mud on the current good officers who work hard to make this city safe. How about some positives from you about the department.
I think that there has been quite a bit of positive said about the rank and file Officers — and even the leaders below the rank of Captain. Many of us our under the impression that the Police Admisntration may be partially to blame for the recent K. Mason thing — for at least allowing it to go on for so long without notice. Please, by all means, say something to correct our wondering minds. Also, please feel free to tell the other side of the story when it comes to the Captains and the Chief. So far we have 2 positves for the Chief: Cooler looking Uniforms and take home cars. I was more looking for someone to vouch for his charachter — or tell us something fair and or wonderful that he has done fo any given Officer — but hey, pretty uniforms are nice too. And please — remind me of a time when J Pratt was not one hec of a Policeman.
Hec, I will even start… I have something nice to say about Livsey. I truely believe that he is a very honorable man. Or tires to be. I do not believe for a second that he was involved in anything illegal — with or without Todd. I believe that the $800 must have been somthing that Todd was going to lose for some reason, if he did not take tat new job, and that because Livsey agreed to let Todd go on a leave of abscence, and later changed his mind because he realized that if he let Todd do it — he had to be fair and let everyone do it if they wanted to. So to make things “right,” he paid Todd the money that would be lost if Todd did not follow through with the new job. If I am right, and I bet that I am, this is evidence of the mans honer, and if Todd took the other job (which he did) — he should have paid the money back which I don’t imagine he did — which would be more evidence of Todd’s all around sleaziness — which no one on here seems to dispute. The Chief is basically a decent guy. His problem is that he just always turns a blind eye when his little Captains decide to screw someone — and is therfore guilty by association. After all, he IS the Chief. I said in an earlier comment that he should be suspebded WITH pay pending an investigation into this $800 thing because that should be done anytime a policeman is accused of wrongdoing — and a piece of physical evidence has been produced that could substantiate the accusation. Thats just common sense. Another nice thing I have to say. Captain Bruce Jones — though not exactly Genarl Patton when it comes to the strength of his leadership — is a very nice man, who does try to be fair with everyone. That does it for me. No other nice things to say about these people here. Anyone else?
I’m sure the Captains and their families have nice things to say about the Chief.
After all thanks to the chief the Captains all recently got $8000 a year raises for being on call in case they have to answer a phone call which rarely happens unless there is a murder or officer shooting. But watch them complain because a patrol officer wants to be paid more for having to stay in town on his weekend for a court appearance which happens all the time.
And the brand new car the Captains get every two years which they are allowed unlimited use of anytime anywhere must be nice. Especially since its all on the taxpayer nickel. Want to take a vacaction to Yellowstone Park with the family then take the unmarked police car so you don’t have to pay for the gas. Patrol officers have been reprimanded for their cars being seen in the parking lots on the east side of Hitt road yet Captains drive their cars all over southeast Idaho without a problem.
Enough said!!!
I’ve kept anonymous and I hope you will respect that, I have no doubt you can squirm around and find out who I am, please just let the reason I want to do this be enough.
On June 1st I spoke with Chief Livsey concerning guns being moved, he was kind, professional and extremely supportive. Most importantly he was in action before I left his office. There isn’t a doubt in my mind he was talking to the AG’s office within seconds. Regarding posts concerning his taking credit, at a private luncheon he very honorably gave credit to myself and yes Jimmie Caudle. Wish you could have been there, but I’m glad you weren’t.
I understand he’s your boss but from this citizens eyes he is a hero.
“Me.” I have a couple questions and a few comments about your post above… First — what is the deal with this private luncheon? Was this a luncheon somehow related to the Mason Investigation — who was it put on by, who was invited, etc? That just seems strange that there was a “luncheon” during which this case was discussed — and thanks was given out. Please explain. Also, you seem to be worried that somone will “squirm around and find out who” you are. No worries. No one really cares who you are. Also, you describe Chief Livsey as a “Hero,” but your description of his deeds do not really seem to merit such a title. He was available when you went to report new information on the Mason case. He took the information and reported it immediately to the AG’s office, and while doing both of the above he was “professional and extremely supportive.” Good for him. Sounds like a public servant doing his job. Hardly enough there to call the guy a hero. If you want to find some true heros, go look a little deeper within the department. You will find Ken Knoelk who was shot in the line of duty years ago, trying to arrest an armed robber. Brent Guymon who had his finger blown off fighting a suspect for his life, and several others who have been shot at or nearly killed protecting your city. Those are the heros. Ask Livsey. He’ll tell you that himself. Hero is a big word. Use it wisely. If you don’t, you tend flatter the non-hero and offend the actual ones.
FeelinLucky
OK you got me on my first line that did sound arrogant, paranoid I guess.
I thought the thread was to say something nice about Livsey, so I did. Were cops only allowed to respond? I thought this was an open forum, or was I only permitted to say something bad?
I actually have a lot of heroes, some for a moment and some for a lifetime, sorry not a single one was shot. You sound like only cops can be heroes and you’re probably a hero to someone out there, wouldn’t it be nice if they come out and said it. Hero is a big word I agree but it’s also personal.
I did not say the case was discussed now you’re just looking for something you won’t find, a simple thank you was given and my point was given in my last post. Let me rephrase, in my experience Livsey has NOT taken credit for busting Kimball Mason.
Geez……relax.
Don’t you guys have a “code of blue” (something like) or is that just a Wambaugh fairy tale?
Me,
I’m glad you turned kimball in. But Livesy has not given Caudle any credit publicly, and he shouldn’t. Caudle is a two-bit criminal who did this for his own reasons, not for the benefit of the public. Don’t get me wrong, Caudle had every right to complain. I think the bigger issue is that some people, like Caudle did complain and nothing was done about it. Then when it comes to light, Livesy jumps up and tries to put the shine on himself.
No one is going to hunt you down for doing the right thing. If anyone does, it would be the friends of Kimball Mason and/or Todd Ericcson, and others to maybe be named later. Not the people posting here.
I think alot of what is being said here is centering around the fact that things are going on at the IFPD that are causing many problems. One of those is Livsey’s apparent inability to keep track of the many issues that are going on. That includes the problems with Kimball. There were/are laws in place that would have (should have) sent up red flags sooner if they had been followed. An example is when Kimball signed his own name on a few of the documents instead of a judge. According to Idaho law, that was not a valid release. If the officer in the evidence room had known that, maybe Kimball would have been caught sooner, and IFPD could claim credit for catching it.
I have been reading the 1500 pages of files, and one other thing bothered me. Why would a Sgt simply hand Kimball the keys to a truck without any paperwork what so ever? Again, another training issue, or buddy-buddy politics?
It seems that many officers posting here are expressing sheer exasperation over what has happened. And I have noticed that the same names come up over and over again. Not just names of the scondrals, but the good guys too. It appears that Jeff Pratt has the praise of all, except IFguyforlife. Maybe we should have the city hire him (Pratt)as the official investigator for all IF dealings. Police related, Dale Storer related, all city related. Make it an officail office that reports directly to the mayor with full powers to investigate any and all city affairs.
Following … beautifully said. Thank you
[Comment edited by Site Admin for rude remarks that amounted to name calling, without discussion value.]
ifguyforlife,
——– —- —. IFPD “outsiders”? Is that really your perception of the public? Kind of an “us vs them” thing? Or is your click verses everyone else? You are exactly what is wrong with IFPD.
Thanks for jumping at the bait. Only a select few would have jumped at the chance to hit the BYU ticket issue which narrows down who you are. Your little group is a bloody menace to good cops everywhere.
By the way, I’m glad your Captian’s kid made a few bucks as a ticket scalper.
I lost credibility with you? I never wanted “you” to have it to begin with. Some who read what I say may see I’ve got some issues with IFPD, but many have backed me or at least asked intelligent questions of me. I don’t expect all of what I say to be taken for gospel. It’s hard to trust un-named sources. However, several others have verified many of my postings and so I feel somewhat vendicated by others. But, I had a feeling that soemone in the golden circle would surface and try to sew some discord in here. Vola! Here you are.
You sorted through these post looking for one thing, and you picked one of the least pressing issues to run you tirade against. I don’t see you addressing the bigger concerns this posting deals with.
I’m sure you’ll run off a copy of your posting, highlite it and slip under a few select doors at the PD. Then you’ll just happen to be in the area when the big wigs are around, and you’ll just happen to mention how you are a IFpdGUYFORLIFE, won’t you?
I have to laugh at your attempt to I.D. me with the bottle/boat statement. I’ll take a stab at you: ——— ——-/———–.
The officer you maligned is your better in all aspects of police work. —- ———— — – —- — — ————.
—-, — —- — —- —-. — —— —, —– —- ——— —-.
To everyone else, my apologies.
you know, if this post has accomplished nothing else, it has given the citizens of Idaho Falls a glimps into what its like on that Department. Its really quite a miserable place. I imagine it must be fairly interesting (though maybe a bit depressing) for some to see it like this.
Speakout — I am dieing to figure out who you are. I have one guess…. but not sure.
Me,
I’ve read Wambaugh, Good stuff. A code of silence is what you will always have. Even when officers leave the department, it can follow. If you think the rhetoric is bad here, I’ll tell you that there are alot of things not being discussed that would really get some people’s blood boiling. In all, these post are fairly tame. (Exception above noted). The code exists inside because you have to trust each other when the fecal matter hits the oscilating turbulance machine. Believe it or not, there is a little bit of the Serpico attitude even here in little ol’ Idaho Falls.
I think anyone can post hear. I really want to hear what you have to say. Your experiences with Livsey are positive and that is fine. Many of us also had good experiences with him from time to time. But the overall effect has been most distressing. I wish it wasn’t so. It may be more emotional for us because we worked in an environment were you literally depended on each for your life. It became clear that your back was not always covered, and you had to watch your fellow officers while trying to keep it cool on the streets. The stress of “the job” out in the community is nothing compared to the stress in the office at times. There will always be clicks in any job you do. But at the IFPD the animosity, backstabbing, and turning of blind eyes has created an atmosphere where I am now hearing officers say that if a particuloar officer is yelling for help over the radio, they won’t respond as quickly as they should. That was NEVER allowed when I was there. An officer who said that would have been run out. Everyman there has a right to go home at night, even the a..holes. But that’s changed. And the officers I hear being mentioned as being the ones who will be left out to dry are mostly the jerks, who many people would say deserve their fate. That may be true, but it goes against the grain of all I stood for as an officer.
As a bonus to you, (I’m not being a smart ass), I’ll tell you I don’t think Livsey tried to pay off Ericcson with a 800.00 check. Livsey is not that dumb, and Ericcson is more expensive than that. Other than that, I htink Livsey is not evil, but I do think he is out of the loop on almost evrything that is going on in the IFPD.
Whoever edited my post. There was no profanity, and no naming of names. You need to reset it. That’s a little to contrary to your philosphy of free speech.
Site Admin: We discussed in the chatbox afterwards, I misinterpreted the remarks as name-calling, Speakout demonstrated it was a reference to something that actually happened and was an apparently known office joke.
I apologized and admitted I misread the terms, and Speakout indicated we can put the mistake behind.
Rest assured, gentle IFz users, that Site Admin edits happen very rarely, like once every couple months, and only in cases of swearing or name-calling (in this case mistaken).
FeelingLucky,
Need to figure a way to get together. Maybe have a few laughs off line.
wow! Nice post speakout sort of defensive aren’t you? Seems like you got caught in and untruth and your reaction is quite viceral and funny really. Your on the money with your guess though you hit the nail on the head of who ifguy is.
Would someone just basically get to the bottom of the ‘us vs them’ situation in the department. It comes down to those that go to ‘coffee’ and those that don’t. Simple as that. You are either in the coffee club or you are not. If you in the coffee club everyone in that club walks on water regardless of their discressions. If your not in the coffee club likewise you think everyone in your ‘non coffee club’ walks on water. So department politics can basically be boiled down to that. With exceptions of the ‘Tweeners’ like Roos.
If someone wants to dispute my version that’s fine but if your in that coffee club all I have to say is Crazy R…. he still walks on water in your twisted minds i imagine and I guess you all will say he was ‘railroaded’ right?
Anyway your postings have all been amusing very amusing. With all the ‘insiders’ here i would think there isn’t very many left on the outside.. to funny..don’t trip over yourselves trying to break another part of this sorrid affair.
Also parting shot to the coffee club and those excellent officers that are part of it. I have heard that it’s like pulling teeth to get them out of the coffee shop to take calls. But then I guess if many more you you ex cops want to post your nuggets of wisdom here then maybe you can tell us what your doing now? Could it be working at Walmart??? In the Outdoor section maybe???? Now there as a great coffee cowboy if I ever saw one.
i agree with you on one thing speakout..i caught the parts that have been edited before they were edited, and they should not have been edited period. Wrong move Joe, if you did it you shouldn’t have, and if you didn’t and it’s an automated function then you need to look at your filters.
Site Admin: refer to explanation a couple comments above. It was my move this time, not automated, and it was a mistake I made.
Hey Fly,
enjoy some of your postings. Actually I stand by the BYU story. Too many others know it in the same version I do. My thought is that the central figure in that is the one who responded. Since I have absolutely no respect for him I let fly (no pun). If it wasn’t him, I guess I made a mistake. But anyone who would stick up for him deserves no less either.
Coffee club, or bread club? Which one holds the keys to the chastity belt at IFPD? I’m banking on the loafers. HaHaHa.
speakout — shoot me an email at icu132@hotmail
Fly on the wall — i can tell you never made it into Detectives. Chaple doesn’t even know how to usen a computer — let alone own one.
By the way fly, inregards to my posting about officer safety. It was a in LT with the bread club that sat in the parking lot and did not respond to Officer Guyman’s call when he got shot and was yelling for help.
No matter which club is walking on water, nobody should have done that. I know he wasn’t the only one who got nailed, but he is a supervisor and should ahve been going balls to the wall. It goes to the point that officers aren’t protecting each other. Is it because they are scared, or are they ambivalent because you don’t belong to their click?
My expierence with it is the more senior the officer the less actual responsibility that individual wants to assume…sort of backward in the real world where the higher you go the more you get.
I thought Moulton did respond and got a reward for it?
Sounds like you guys were probably around during the Angie Dodge murder, why couldn’t that be solved? Also, I have a friend who swears there were two people in the van when the Micelbauker (know I spelled that wrong) woman was killed, any truth to that?
Moulton did respond. He is not an Lt. and he deserved the award. But there were others who didn’t. One, in my opinion, did not respond due to being indifferent, and incompetent about police work. anyway, he’s gone now, so the officers should be a little bit safer.
Don’t go near Angie Dodge, or Melissa Garcia. There may be an explosion here. I hope not because there are things there that really are important to know. But, they need to be addressed in a more delicate manner than what goes on here.
The Dodge murder was solved — or at least partially. Chris Tapp is doing life for it, and another man suspected of being there at the time and very involved is in prison in Nevada for another murder. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/idahostatecases/app/1017/tapp.pdf
as far as Michelaucker — there are lots of rumors floating around still. I know Rhoades pretty well and I do not believe for a second that he could have pulled all of that off himself… he didn’t have the mental capability.
Not even sure how to spell Michelbauker…. I hope I am close. That one was a tragedy that could have easily been prevented if Detectives had shared information quickly with patrol guys. That story is a sad one — and not many know it. Police dealt with Rhoades only hours before Susan was abducted. Detectives suspected Rhoades by then, but didn’t tell patrol. But don’t tell anyone… thats a secret. Just another great example of a lack of communication and cooperation on that Department — and what it can cost.
Same thing happened again later on. Nobody ever learns. shot you an email feelin…
Melissa Garcia is a tragedy and I can’t believe the public allowed both the police department and Dane Watkin’s office to get away with it.
Todd Briggs tried to kill Garcia twice and the police did nothing to protect her. The supervisor, Sgt Dee Brown, on duty at the time of her murder admitted on camera that neither he nor his officers even knew where Garcia was staying at the time of her death.
The IFPD has guarded city council member houses, tents for various festivals on the river, and other property items but not Garcia.
Melissa left behind two young children who should be millionares right now but somehow the police were never sued even though they deserved to be.
And to make this tragedy worse, Dane Watkins office used a plea bargain with Briggs meaning he’ll be a free man again in 15 to 20 years. And people think Kimball Mason got a slap on the wrist?
Livsey should have been fired over this as its the second body that can be laid at the feet of his administration. The first being the person that Ben Hobbs murdered in Nevada after helping kill Angie Dodge. If Livsey’s troops had properly investigated Angie Dodge from the start Hobbs would have been picked up before he could flee to Nevada to kill again.
Joe,
Do we need to take a break from Melissa Garcia here? I know many post from law enforcement and their views are valuable. I also know that she was your classmate and the entire issue is a very tender one for many.
Discuss away, I’ve only (temporarily) shut down one discussion before when it got too heated and divisive. I don’t see that here.
In fact I would appreciate hearing more inside information on Melissa Garcia’s case that may not have been reported. I’m still burned up over that.
I took one of those citizen police academy courses a couple years ago, and I could tell the way the different cops would discuss Melissa Garcia that they were still haunted by it.
I got the feeling they knew errors were made and her death was entirely preventable, but it was just my feeling.
I just reread some of the case details on the Ms. Garcia case. What a shame. That happend after I was gone from the PD — but it just makes me sick to read. The Police did not give her any personal protection because there was not enough man power. Thats odd. Cops go where they are assigned. I know a State Trooper that was assigned to the Boise area years ago. The then Govenor was playing golf in East Idaho. The Governor had forgottenhis golf clubs. This trooper was ordered to drive the clubs to Eastern Idaho — lights and siren the entire way. I have seen City Officers assigned to watch the streets and houses of the more afluent citizens in Idaho Falls because of problems not nearly as serious as Ms. Garcias. What a shame. I have read a few comments lately in the chat box about all of the “negativity” that is posted here. Well, these are some serious issues that have a root cause, and people not only must have the stomach to actually read all of this “negativity” — but then bind together and go do something about it. Thats the entire point. You think guys like me and speakout are on here because its good for our health?
Thanks, FeelingLucky, for your sensitive and insightul post. Let me be perfecty clear: I, too, benefit from the discussion and am very grateful to those who post here about information I wouln’t know otherwise.
Melissa Garcia appeared to know many people, was friends with many, has family an former working colleagues. I just want to make sure that no one discounts or avois this thread because they feel Melissa’s life and death (although I just can’t say “case,” although I know a Case # is assigned to each incident where an officer responds to a situation involving a violation/threat or worse to a person), I will continue to refer to Melissa by her name.). I think you comment 164 as well as Joe’s at #163 sets the right tone and level of respect for Ms. Garcia.
Joe, since I’m an “old-timer” here now, you may or may not have remembered our discussion about Melissa, albeit brief. I just want to make sure that as you tend to this site so well to protect us, that you and your feelings aren’t left out. I’m relieved by your comment #163. Maybe others who are still struggling about Melissa might someday benefit if an entirey new thread were devoted to her, if appropriate.
I am not the expert here by any means. I just want to make sure that potentially some in Law Enforcement realize some who visit here were connected with Ms. Garca, or her family, during her life.
I do beieve a respectful discussion of what went wrong may be very useful for some who stll feel so confused about her murder.
That is my two cents about any comments regarding Ms. Garcia’s life, death and subsequent investigation. I defer to the experts. I just want to make sure any discussion is respectful not only of Ms. Garcia, but her “survivors,” which are more than her family.
The reason I said what I said in post 157 is because I know for the officers that were on that day, this issue could get ugly as far as their feelings about the department.
Okay4now, if you want, I can connect you with an officer who was on that day. I know he would talk to you off the record. Not trying to start a fire. But you seem pretty interested, and might want to hear what his perceptions were, and why he feels the way he does.
Speakout,
Thank you for your kind offer. Right now, talking to the officer isn’t something I would like to do. But, I must tell you it means a lot to me that you would be so kind to try and help.
How about a rain check?
I think your kindness, demonstrated in #166, is more of what we need in some of the threads. One factor that drew me to this site was how positive it was and that people would help each other. I always ask Joe and others for their genius about computer issues, software programs etc.
Not just because it is Christmas and perhaps we’re more focused on giving and doing for others, but it is truly my hope for this site that people will continue to help others.
Along with that, I hope we can all remember we don’t necessarily has happened in another person’s day. It sure helps me when people give me the benefit of the doubt and ask me what I mean, if they aren’t sure. Or sometimes wishing another well goes a long way and can really make someone’s day.
So Speakout, thank you for your very kind offer. I’m just not there yet, but it was so nice of you to offer me an avenue to learn more. Thank you!
I called the police with information on Todd Briggs’ whereabouts when they published his picture in the paper. All they had to do was ask the Vegas PD to pick him up. They didn’t.
They have my call on tape.
Terribly sorry about Melissa, she was a beautiful lady. Maybe I should have driven there to pick him up myself, but I really thought they would go get him.
So it’s announced that Kimball Mason and his attorney Jim Archibald have likely worked out a plea agreement, details not released yet.
Sentencing will be February 12.
What kind of punishment would make you feel justice was served?
I would simply like to keep Mason from holding any public office, appointed or otherwise, for life. That would make me sleep better at night.
I don’t have anything personal against Kimball. He should be treated fairly under the law and get whatever he has coming to him. To get me to feel like justice was served, I would like to see all the cases he handled where property was forfeited be re-examined, and restitution made to those people where it is deemed appropriate.
So today Kimball was finally sentenced to at least 3 more years in prison, on top of the five he is currently serving.
It appears his family was protected from investigation.
He lied to everyone last year at his sentencing, claiming he had come clean. Do you think we have found out everything that Kimball did, or do you suspect there is more?
What do you think?
I will be interested to know if Mason has said whether John Stosich knew the guns he was holding were stolen. Other than John he would be the only other person who knows. Also part of the agreement was for Mason to tell where the rest of the stolen guns are. I wonder if those people are immune.
Looks like some people are trying to voice their support for Kimball Mason’s first prison term to extend longer than just the one year.
The PR reported the parole committee does take into account letters from people, so it may be worthwhile to try, if you feel passionately about it.
The big deal here is that Kimball Mason cannot begin serving his second term until his first prison term finishes. Many people feel his first prison sentence was too cushy and he was given preferential treatment. It will probably be easier now to argue for a longer term than to try arguing for a longer term at the end of his second sentence.
The PR listed contacts for this petition as Carol Lambert at calambert06@aol.com and/or Carol Dodge at caroldodge06@netscape.com
They had a phone number published in the paper, but I saw a breaking news alert on the PR site that said the number was incorrect. Now the breaking news alert is about a field burning in rigby, so I don’t know what the number is.
Has Kimball Mason been sentenced to enough time overall, or do you support a longer first sentence?
What do you think?
Where is the petition to have his 1st sentance ended so his 2nd can begin as soon as possible? Maybe we should start one. That would be more than enough time for what he did. Amazing how many people want to kick a man when he is down. Have a little compassion and be fair and resonable. He should be punished extra for not being truthful the first time around. That extra punishment came in the form of a 2nd — LONGER sentance. His first sentance could have been over in 180 days. Now he has to serve at least a year. For crying out loud! A year for the first and 3 for the 2nd is fair.
I have an idea Carol Dodge knew Kimball Mason a lot better than most of us. I think this stems from how her daughters murder was handled by the cops and courts. Maybe shes right, this is not just about guns, word has it he did not handle drug cases the way he should have, i.e. friends – who knows.
Just one problem…Kimball Mason handled Misd. cases for the city –NOT murders. The Dodge case was handled by the County Prosecutor. Its just another angry person lashing out, without really thinking about what is fair and what isn’t.
I find it amusing that the AG’s office did not do the one thing that could have blown the case wide open from the start. I told Joe Cowley to tell the AG’s investigator to pull the jail phone records for the first immediate days after his first sentencing. Who did Mason call? My bet is Stosich and crew to move the guns around. Those phone converations were not privileged and could have been used to prosecute both of them and whomever else was helping them. Why was this not looked into. I asked Capt. Paul Wilde about the system when it started up. All you have to have is a list of numbers to cross reference, i.e. Stosich’s #s, etc. Mason was in Special Housing the entire time so the # of phones he had access to was limited. Why did this not get looked at? Who was getting protected?
Oh boy, those are some tough questions.
Could those calls really have been traced/referenced like described? Where they really not looked into by the state AG’s office or local police?
The second and third AG investigations are now on the Post Register Web Site. KM Docs. Pretty interesting stuff. John says he was with KM like 3 to 4 times a day while he was in jail. I think we have a town full of dirty lawyers.
Feelin Lucky,
I guess you fell for Kimballs sorry me speech. What an actor he is!
Actually I didn’t “fall for” anything. I have just known Kimball for 25 years (though I understand how serious a mistake he made, and he must pay for it) and I have arrested hundreds of people who went through the court system, so I have a pretty good idea what a “fair” sentance is for any given crime. Factor in the lies, and the fact that in his position he should be held to a higher standard and I still think he got what was coming to him. A guy like that has a lot more to lose in a case like this before he even gets into a court room. Like his license to practice law. How much does that “fine” amount to over the next 20 years? Then when you gigure he will do nearly 4 years in prison for stealing some guns valued at less than $10,000, and that every day he is in prison his life is actually in danger because of the years he spent working for you sending criminals away, off the streets, it starts to look like quite a penalty for what he did. I know of bank tellers who stole over $100,000 and didn’t do 6 months! ANY first time offender would have walked away from that with very little actual jail time. But, he lied. and because of that, three more years were added to his sentance. That was fair. I don’t excuse him. I just think that the time that he received was appropriate. Just because I am curious — what do YOU think he should have gotten and why?
Derick Tingey embezzled something like $600,000 from the Jefferson County School District and got six months in prison.
A woman in Blackfoot recently got picked up embezzling money off other employees paychecks and will serve no prison time.
Kimball Mason was an embezzler, pure and simple. And he is going to be serving a much harsher sentence than any other first time offender like the two I mention did.
I’d say his sentence given his crime is more than fair.
These people who are whining about his light sentence should be more upset about someone like Derrick Tingey. Mason stole a fraction of what Tingey did but is getting punished much worse.
RE: Post 179 above.
The system of tracing phone calls and recording them has been in place for years. To my knowledge there was no one that looked into the phone records. It would have been very easy to accomplish. I think someone needs to ask the Sheriff’s Office if they made any copies of those records and/or if they are still able to be downloaded after all this time. I remember Capt. Wilde telling me that 120 days is the lenght of time they are kept. However, if somebody made copies, or did not ’scrub’ the system of the recordings then maybe they can be resurrected. A well placed Freedom of Info. Act request might be worthwhile.
That is very intriguing.
Ironic that the police department stored weapons in the evidence locker for years longer than they should have, but easily archive-able evidence like Kimball Mason’s phone conversations in the days after he was arrested might get deleted as soon as possible.
for people who are all fired up about somebody, you sure dont care enough to get his name right. its ERICSSON. 1 C, 2 S’s. As far as the Mason case goes, I think he was charged much more harshly than he should have been. He was doing what every other DA has been doing for years. This whole case is Political, and is not at all about justice. If it was about Justice, Kimball would have gotten a standard embezzling charge. but the fact is, it was an election year, and somebody wanted thier own men in office. And that fact that stosich (sp) got off is rediculous.
Thats what I think too.
A bank manager in Rexburg recently got 21 months for embezzling over a hundred thousand.
Derrick Tingey got six months for embezzling around $600,000 from the Jefferson County School District.
A school employee in Blackfoot got no jail time, just probation, for embezzling thousands from other employees.
Kimball Mason is going to do at least 4 years for embezzling around $20,000.
Anyone else see the obvious inequity. Carol Lambert and her pack of fools should focus their faux outrage elsewhere.
Isn’t the aggravating factor in Kimball’s case that he had the chance to admit the whole deal and he chose to lie? The other examples did not have that scenario.
I think he got a fair sentence the second round because of his continued lies.
I think its funny how Angel was so worried about correcting peoples spelling, and then they turn around and spell “ridiculous” wrong.
Joe, Your right, I think some people have missed the entire story, who gained what by it being a political year? He had the chance to come clean with a very easy sentence and the ablilty to get his license back but blew it with his lies.
This thread needs to die already! The guy made a mistake PLAIN & SIMPLE! We ALL do! It’s done and over with, he’s serving his time…people need to just let it go! Get over and get on with your lives!
Guest_0026
If it bothers you so much just go to another subject
I think Kimball Mason has the right incarceration sentence. But I don’t understand why the AG’s office has not gone after his state retirement benefits (PERSI). The State of Illinois is taking away governor-cum-felon Buddy Ryan and Congress changed the rules so Duke Cunningham doesn’t get to keep his Congressional pension. But no mention here about Kimball Mason being stripped of his state pension here in Idaho (or Derek Tingey his, for that matter).
cant, that is a legal matter between persi and employee i speak from experience, employee owed employeer
Guest: it doesn’t bother ME at all. I’m just trying to figure out why it bothers everyone else so much. I mean who cares? It’s done and over with, why is it still a topic of discussion? It makes no sense to me.
It’s worse than that Anna Nicole crap that’s still on the news. There are a lot more important issues that should be focused on instead of crap like this!
We’ve got troops in Iraq & Afghanistan dying everyday, but instead of focusing on these important issues and trying to find soloutions, we’ve got people like you who are more concerned about Kimball Mason & Anna Nicole Smith! It makes perfect sense though….this is exactly why our country is in the state it’s in. Peoples priorities are totally wack!
I don’t think people’s priorities are “out of whack” when they worry about what is happening in their own backyard. The mess in Iraq and Afghanistan is so convuluted and entangled that many feel there is nothing they can do as the media is not providing accurate information, the politicos have resorted to all kinds of tricks and games in the sole interest of their own re-election, etc. But here in our midst, we had a crooked politician. And he had cronies who knew what he was doing and possibly participated – hence the indictment of Ericcson. And now Darin Moulton. The statement made that no inference should be taken by the “settling” of the lawsuit against him this week doesn’t help in this current climate of distrust. I can’t help thinking where there is smoke there is fire. And he was on the stand the day before in a hearing where he didn’t exactly shine and it was more than his “professionalism” that was in question. So was his honesty and integrity and capability as an officer and as a human being.
So, to conclude the thought, I think people are interested in this thread because they know there is more to be uncovered and they want it uncovered so we can clean house and return this town to the lovely place it used to be before the corrupted took power.
Who are the corrupted and when did they take over?
Inside Observer, do tell….what is it about the suit against Moulten that makes you think he is dirty? Have you ever testified and had a bad day on the stand? Or are you human like everybody else? Heck, I testified before and was having a bad day…it doesn’t mean I am crooked! One time I had a bad headache and had to get up there anyways…makes it hard to concentrate…another time I had a lousy prosecutor that was playing card games instead of objecting when an overly agressive defense attorney was implying that I was lying about his written confession…doesn’t make me crooked. If you got a beef about Moulton then state more than you did in your post above or apologize until you have more than what sounds like personal dislike!
Mike,
Were you in court when Moulton testified? I was. The defense attorney caught him cold in an outright lie. And it wasn’t just a little lie. It was a really really big lie. The evidence, the facts if you will, had been submitted to the court. Everyone in the room, and there were lots of people in the room (including the press), knew he was lying and heard the lie. What was he lying about? Well, I’m not in charge of the civil suit that is being filed in that case, so I am not at liberty to reveal that. I think I can safely say that the lie was told to cover up some extremely unprofessional and possibly illegal behavior. I also heard the testimony about the unprofessional behavior but since I’m not an attorney, I can’t say if it was illegal. What was sad, was as he told the really really big lie, he tried to cover up his behavior by blaming other officers who work with him – not outright, just implying that it might have been someone else he worked with who had done the dirty deed. I have friends who work for IFPD and I can’t picture any one of them doing what he suggested may have been them rather than him. I saw the witnesses in the hall, scared, but willing to testify to put a stop to what had been happening. That was why I came to court that day, to support those individuals who were trying to express the courage of their convictions. There were a lot of us who were asked to attend that day, and we did.
So, “do tell”, were you there? I will not apologize. I heard the evidence. I heard his answer. I heard the witnesses testify that he did do it.
Oh, yes. I have testified. And I have had a bad day on the stand. And the issue being decided by the court had something to do with something I had done. I knew that things weren’t going to go as well as the attorney hoped if I testified truthfully about what I had done exactly. But, unlike Moulton, I didn’t blame anyone else. I told the judge what I did exactly and admitted that I could have done it better. Mine wasn’t so much over illegal behavior. It was over timeliness issues. I honestly don’t remember if I could have done what I did any faster, but I didn’t sit on that stand and blame other people or events for my not having completed my task any quicker. I own my own behavior. And quite frankly, if I’m not doing anything I’m not supposed to, and doing what I am supposed to do to the best of my ability, I just don’t think I have anything to worry about if someone asks me, under oath or not, if I did my job.
So is our police officer Moulton a bad cop for Idaho Falls?
Didn’t I just read that our city had to pay $50,000 settlement for allegations of police abuse? I recall the chief’s position was that they deny wrongdoing but agreed there was sufficient evidence to convict?
Does this Moulton have more history of improper behaviors? I think I read earlier that he was in the Kimball Mason clique?
[Comment edited by site admin, serious allegations were made against a person's professional reputation, and no evidence was ever sent to back it up.]
So once again InsideObserver claims corruption by a police officer but once again he expects everyone to “trust him” on this. I recall he said the exact same thing about a Bonneville County Deputy but as with Moulton this time he won’t give details. When pressed for details last time he refused to give any. Something smells and its not the police.
The fact that the city settled a case for $50,000 does not necessarily mean anything. I admittedly know nothing about the case except what I read in the paper which is that Moulton arrested a couple of potheads (drugs were found on them which leads to credibility issues for them) while looking for someone else and allegations were made against Moulton that he entered the residence unjustly and used excessive force. But companies and government settle cases all the time because its cheaper to do so than fight them.
This would be a decision for Joe. I have spoken with the individuals involved who have one transcript on their case and are expecting another. Do you want to post this information on this site as “proof” of Moulton’s behavior? They haven’t insisted that their names be hidden but I would think that would be a better idea after Joe has done whatever he needs to do to satisfy himself and thus his readers that it’s an actual case.
As for why they settled the case involving Moulton, there are basically two reasons why they would do so. It’s cheaper to settle than fight OR ….. it’s true! As the terms of most settlements are usually sealed and confidential, we will never know. I take issue with that too. He’s a city employee. As taxpayers, we have a right to know if this officer is stepping outside the boundaries. Funny thing about the lawsuit if what you say is true that he went into the house looking for someone else. The same thing is happening in the case I am writing about. Moulton went to the wrong house looking for someone else although he keeps trying to tell everyone he was supposed to be at the house he went to. (yes, there is actual paperwork proving he was at the wrong address) Does one of our officers have problems on his beat figuring out where he’s supposed to be? Is there a pattern beginning to emerge here where an officer keeps ending up in the wrong house looking for someone who isn’t there and the folks he does run into are supposedly committing crimes? I am NOT, I repeat, NOT, accusing here, just thinking… Could it be the crimes were charged in an attempt to cover up the fact that he’s in the wrong place?
I have to confess that when I get on this site, I usually only read the last handful of postings on some of the lengthier threads. I just went back and read this entire thread. From the top to the bottom, the question was asked again and again, how did this happen? The answer was given again and again by different people that it happened right under our noses because the people in power, some say Livesey, some say Watkins, some say others, didn’t do their jobs when complaints were being made. In other words, no one could believe that KM would do what he did and therefor, when the complaints came in, they were basically ignored. Other posts are being made, including mine, with charges of bad behavior, and the naysayers are right behind me saying there is no way, and what proof do you have, etc., etc., etc., Well, that sounds like the same attitude to me that allowed KM to go on for as long as he did. So I would state that when a complaint is made, or an accusation, it should be investigated before it is pooh-poohed by someone who includes in his comment that he knows nothing about it.
Power corrupts – absolute power corrupts absolutely. When we refuse to ask questions, when we refuse to listen, when we refuse to demand answers, we are handing absolute power to those individuals, it will inevitably result in corruption absolutely. With some individuals, it may take longer than others, but it will happen. So I will ask the question I have asked countless times before on this site. Are we willing to stand up for the courage of our convictions and get to the truth or are we ostriches with our heads in the sand who prefer to believe that all is well in the world and KM is the only person in our city who could ever possibly do something wrong or worse yet, are we going to just use this site to vent our spleens but not do what it takes to make it better – you know, like going to court, writing letters, attending city and county meetings, making phone calls to our officials and our media, etc. For example, in post #123 a case number is mentioned. Did anyone (besides me) call the courthouse for details on that case?
Nothing comes clean without some agitation.
I think it has been proven we need some agitation in our local government to force some issues in the open, such as the city attorney’s contract (which I think questions were never fully resolved on).
If anyone wants to post information here that agitates in the interest of uncovering truth the public should know (without simply smearing a character), then I eagerly encourage anyone to do so.
If information is posted and it turns out later that the info was only brought out to smear a character, and there was no possible dirty secrets the public would want to know, I will apologize myself to that person.
There, a gauntlet has been thrown down.
What, if anything, has really changed since the Kimball Mason episode came to light?
We are finally buying an evidence locker inventory system (grossly overpriced in my opinion) and are training the locker cop.
Are there new rules in effect for prosecutor conduct?
Are there new rules in effect for how judge’s signature stamps are stored, used, and accounted for?
Are there ways for subordinates to anonymously report suspicious behaviors of their superiors (like someone who seems to have lots of guns or removes hundreds of sunglasses from evidence)?
After the news broke, there were many promises of changes, that this could never happen again, but what really has changed?
What are the loopholes that still exist and can be exploited?
Good questions, particularly about rules how judges’ stamps are used. I’ve never understood that signature stamps are allowed on documents of legal significance, like court orders or even by doctors on prescriptions. The reason a certain person’s signature is required on such a document in the first place is to signify that the medically-trained doctor has okayed the use of the controlled drug, or that it is in fact the judge’s order. Signature stamps on mere correspondence is one thing, but shouldn’t be permitted on documents that we expect third parties to honor from the face of the document because it is signed.
Hey, I am all for nailing the crooked attorneys and cops out there. I am black and white on that issue. However, I also know that some serious allegations were made against Moulton in post 199 and 201. Post 201 calls him a crook with nothing to back it up. Post 199 does the same thing with qualifiers stating the poster can’t go into the issues but was there in court. The civil complaint should be public record. The response to the suit should also be public. Gee, wouldn’t it be nice to have both sides represented here? Before I defame somebody I think I should base my decision on facts available not personal vendettas or hard feelings. If you have a case number for this matter post it. I will try and find what public filings I can get my hands on. I think it would make for an interesting story and allow facts to govern our decisions not emotion. If you are correct about Moulton, he let his emotion(s) “to get the bad guy…the crook” off the streets. I think we should learn from this and not repeat the same mistakes!
Valid concerns.
I see 199 as someone’s observation, I’m prone to leave that standing. I wrote about my observations in Kimball Mason’s original sentencing and that just has to be taken as opinion.
201 could be bad though. That is throwing out some harsh statements. Is there anything to back that claim up? Any case that was proven to be in that manner described? Any reprimands in his record (though second thought hope that isn’t public record)?
If no evidence backs up 201 in the next few days I’ll delete the name or entire comment.
Thank you for helping spot these things. We want open discussion and transparency, but there’s no reason to throw out harsh allegations like that and not have them backed up somehow.
I am not an apologist for Moulton or anybody else. However, didn’t Moulton recently receive an award over in Boise from the Governor or POST for his actions helping prevent both Officer Brent Guymon from being killed and/or killing the suspect. Sounds like he would have been justified shooting the punk and instead restrained him with physical force taking him into custody. Does this mitigate the other concerns? Probably not. However, it may slow things down a bit forcing us to look into the matter to see the officers side as well.
About Darin Moulton.
He is easily the #1 cop on the IFPD in terms of arresting drug users, people with warrants, and other bad guys. So of course he is going to draw the most complaints since the criminal element are also the biggest complainers. A cop who does nothing but drive around all shift doesn’t anger anyone and if you don’t anger anyone you will not draw complaints. Moulton on the other hand spends the whole shift taking bad guys off the street. So of course he also is going to draw a lot of complaints. And you should remember that a certain segment of the public like *cough* a certain poster on this board *cough* hates the police and will always bash them.
As to Moulton receiving the “Medal of Honor” from the state that is 100% correct. When officer Brent Guymon called for help some officers fled in the oppisote direction or ignored his call for help (fortunately 2 of the 4 scum officers are now retired) but Moulton rushed to the scene, put his life on the line, and saved the lives of two officers. That doesn’t excuse bad behavior (if he has in fact done any) by him but it is important to keep facts straight about him.
IMO Darin Moulton is the cop you want to respond when you need help, when a bad guy is invading your home, when your neighbor is selling drugs, and when your life is on the line.
Hey anonymous in the above post…thanks for adding some more perspective. I see that the name calling has calmed down for now. It’s easy to slam anybody…it’s harder to take time to do it the ‘right’ way! Thanks for mentioning that about Moulton. You are absolutely on target…he is active out there. The public wants that on one and and eschews this on the other. Being a police officer is tougher than ever today. You just can’t win it seems. The fact that Livsey is standing behind an officer in the age of the brass selling their people up the river also makes me take pause here.
I have no beef with any officer doing his job if he did his job within all the parameters required by law. It’s tough in this day and age with drugs running rampant on the streets and literally destroying lives to not take the attitude that our officers should do whatever it takes to try and stem the horrible tide of meth users. I don’t want these “bad guys” out on the streets any more than you do.
HOWEVER, at the very conception of this country some very intelligent, foresighted (and in my opinion, heavenly inspired) individuals crafted a document known to all as our Bill of Rights. Within those words comes a guarantee to ALL citizens that an individual is innocent until proven guilty, that all individuals have a right to a trial, to assistance of counsel, out of which sprung Miranda rights, the right to privacy, search and seizure laws, rights against self-incrimination, etc. When those rights are ignored by a zealous officer who doesn’t believe they apply to him in the interest of putting away the bad guys, he puts himself above the law. And when he’s looking at you, you’re going to want him to be respectful and mindful of those rights. Yes, unfortunately that means that occasionally the bad guy gets off on what we like to term a technicality, but when they come into your home without a search warrant, pull you and your kids out of your car to be subjected to a search (I’d love to hear how you feel about having your 16-year old daughter patted down by a male officer) when there is no probable cause for him to do so, he just wants to do it because he’s the number one cop in the city for getting the bad guys – you’re going to hope and pray you can find (and afford) an attorney who will go to court and demand that your civil rights are protected. It’s all too easy to say, well, we’ll just look the other way this time cuz he got a bad guy, but sometimes the guy they got isn’t guilty, and we’ve let them go too far so many times, we can’t say no this time.
I used to feel as apparently so many of you do that where there’s smoke there’s fire, that it’s okay to bend the rules “just a bit” so we don’t have to have the bad guys out here with us, but as I became interested in these cases because it happened to someone I love, I came to embrace the concept that it truly is better that twelve guilty men go free than one innocent man go to prison. Is there anyone out there who truly believes the opposite? Who do you know, an innocent, that you would be willing to let waste away in prison so that not a single bad guy got away? I don’t know of anyone I would be willing to condemn in such a manner. Cuz the fact of the matter is this. If they are truly bad guys, they’ll come around again and an officer won’t have had to sell his integrity up the river to put him away – the right way. By the book. With all civil rights having been protected.
Just my opinion. But when the officer in question comes to your door by “accident” and you find yourself caught up unjustly in the “justice” system, I hope I can find it in my heart to find compassion for you because you’ll have no one but yourself to blame for your apathy when it was happening to others and you knew it. Unless we stem the tide of the loss of our civil rights (think Patriot Act here) we’ll have no rights left at all. And we’ll have no one but ourselves to blame.
I offered to let Joe post the transcripts here as proof of this officers behavior. He has not accepted. I guess that says it all, doesn’t it? Ignorance is bliss. Please feel free to delete my comment as suggested above. I have lost my desire to convince you to stand up for yourselves and fight. Since it hasn’t happened to you so it must not be happening.
“I offered to let Joe post the transcripts here as proof of this officers behavior. He has not accepted.”
I’m sorry, I must be in a daze!
Feel free to post any transcripts you feel are pertinent to the discussion.
Wow, I felt like I was listening to a version of Law & Order in post 213. I understand that you have some personal experiences here. I think alot of want to hear more about the police over reacting and/or violating people’s rights. What we don’t need is rhetoric without reality attached to it on such a serious local issue. If there are transcripts and documents out there to bolster the claims then by all means, write an article and lets get some understanding here. As Sgt. Joe Friday says, “Just the facts….”
Does anyone know what the allegations were that were brought against Moulton during the Law Suit? Where they just trying to get out of their own predicament or was there some truth to the allegations?
Did anyone ever think that there were at least 6 other officers present when Moulton “violated” the Civil Rights of the “supposed” victims? Why would the other officers let this happen if they knew their jobs and livelihoods would be in jeopardy? Inside Observer, do you really think that there are that many officers who are corrupt, to risk everything in order to protect one “rogue” officer? I think not!!!!
I would question the attorney who was filing the law suit, and why the other officer’s names did not get mentioned in media reports? What did he gain by filing the lawsuit and how come it was not considered a Conflict of Interest for him to sue the City of Idaho Falls and the police officers? The attorney that filed the suit is the Prosecuting Attorney in Rigby. I believe that in an area that is as small as the Idaho Falls area is, it would be possible that the officers in the adjoining counties may assist each other in their investigations. Does this mean that Rigby/Jefferson County would not be able to ask for the assistance from the Idaho Falls Police Dept? If they do, how would it not be a Conflict of Interest for the attorney to sue Idaho Falls and the Police Dept?
Just thinking here, but could he have owed someone a favor? Is he in good with the now-former Mayor of Rigby? The same man who is the father of two very well known females in the Idaho Falls area. These two females that have been arrested by Moulton (and other officers, several times) for drugs and have been with others as they have been arrested for drugs? I am not making accusations here, but trying to spark a thought in your mind as to why these things may happen.
I would question Inside Observer about Post #199. You said that the media was in the courtroom that day when Moulton was testifying and he “lied” about what you will not say, but he “lied”. Why would the media not report on this. I think they would jump all over this as a “Breaking Story” or Big News in the small town if IF.
FWIW, I’ve known and worked with Moulton for years. He’s about as stand-up of a guy you’d ever want to meet.
I’m with the “dumbguy”. I have also worked with Officer Moulton for many years. He is one of the most honest and honorable guys there. He stands up for what is right and owns up when he has made a mistake. I have seen him put his career on the line in telling the truth. I also agree with post #211. He is definately the guy you would want to respond to your call for help. The only people I know who don’t like Officer Moulton are the bad guys.
To Anonymous – I don’t think I’ve ever said that there were “that many” corrupt officers out there. I think I’ve restricted my comments to a few. My best guess estimate would be that there are less than 5 officers on each force (IFPD and BCSO) who need a closer look and the rest are stand up guys. I think I have also said that I have friends on the force and I trust them implicitly. It makes me feel bad for them when someone on their force does something to tarnish their reputation.
As for why the press didn’t report, they were required to leave over an hour before the hearing ended to meet deadlines on other stories. I would hope they are following the case as the best is yet to come from what I understand from the individuals involved. The testimony given after the press left did not leave Officer Moulton looking too good.
You act surprised that he has a bad reputation amongst the “bad guys”. That would be a true statement and I would acknowledge that. EXCEPT, given that he is an officer, most of his associations on a day-to-day basis would be with “bad guys” and just because they’ve done something wrong doesn’t give an officer permission to do something wrong.
Remember, it was the “bad guys” who outed KM. No one believed Jimmie Caudle, and then no one believed the next guy and so on and so on until the accusations had piled up so deep that it was too much to be ignored. Given the cases coming onto the radar now, I would say the same thing is about to happen to Moulton.
I have a question to pose here. Why is it than when a citizen is arrested, he is presumed to be guilty on the basis that where’s there’s smoke there’s fire and when an officer is accused of wrongdoing, he must absolutely be innocent because he’s an officer. This appears to be a double standard to me. Your thoughts?
Hows life in Montana IO? Or am I wrong in my guess as to your identity which I won’t say out loud for privacies sake? Its become quite apparent to me that you either are that attorney up in Montana who makes frequent trips back here or closely affiliated with him. Either way it speaks volumes about your credibility since the job defense counsel often takes is to smear the cops / prosecutors with unfounded allegations which is all you’ve done so far with things like “Officer Moulton lied but I’m not going to tell you how.”
The thing that really bothers me about the whole thing with Officer Moulton is that he is being thrown under the bus by the media and others and all that they do is look at the so called bad things he has done. Has anyone ever taken the time to look at the good things that Officer Moulton has accomplished. How many drug users has he taken of the streets? How many bad people are where they need to be becasue of Officer Moulton and his passion for his work. I know Officer Moulton and I am of the opinion that he is one of the most honest men I know and has a high level of integrity. Just take some time and watch your news and see how often you see Officer Moulton involved in a situation. He is a hands on kind of guy. He responds to crimes but he also takes time to do some preventative crime prevention as well. He takes a pro active approach. He is a one of a kind cop and he does a very good job at what he does. I am of the opinion that Officer Moulton deserves some type of kudo’s for his efforts.
Anybody know anything about the Ericsson case today?
Anonymous,
I do not live in Montana. I am not an attorney. I do follow legal cases like the ones I have referred to because someone I loved got caught up in our sorry excuse for a “justice” system. It was heartwrenching and bore absolutely no resemblance to “justice”. I do however know who you are talking about and I say good for him. Wasn’t he the only attorney absolutely cleared by the Attorney General’s office because he was the only attorney who had actually done his job and gotten his client’s gun returned instead of allowing KM to have it? It’s just too bad that someone has to hire an attorney from out of state to defend him when our local attorneys don’t or won’t get the job done. Have you ever stood in the hall of the courthouse and listened to people complaining about their public defenders? Personally, I think those guys do the best they can with the resources they’re given but because they represent the “bad guys” our county refuses to give them adequate funding. That bubble is going to get burst. States all across the country are having to pony up the resources for defending the indigent or get sued by someone who manages to scare up enough money or the ACLU. And Rocky Wixom’s job is a joke. Our county pays him $10,000 a month to represent the indigent and he refuses to see them except on Wednesdays and I have yet to meet one of his clients who wasn’t told to “just plead guilty.” What kind of a defense is that?
That’s a story for another post.
Too bad. I’m not who you thought I was.
Will you answer my question now? Why is a bad guy guilty until proven innocent and a police officer innocent until proven guilty and the victim of slander?
Well here’s the .mp3 KPVI uploaded regarding the tort case from
http://kpvi.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/audio/TortCase_32k.mp3
It sounds like those cops had to deal with some annoying drunks to me. Brandy Jo Dunn was just drunk and combative. She ought to get over it. You can hear lots of people telling her to chill out.
Moulton seems to have the full support of Chief Livsey, and it was noted that Moulton won the Idaho Medal of Honor a couple years ago.
Moulton may do great things, but it must always be asked if he is doing things where “the ends justifies the means”? In those cases, the means are not justified.
On the other hand, if he did nothing wrong, the truth shall set him free. It is promising that they released actual audio of the arrest, where you can hear everything he says. That is upfront and honest in my opinion.
Something bugs me about this tort claim.
If Brandy felt her rights were violated somehow, but she did not suffer any real economic or health harm, she should just push for a public apology from the officer and chief, published in the PR.
Instead, I get the feeling she views this as a money-making opportunity.
That does not seem right, and diminishes her standing.
Inside Observer: Post #199
“Everyone in the room, and there were lots of people in the room (including the press), knew he was lying and heard the lie.”
Anonymous: Post #216
You said that the media was in the courtroom that day when Moulton was testifying and he “lied†about what you will not say, but he “liedâ€. Why would the media not report on this. I think they would jump all over this as a “Breaking Story†or Big News in the small town if IF.
Inside Observer: Post #219
“As for why the press didn’t report, they were required to leave over an hour before the hearing ended to meet deadlines on other stories.”
So which is it? Were there members of the press present or not when Moulton “lied”? I guess I need some clarification, before I make a decision on whethter I would view your testimony as credible or not.
Anonymous,
Yes and no. How’s that?
The press were there for a great deal of the testimony and had to leave before the end of the hearing. If I were working for the press, I would certainly not report on something that I had not seen the entire event or seen through to its conclusion. Let’s just say, for now, they saw Moulton caught in his lie, they didn’t get to see what exactly he was lying about as the remaining testimony from other witnesses in that regard came after they left. Since Moulton wouldn’t acknowledge his own actions, and blamed what happened on other officers, it was necessary to call other witnesses to testify regarding what he had and hadn’t done, who did so after the press left. As I stated earlier (way earlier) the transcripts of this hearing will be sent to Joe when they are given to the individuals involved. If he wants to post them here, all the better. In his earlier post, he said anyone could post anything here. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how to post something of that magnitude. The preliminary hearing was over two hours long and the hearing a few weeks ago was over three hours long. That’s a lot of pages. It will ultimately be up to Joe if he wants to put them up here, or if he will need to edit them in some fashion to pare it down a bit to avoid having everyone have to read through all the drivel in order to get to the meat of the issue. I realize the KM docs were like 1500 pages long, but I don’t have the computer savvy to know how to set up something like that.
So, Joe, I’m kinda volunteering you here. Sorry, there is no intention to force your hand. It’s your site and I will respect that. But given my lack of expertise, it will have to be placed in your hands and you can choose if you want to help with this project. Moulton getting caught under oath telling fibs. Is it just too good to be true? I’ll let you be the judge. In the meantime, the press can choose to follow along or not, as they know the case and its problems. Seems they have their teeth into Moulton now so they may not let go.
I just want to add something here. I realize it sounds like I have a real beef with Moulton. That isn’t so much true as I have a beef with the double standard. I personally have never met an individual, even a criminal, who didn’t have redeeming qualities of some sort. So when a person is labeled a criminal, it seems to be a rare occasion when something positive can’t be said about that person. What tends to happen is a person made a mistake, broke the law, and no matter how many good acts they’ve performed in their lives, they should be required to pay the penalty. But what keeps coming up on this thread is that this particular philosophy doesn’t seem to be applied to police officers. Why? I would think we would want to actually hold them to at least an equal standard if not a higher standard. So if a good officer does something he shouldn’t have, breaks the law, why are you suggesting we look the other way? Many posters have said they know Moulton. Can someone cite a situation where when he encountered an individual breaking the law, he just looked the other way because the guy did good things? Maybe I’d feel better about this if someone can answer that. Since the inception of this thread is in regards to KM, was that the philosophy we had with him? I know for a fact he did wonderful things in his life. Was there a suggestion we should have just let him give the guns back and walk away, no harm, no foul. Or was there a price to be paid regardless of his previous good acts?
Sure, email me any text files, PDFs, sound files, or movie files you want.
That goes for anyone who has information they want to air on IdahoFallz.com.
I would appreciate specifying where to look in the morass of it all. Tell me the important connections or conflicts.
I have assisted others to publish their stuff, and I try to always give as much credit as someone wants.
“So if a good officer does something he shouldn’t have, breaks the law, why are you suggesting we look the other way?”
Who is suggesting that we look the other way? NOT ME!!! I asked in Post #116 if anyone knew of the allegations against Moulton, in the now-settled law suit, but up until this time no one has given an answer. Because this is the case, how can we pass judgement without knowing the allegations? At least when a person is accused of commiting a crime, they are informed of the law they were supposed to have violated, and can defend themselves as necessary.
By the way, I am aware that there are others using the default screen name as Anonymous, so I will tell you that I have only posted #116 and #126. All of the others that have been posted recently are from someone other than me. Hope this makes thinks as clear as mud!!!!!! I have never participated in any type chat like this, so I am not up to speed on how they work and still learning. (Now who is using an excuse?)
Feel free to use a regular nickname to keep things clearer.
Todd Ericsson is a very good man and has helped many people through their darkest and hardest times. I do not agree with one comment bad mouthing him and bashing him. He was a police officer for the city and was hired in 1979 and served the police department here well. But one question, I have heard many rumors that former police officer and detective Ralph C. Nixon, was involved in this also. What about him? Has anyone put an investigation into the Nixon home at all? His adopted grandson, now his son, Curtis Nixon, was just arrested on an armed robbery charge. Did he possibly use one of the guns, that could have been purchased from Kimball Mason? This is a question that needs to be pursued. I think that this man, Ralph C. Nixon, even though he is an active member of the LDS Church and a veteran police officer, needs to be investigated. He has known Kimball Mason and Todd Ericsson both, for years, and had worked for the IFPD as an officer and detective from 1959 until he retired in 1987. He was an honest police officer, but I think that the main focus now, should be on him. He was good friends with Mason also and was involved with him in Boy Scouting as well as being a good cronie of him at the police station. He is also an avid hunter and an avid sportsman. Nixon has made comments that he does not believe that Ericsson is guilty and that he DID in fact forget about the guns. His son, Curtis Nixon, is very good friends with the son of Ericsson, Logan Porter Ericsson. They both deny their fathers having anything to do with this investigation. But I do think that the investigators in this case, are missing a puzzle piece, when they are not making a search of the Nixon residence. Nixon has purchased guns over the years, and a good friend of mine and resource, admits that Nixon “has enough guns to hold off the entire U.S. Army for six months” in his home. Nixon, if you are hiding something, it is time to make it known. Don’t throw a good reputation and career down the drain, because of a stupid mistake you have made.
Former Idaho Falls Police Department Officer and Detective, and now current Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office detective.
Interesting.
Local reporters probably know this case the best, and have read the witness testimonies.
Was Nixon father or son interviews included with that big file KPVI uploaded? May have to re-look over their interviews if so.
Ericsson sounds very confident he will be vindicated (though Kimball Mason had a swagger about him at first also). If Ericsson did nothing wrong then let it bear out through the process, but he seems angry to be dragged through the process at all.
What of these Nixon characters? That could be a big tip for local reporters.
Referring post #227 by Inside Observer
I think it sums up like this. You say Moulton was lying because your witnesses said something different.
Or could it be that Moulton was telling the truth and your witnesses were lying? People lie all the time in court, especially friends of people who are on trial and who lie to help them get off. Which is why police officers try to get written statements at the time of the incident (most people refuse) so that they can then impeach the witness when they invariably lie on the stand.
Kimball Mason may have been a crook but he was 100% right about one thing. Court is a liars contest to see whose set of witnesses can lie the best about what happened.
Post 231: “Former Idaho Falls Police Department Officer and Detective, and now current Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office detective.”
So, I see the Bonneville County Sheriffs Office raided the City once again — and tempted an officer to leave with their higher pay! Oh, ahhh, wait a second. Nevermind.
But seriously, Post #231 above is a claissic example of the damage that can be done with unverified “anonymous” comments in such a public forum. I know that a lot of good can come from it as well, but really, we need to be careful what we write. First, No court in the world would ever issue a search warrant for a search of the Nixon home based on what was described. Nixon was friends with Todd, and their son’s were friends as well. Nixon apparently has a bunch of guns in his home (like many cops do.) Big deal. Is that it?
I think I would have chosen NOT to disclose to the public who may or may not have a home full of valuable items. Particularly with no real probable cause to begin with.
I know all these guys as well. I can tell you that Kimball was never close to Nixon and neither was Todd E back when Nixon was on the Department. Not the kind of “close” this type of secret would require. The reason that Kimball was able to go undetected for so many years was that he kept his activity a secret. If he disclosed it to anyone, it would have only been Todd and Stosich in my opinon. They were all very tight.
I have read the entire report (AG’s Investigator)) and I believe that the investigation was very complete and well done. In an investigation like that, you go where the information takes you. The credible information. Thats what they did.
Post #231 is the most ridiculous, and upsetting article I have ever read in my life. My father, Ralph Nixon, was a police officer for the Idaho falls police department for nearly 30 years. He has NEVER, and I will repeat again, NEVER, broke a law in his life. And I dont believe that he would ever break a law either. The person or detective or whoever wrote this article should be ashamed of themselves. He served for 30 years in this community, protecting normal people like yourselves from danger and ill meaning, and this is how he is being repayed. I am very disappointed in the person that wrote this and I think personally that they owe a letter of apology or an apology in person to my father, Ralph Nixon. He never purchased any guns from kimball mason and he never knew about anything that was happening. I cannot believe this. You people who write these fairy-tail blogs, need a life. Instead of ruinining and slandering the name of my dad, get a damn life and find something worth writing about.
Reference Moulton…another woman signed on to sue the city for 10k due to being roughed up or something like that. She filed her tort 2 days after the other suit was settled by the insurance company. I heard the chief released the audio that Moulton recorded. Has anyone heard about that? And was it revealing? The PR didn’t report on it at all.
In response to Post 231, Whoever wrote this blog should be ashamed of themselves.Ralph Nixon is a good man, and has devoted his life to his community by protecting and serving Idaho Falls as a law enforcement officer, and helping guide this cities youth iin the Boy Scouts, And through his church. He is one of the most honest man I know, and would never be involved in anything illegal. Even when it came to his children getting into trouble with the law,Mr. Nixon did the right thing and reported it. To slander someone and attempt to tarnish his good name and reputation, is a injustice of the worst kind. To report and act on hunches or stupid thoughts to continue the witch hunt without first finding out the facts is not what a good investigator would be proud of. Nice going rookie!!!!
I must agree
Well, here we go again…earlier this week people were going after Moulton, now they are going after Ralph Nixon….who is going to be next?
On the positive side, it is good to see a lively discussion but at what expense? Contributors here need more facts to back up what seems like alot of fishing, personal dislike, or just plain maliciousness. If somebody wants to take a potshot at somebody like Moulton or Nixon, then write an article and have facts at hand. Otherwise, write to the National Enquirer and see if they are interested. We don’t need trash on here.
Please don’t blame the administrator of this blog when someone else writes something inappropriate. I agree that the post being discussed was out of line but Joe does the best job he can at keeping things fair. As for the person who wrote Post 231, you could have made this same post without naming names.
I agree with the right to post anonymously. I disagree with a person hiding behind anonymity and then making allegations and disclosing others’ real names without facts to back them up, especially when it is all speculation and no substance. It also bothers me when someone who wishes to use an anonymous screen name has someone else try to out their true identity.
Ralph Nixon has always been a hero of mine. My grandfather and my father both worked with him and knew him personally. He was also an inspiration for me to become an officer of the law. I know that Ralph would never do anything in the sorts of illegal activity and I stand 110 percent behind him and I support him at full strength. Ralph, you are a good man and never let anyone tell you different. Curtis, keep your head up and I hope things work out for you, whenever you need to talk, you probably know who I am and how to get ahold of me.
re: #231 You are a police officer??? a detective??? Or just wish you were? I hope, no, I pray someones life never depends on your ability(or lack of) to investigate a crime. If you were a police officer/detecive I can only say thank god….you are no longer one. Sure, sure…you must think that Mr. Nixon has WMD also…haha
I do blame the blog owner for the types of unfounded, made up, trash that anyone with a grudge can write without any proof but a big mouth. The owner of this blog in a heartbeat will delete a minor cuss word, or delete name calling, but then will allow in the name of free speech, this obsenity to remain, it boggles my mind.
I do have to agree with every word that M. Green has said. I hope that the detective or person whoever wrote this, is never put in a situation such as Todd ericsson or my father has been put in, even though Todd did commit crimes, or so they say, my father did not and had no part in this whatsoever. Enough said on my part.
Reverting back to the Moulton posts…..I just listened to 13:59 of the recording the night Brandy Dunn was arrested. Check it out for yourself at the following site:
http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=6421399
Me thinks Ms. Dunn does protest too much and is looking to make a buck!
To: Former IFPD Officer and Detective. Re: post 231.
Thank the Lord that you are not an officer in my county defending the public. Apperently you have no clue as to who Ralph Nixon is. If you knew him as well as you would like us to beleive, you would have never written those damaging comments in post #231. How dare you question his intergrity. I have known Ralph Nixon for almost 30 years and he is twice the man you appear to be. First of all- HONEST. Ralph was and is an outstanding citizen. He was an excellent policeman who was caring and honest in every way. Since when does knowing someone make you guilty of a crime and when did the law change to incrimiate a parent on the basis of a child doing wrong? If a parent was guilty of the crimes their children committed, we could all be in prison, couldnt we?
That was nothing more than a cheap shot at Ralph and his son Curtis. Kudos to Ralph and his wife for stepping up and adopting their grandson. Probably something you would never do…
Hopefully you never took these cheap shots at a fellow officer while on the force(if you really were.) Is this how the Bonneville County Sheriffs office functions or are you a renegade looking to make a name for yourself in the annals of Idaho Falls Law enforcment? Its time for you to get out of “LA LA LAND” and get on with doing your job which is to serve and protect, not make bogus and ridiculous acusations. Ralph Nixon would never stab his fellow officers in the back the way you have. His character wouldnt allow it. I know Ralph IS NOT guilty of this crime and deep down inside you know it too.
re #243: blaming the blog owner for post #231 is ridiculous. After all, in the name of free speech many others have come forward in defense of officer Nixon, and I think that is great. Fantastic! Kind of the point of free speech, I think.
I for one have enough common sense to say to myself “hmmm… a guy who claims to be a cop is trashing another officer and implying that that officer would shoot it out if someone came after him. I’m pretty dang certain that statement is a load of (you know what).”
To think that I would automatically take that as fact is insulting to my intelligence. And frankly, I bet it is insulting to the intelligence of most of the readers and posters of idahofallz.com.
But, on a deeper level, I think that the Mason scandal has damaged our ability as citizens to trust those in power, whether they be in law enforcement or politics. What should be done to restore that trust in the eyes of the public? The idea that another person connected to the Mason crimes is being prosecuted saddens me, and makes me ask, rightly I think, how deep does this crime go? I think that the ridiculous accusations against officers (that have only the slimmest of circumstanial connections) sprouting out of this are an outgrowth of our frustration with the justice system on the Mason case(s).
Yes, I agree thaat freedom of speech is a given right, however when exercising that right, one uses ill intent and damages another person that is called slander and defamation of character, it changes from a constitutional right to a crime. So to put this all to rest,I challenge the author of blog 231 to reveal themself, and stand behind your statement.
You can’t blame Joe (as the owner of this site) for the rediculous statements of a few. Joe works hard to moderate this site and provide this service to the community. It does create much good.
Since we feel as though we must blame someone, I say we blame Al Gore. After all, he invented the Internet.
To the comments of Ralph Nixon, I have known Ralph’s Family since I was in grade school, his daughter was my best friend growing up through all of school. I spent alot of time over there when most of his kids were still home. I know personally that Ralph is NOT a dishonest person, he wouldn’t betray others, He is about honesty. Maybe if you really knew him and his family you would know that the things you have said are not right.
The PR this morning pointed the finger to a Jose Moreno, apparently a Bonneville County Probation Officer they say got a firearm from Kimball Mason with the serial number scratched off.
There is little doubt a police officer would notice a gun’s filed-off serial number, right?
So why did he accept the gun from Kimball Mason?
Has this matter already been explained, is the PR not looking at it correctly? Why wasn’t Moreno’s situation followed up on?
Moreno has been around awhile and knows better than having a gun with a filed off serial #. Why he wasn’t prosecuted or lost his job is amazing. I think it goes back to the powers that be wanting to put all of this behind them and save some of their buddies in the police and legal community.
Just posession of a firearm with the serial number removed is against the law.
Seems to me this is no different than Stosich not noticing the police evidence tape on the weapon at his home. He unloaded all the guns Mason brought to his house(see KM report Part II) how could someone miss that?
After Masons last sentencing he was supposed to tell where all the remaining guns are (part of the agreement). Why do you supposed we have never heard about who had them, did not turn them over the first time and why they aren’t being prosecuted or even reported on.
This all old stuff but I still don’t believe everyone involved has been exposed.
How many guns were never accounted for? Anyone know?
Here’s a little tidbit for you to think about in regards to the Brandy Dunn situation. Brandy most likely didn’t know the officers had recording devices, but the officers knew full well their recording devices were turned on. In certain situations, an audio recording would give a clearer “picture” of what was happening. But I would also add that if one person knew they were being recorded (audio only) and another didn’t, the record regarding what was said would not necessarily be an accurate portrayal of the facts. The individual who knew he was being recorded could say whatever he/she wanted, knowing it was being taped, whether it was applicable to the situation or not. And yes, I’ve seen this happen and when the facts came out, the individual who knew the tape was on was saying things that weren’t true to try and skew the record. Did this happen with Dunn? Can’t say. I wasn’t there. Just wanted to share some insight so we don’t put all our weight behind the recording as being 100% accurate. As for why she filed her tort claim when she did, go back and look at what was reported. The attorney filed the notice of tort with the city and they refused to pay the claim. The filing date for the suit appears to coincide with the time required to wait for the city’s insurance company to agree or not to pay. The date is most likely a coincidence rather than a stab at piling on the monkey pile.
Did you listen to the recording? All 13minutes and 59 seconds….while your point is well taken, the audio clearly shows other civilians even telling her to cool it and she is obviously drunk or on dope….what do you want the police to do….ask her to nicely accompany them to the squad car? The only thing I can think of that Moulton didn’t do was formally tell her she was under arrest and using a verbal command for her to put her hands behind her back before cuffing her….the verbalization isn’t required in all cases….being that we weren’t there it is impossible to say why he didn’t tell her that…however, her tort claim is ridiculous. It is my understanding the tort claim was FILED with the city two days after the other (unrelated) claim also filed by Robin Dunn was settled. Once a tort is filed it the time starts running. Ms. Dunn’s lawsuit was at the tort stage, not the formal civil lawsuit stage….this is what makes it look like Robin Dunn is just piling on and using Ms. Dunn’s case as a means to earn a fast buck at the expense of the facts available…and slandering the police, the officer, and frankly, even himself. In my opinion, he was never a real prosecutor. He had Steve Clark do all the work. Apparently, he isn’t much of a real attorney either and certainly is not concerned about the facts on hand.
I totally agree with Post 256. Having communicated with Mr. Dunn in reference to a criminal violation in his county for over a year, he chose to find the easy way out and not follow through with a criminal charge that had every element of the crime present along with substantial evidence. Needless to say there is a TORT Claim being filed against he and his county. It’s apparent that he is not doing his job as a prosecutor, but is picking up extra income by representing people like his current client. In the Bar Code of Ethics there is such a thing as a conflict of interest. As a full time prosecutor he needs to focus his attention on representing the interest of the people in Jefferson County. There is no doubt in this area if you are a police officer who does his or her job, you are a target. If you sit in the local coffee shop or local gas station and do as little as possible you will be advanced as you do not receive complaints. When you are hired you are sworn to uphold the law and this is your duty as a Law Enforcement Officer. However there are those administors who do not encourage their officers to do their jobs as it will create strife in the community and the possibility exists that the elected official might not be elected during the next term. As a citizen who pay’s taxes, I want to see the Moulton’s of the Law Enforcement Community out doing their job and keeping our community safe. I believe that the Idaho Falls Police Department does an excellent job and should be commended for their hard work. However so much attention has been focused on the IFPD in recent months due to the actions of a few. I believe that it would be beneficial that you also look at the other Major Law Enforcement Agency in the area. There are numerous questions that could be asked about the amount of high profile cases that are still unsolved. You could include the number of crimes in Ammon and in the construction areas that are still open. The amount of money that is being spent on vehicles (Tahoes) vs. Police Sedans and how we as a tax payer have to foot the bill for these type of things. The high turnover rate which costs the taxpayer each time that someone leaves and goes to another agency. Maybe you could look at the relationships between the administrators of the Local Law Enforcement Agencies and ask why they do not have any multi agency programs like Pocatello, Blackfoot and Boise. (DUI Tasks Force, Multi Agency Child Abuse Task Force and Many Others). Is it a power stuggle by one member over the other? It is well know that Stommel and Livsey do not get along. You should look at the reasons and explain to the public why these high paid officials cannot put their differences aside and work to the betterment of the community. We would all beneift if they would act as Leaders and make efforts to put their differences in the past for the sake of those in the community
Well said, Guest.
Your comments lead us back to an old discussion on whether it is time to introduce the idea of a metro police department rather than two separate departments.
Any takers on that discussion? Who would you vote to put in charge? Stommell or Livesey? I was not aware they did not get along. What do you base that statement on? Can you give us some examples of interdepartmental problems (besides luring officers from one department to the other).
Don’t we have a regional drug task force with cooperative efforts between these two departments? What about domestic violence? Do they coordinate efforts in that arena? Anybody know the answers?
As for my previous comments on Moulton, I stand by my statements. I am still waiting for a copy from the individuals involved of the transcript of the second hearing after which Joe can post it if he chooses. Whether or not Moulton is a good officer or not remains to be proved to me. I was at a hearing where he didn’t exactly come off looking like officer of the year but admit that is a small snapshot in time of his overall actions as an officer.
I went down to the Courthouse last week to look up the civil case involving Moulton. I know some of it would probably be sealed, but I couldn’t locate anything resembling a civil case under his name or the City of Idaho Falls, or City of Idaho Falls Police department. Does anyone know a case number?
During the last election, Stommel had told many that he was going to run for position on the City Council in Idaho Falls so he could have a say in removing Livsey from office. It is also well known that during that same time frame Councilwoman Anderson from Ammon recevied a very improfessional heated exchanged from Stommel when the issue of starting their own Police Department came up. There are other complaints from the smaller communities who feel that he uses bullying techniques against them.
Mike,
When I looked it up it took a few tries. Were you down in the law library? I think the plaintiff was Mike Nield. Does anyone know? Moulton wasn’t listed as the primary defendant, he was listed in a secondary position behind the city of idaho falls.
That’s interesting information about Stommell. I haven’t ever spoken with him but I was in the hallway outside his office requesting information one time and the deputy they sent over to answer my question talked to me like I was a mangy mutt begging for a rib eye steak. The sheriff sat there and grinned through the entire exchange and never said a word. (I didn’t get my question answered either, just a lot of hoopla about why there weren’t going to answer my question) I had always thought I deserved to be treated better as a tax-paying citizen, but I didn’t know he had problems with Livesey. So why didn’t he run for city council? or is he going to?
Stommel did not reside in the City of Idaho Falls and thus he did not qualify to run for council. At one time I am sure that he was an outstanding officer. When people hold these type of positions for any length of time, it usually goes to his head. He had bragged that he was going to retire last August if he could stand being with his wife. He has bragged about how no one will run against him. He is in an elected position and it is important for the public to know what is going on within his “Office” he refuses to call it a Department. There are many issues with spending, supervision and lack of patrols. The public also needs to know about the solvability rate that his office maintains vs. other Cities and Counties of that size. When he submits his budgets is he spending too much money on his Tahoes and not paying his deputies a living wage? Maybe this blog can place a separate category for BCSO as it will be equally good reading as the incidents with IFPD. After all he is an elected official and is responsible to the public who has elected him. Let see some responses to the non solved homicides, kidnappings, rapes and other serious crimes in Bonneville County and I think the public would be seriously concerned that more effort needs to be addressed to some of these cases.
Rumor has it that Stommell is going to resign soon before the next election. He will have much say in his interim successor who will then have a leg up for sheriff next election. Of course I’ve been hearing this rumor for a year now so that may be all it is.
An article about the BCSO may be warranted, given all that we have heard lately. Whether it proves they are doing the best job they can or they need an extreme makeover, such an article would be healthy for our community and the BCSO.
I would also like to see performance metrics comparing BCSO to similar-sized counties. Comparison of performance to budget would be valid. Also valid would be comparing the percentage of the BCSO budget on senior vehicle expenses vs. other law enforcement entities. I don’t think it’s going to be that extreme, but someone should get it out there so it can live or die on the vine.
How about adding Bud Langerak to the list? Bud is a paid independent contractor for the Sheriff. What does he do? How much does he make anyways? (He probably makes more than when he was a deputy….if true, what a cushy arrangement drummed up by Stommel and Bud).
What does Bud Langerak do for BCSO?
While you explore Langerark, you might also want to look at the fact one of the BCSO deputies runs a local uniform shop. How much business is forwarded to this Deputy. How much are his prices compared to other vendors. What about the recently retired BCSO Deputy that runs a Funeral Escort Service. Most agencies provide this service free of charge. Does BCSO change their policies so this individual has extra business? In governmental agencies is it not written about conflict of interest, or the mere appearance? How many other favors are provided in these types of situations?
This goes back to the good ole boys network that has been discussed at great length. If you are the priviledged few you are given special exemptions.
You can look up the solvability factor of BCSO under the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Act. It lists each agency, population, calls handled and cases solved. Obviously you have to be careful because if someone types in that the case is cleared, does not necessarily mean that it was solved. It just means that it has been placed into inactive status.
Another perk that might be explored is how many meetings that Stommel and his upper administration attend. How many trips are really necessary for the top official in the county. How many of his stays are at above average motels, how many flights, perdium and so forth. How many of his officers live 30 plus minutes away from their main office and we as a public pay 3.19 per gallon for them to drive into town several times during the week?
“How many of his officers live 30 plus minutes away from their main office and we as a public pay 3.19 per gallon for them to drive into town several times during the week?”
As to this question in the last post. BCSO deputies patrol the county, not the city. Those that live 30 minutes away then are doing everyone a favor, in terms of gas, then by living that far away because they are are already out in the county which is where the patrol. If the cars were in the city at the office you would waste gas driving the cars out of the city.
Regarding Post 267, I feel like I should clear up some msconceptions;
First, the crime information can be found at this link: http://www.isp.state.id.us/identification/ucr/crime_idaho.html
They are usually a few years behind, because I guess it takes time to get all of the data in from each jurisdiction. The comment about the cleared cases actually being just “inactive” is not correct. It could happen if a Department misrepresented the data, but “cleared” is suppose to mean solved. I think that for the most part these figures are accurate. They look to be very much in line.
Regarding the funeral escort, Guest missed some facts here too. Departments all over the US use to provide funeral escorts for their communities. All that I know of were free of charge. Idaho Falls was very big on this, mainly because one of the owners of Woods Funeral Home was on the city council. Mr. Wood used the city nearly every day — whenever he needed and escort. The city did not charge for this service, but one friend I spoke to, who had a relative’s funeral handled by Woods told me that the family was charged for the service — a service that the city was providing for free. If that is true, then shame on Woods. But, years ago as traffic in the city got worse, and liability became an issue, the city stopped providing this free service. One of the County Deputies saw the nitch, and invested in the equipment needed to provide the escort service himself. The city stopped doing the escorts, and this new business began doing it for a fee. No where do I see a problem with that. No one is being given special treatment. The Deputy has a small business providing a service. The real problem was back when the city was doing these escorts for funeral services in Idaho Falls for free, and the Funeral Homes may or may not have been charging their clients for this free service.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the privatization described here. I think it’s okay to question it, because on the surface it can look corrupt (ex-employee cashes in on service formerly provided by government), but it seems top shelf here.
Thank you for linking to the crime data. It seems they provide the data, but I did not see a county-by-county “efficiency” comparison (maybe success rate instead of efficiency?)
Someone dedicated enough could pump the numbers through Excel in a short time and see how well BCSO is doing their job compared to other similarly-sized counties.
Here’s a little info-savvy if you didn’t know it. You can often modify the URL to get more information without clicking around to find it.
For instance, I pulled a 2003 Bonneville county report:
URL/blahblahblah/BK03-J10-Bonneville.pdf
I look at the end part
BK03-J10-Bonneville.pdf
especially
BK03
and try changing it to
BK02 right in my browser address bar, then hit enter/go, voila I pulled the 2002 report version without having to hunt around.
(URL/blahblahblah/BK02-J10-Bonneville.pdf)
Hope someone concerned about how BCSO is doing their job takes the time to compare the stats and either report a deficiency or admit they are at or above par.
http://www.isp.state.id.us/identification/ucr/2005/documents/BonnevilleCounty.pdf
Here is a link for another year — 2005. As I compare the City to the County in the % of cases cleared, they look pretty darn even to me.
I have a friend who (before he moved out of area) served as a regional loss prevention officer for a large chain store. His responsibilities included preventing loss via employee theft, embezzelment, etc. He told me on numerous occasions that BCSO was the best group of officers he worked with in the entire REGION (which included Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Northern Utah, Western Montana, and Western Wyoming). He was always pleased with their procedural practices and case closure rate. As manager, he rated a very near 100% success rate because of the great work by BCSO.
This friend also worked with IFPD, and stated he wasn’t nearly as happy with their services as he was with BCSO. He stated they took a much more “blase`” approach to his cases, and as a result his success was somewhat lower.
So, this, in addition to some good personal experiences that I have had with BCSO officers, including a couple of ride-alongs, leads me to believe that they are a top-notch organization. I hope that the salary issues can be resolved, so they will stop losing officers.
Can anyone give an answer on Langerak situation and the conflict of interest involving the Deputy with the uniform store? I was always taught that in City and County Government that there are things that have to be bid upon?
The deputy / uniform store is a privately run business. He just happens to sell police gear in this privately run business. There is no conflict of interest for him to own and operate the store. The only potential conflict is if the county buys solely from him but even then I’m not sure there is a conflict since once again its a privately run business.
post 274 almost sounds like he is trying to convince himself….
ok feelinlucky…what then is you opinion on the matter??
Alot of officers don’t order from the store personally because the guy charges more than you pay on the internet. The store does more than just police uniforms too. The real issue here is Langerak and other monies earned and spent.
My opinion on the matter? Well, the post said:
“The deputy / uniform store is a privately run business. He just happens to sell police gear in this privately run business.”
But they forgot to mention that the guy who owns this private business works for the Sheriffs Office. Thats why government agencies are supposed to be putting these sales contracts out for public bid. I don’t know what they are doing now — I just know that the post I was refering to sounded like someone pretty close to the issue who was trying to convince himself that there was no conflict of interest. If the guy works for the SO — and the SO does all their uniform business through him, that would be a conflict of interest. Can the county get better deals online or from the Cop Shop in Boise? Have they looked into it?
Something to note that might clear this up. Someone might want to correct me if I’m wrong, but the County does not buy uniforms for it’s deputies. They each get a clothing allowance, and each indivdual is responsible for thier own uniform purchases. So if they shop at this person’s store it is not a conflict for the county.
More power to this deputy if he wants to get into this sideline, and if other deputies want to purchase supplies from him, whats the harm? If they want to go on the internet to get a better buy, it’s up to the individual. I think this is a non-issue.
That is correct. They get a uniform allowance to make purchases. This also goes to another thread about the low pay of law enforcement. I know alot of guys working second jobs and running side businesses to stay afloat.
PS-I found the case # for IFPD Officer Moulton. It is CV-05-3660. Haven’t looked at the file yet to see the facts of the case yet.
In regards to Comment #231 above, there was an unexpected accusation against Ralph Nixon, former police officer. The accusation, which I do not think anyone has heard of before, pointed to Nixon’s close friendship with Kimball Mason as foundation for investigating him and his possible role in helping Kimball’s illegal activities.
I have heard nothing more on this since, so I don’t know if it’s dead in the water.
I felt bad about the accusation, so I downloaded all three huge pdf files on the Kimball Mason investigation, I think I got them from the Post Register’s website if anyone wants to check them out.
My plan was to skim through all the files looking for mentions of Ralph Nixon, if and how he was interviewed, then report back here on it.
After six hours of skimming (ok and reading some it is interesting), I only made it through page 1200-something in the first file. The PDFs are mostly image-scans, meaning they cannot be easily searched for a keyword like “Nixon”.
I have many other responsibilities I must attend to, so I cannot continue this donated effort.
I have to two final thoughts on the allegation against Nixon.
One, is that although some might say it’s bad that any anonymous person can make any horrible allegation against any innocent individual, I think it became clear in the comments afterwards that all innocent people have the right to stand up and say that the allegation was wrong, and I think everyone comes out better for it. I think it is almost better to let a nasty thing air and die, rather than simmer in whispers forever.
Two, I didn’t see any instance of Nixon mentioned in the investigation for as far as I read. Maybe the attorney general’s office bungled that lead? I’ve been thinking a lot that if my best friend was investigated for stealing things and was discovered giving many of those things away and hiding them with others, I would EXPECT to be investigated also if only because I was his best friend.
I would hope officer Nixon welcomes any inquiry in the interest of clearing his name, and understands that he should be followed up because a) his close friendship with Kimball Mason and b) the fact that Kimball was distributing these weapons amongst his friends and colleagues.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I have known Ericsson for something like 20 years now. And I have always found him to be brutally honest. It seems to me that alot of you are Idaho Falls Police officers, and as such, you should all be ashamed of yourselves. You all stood up for Nixon, saying what a good officer he was, and how he served his community for years and years. Todd Ericsson was a good cop. He was a GOOD cop. He stood up for everybody, didnt name a single name, he stood up for his friend, Kimball Mason, and for that, he is being criminally persecuted, and prosecuted for crimes he didnt commit. Several of you alluded to the alleged wrong doing on Ericssons part while he was on the department. Where is your proof? Or is this just more ’sour grapes’? And to whomever it was that stated that knowing Ericsson as well as he did, that he was positive that Ericsson didnt pay back the $800.00 that Livsey paid out. That just proves you don’t know Ericsson at all. He didnt have to return the money, he never cashed the check, he gave it back to Livsey, AFTER making a copy of it. Dont judge Ericsson by what YOU would have done. You, every single one of you, who called Ericsson a sleeze, or who said he didnt have a sterling character, should be ashamed. How do you look yourself in the mirror? He was an officer, for over twenty years, serving and protecting our community. He stood up for every one of you. I have never heard him utter a single word agains a fellow officer, even after they stabbed him in the back. And those of you who are letting Livsey tell you whom you can and cant associate with.. well, I quit letting people tell me that back around the age of 18…
Also, it is my understanding that the Poll the officers took, in order to let Ericsson back on the force, wasnt to determine his character, it was to determine, that after having quit the department, and gone to Bosnia for 2 years, COULD they reinstate him as an officer. And the answer was no. Ericsson had to go test again, to which he passed with flying colors. He went through the testing process again, just like any other officer. The only thing he didnt have to do, to my understanding, was go back through POST.
Interesting comments Angel, seems that you have prejudged the situation as much as you accuse the other officers as doing. Ericson has been charged with very serious crimes. He is innocent until proven guilty; however, it does not bode well for him that he lied to investigators initially about not having any weapons from Mason. Turns out he did….and he had the moved out of state. Why? How about the e-mails he traded back and forth with his buddy Glen Nelson at the INL. Those e-mails, from what I understand, are incriminating in that he knew the guns were stolen. Too bad he didn’t just come forward and give the guns up. Maybe he wouldn’t have been charged. Having been a good officer for 20 years and having heard these kinds of excuses before—and having cut breaks like this before it seems to me that he knew better and took the easy road to save his friends bacon and conceal further criminal acts….this in the final analysis will erase his 20 years of service to the community.
Whether that is right or not begs the question: Did he commit a crime? The available evidence stacks up against him. The truth is not dependent on a man’s position past or present…it is based on his actions at the time of the alleged crime taking place….and that is something that Todd can’t change at this point. He should take his lumps and pick himself up off the floor and move ahead. I predict he will cop a plea with the State within 60 days.
Okay… [edited by site admin] I predict you’re wrong. As far as the emails, there was never any indication that Ericsson thought the guns were stolen. Or at least thats what I got out of having read them…
Sorry Marshall.. I didnt mean to put in a name.
Angel, Ericsson totally incriminated himself in the mails…I don’t know what mails you were reading.
The bottom line is you probably like Ericcson…that is fine…maybe your’e related to him in some way? However, you can’t look the other way to his actions. He may be a good guy, but he made some mistakes that crossed the line into the realm of criminal activity. He lied to investigators. He knows the game. Like Mason, he got caught up in it. My only wish is that like Ericsson, they would have gone after some more lawyers that were involved in these misdeeds. I am confident that it did not stop at Ericsson’s door step.
Alot of people wanted to look the other way on Mason’s deeds….would that have been good….should we just sweep it all under the rug…I think not. Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of accepting the truth of the situation.
Do any of you know me? I’m the star of the TV show the Shield. I’m a cop who has busted a lot of bad guys, saved a lot of people, arrested rapists, murderers, and other all around scumbags. I also have stolen money, drugs, and murdered a few people. So I’m not really a good guy despite all the other good deeds I’ve done.
Do you get the point? Todd Ericcson, while certainly not as bad as Vic Mackey, may have done a lot of good things in his career. And none of that means he was necessarily innocent in this instance.
Also
I know Todd Ericcson too. He’d be near the top of the list of cops I’d want coming to save a loved one who was being attacked, was having their home invaded, or something similar. He was a great cop in this aspect. Despite that that I also would be willing to bet he knew good and well those guns were stolen. I wasn’t at all surprised to learn he was implicated and the only shocking thing was that he was stupid in getting caught.
im sure at some point todd and mason both were “good” guys, however due to thier positions and power they abused they should not be spared judgment due to previous acts. Im sure todd wishes mason was still the prosecutor so he could help him get charges dropped like mason did for one of his kids.
I love how all these people have already convicted him, even though he hasn’t even gone to trial.
The point is, none of US know the whole story. I don’t know Ericcson, but I at least have the sense to say, “hmmm… this looks bad for him, but the press never reports the whole story, I should wait and see what the courts have to say before I pass judgement.”
We are too quick, as a society, to pass judgement on someone suspected of wrongdoing, rather than waiting until ALL the facts are in. Rather than just assuming Ericcson is guilty because he’s friends with Mason, how about people give the courts a chance to do what they are supposed to?
I think it is wrong to suggest people are assuming guilt because he was friends with Mason. People are assuming guilt because of the available evidence. The e-mail messaging is very incriminating. The weapons were found that he ferried out of state (which he told investigators earlier that he did not have)….when a person blatantly lies it makes it alot easier to move away from neutrality and form an opinion. And that is what it is-an opinion-not a criminal judgment of a court. Yes, let the courts do what they do…no problem with that…but to suggest that no one could or should hold an opinion about this guys guilt or innocence is naive at best. We all hold opinions. Since we are not serving on the jury I think that is what this site is for. The old tired mantra “We are too quick, as a society, to pass judgement on someone suspected of wrongdoing, rather than waiting until ALL the facts are in.” is just that…..now, if he isn’t getting a fair trial or there are jurors prejudging the case before hearing all the facts, that is different. However, that is not happening here on Idahofallz.com.
This is my first time on this site, and from what I am reading, and understanding out of all these messages is this: Ericsson knew Mason, and so Ericsson is suspect. This being the case, most all of you have admitted to knowing either Mason, Ericsson, or both. Some have said they would welcome Ericsson into thier home, would be grateful for his assistance with any kind of break in, harrassment, or theft.(makes me think he’s an honest guy… ) You all knew Ericsson. You all know Mason. If they are judged by thier friends, or the company they keep, then each and every one of you is a suspect in this case.. the cops just havent knocked on your door yet. So what I am getting out of this, is that everyone who has talked on this site.. (With the Exception of Jeff Pratt LMAO), is evidently Corrupt by association.
I guess maybe I dont know the characters in this little drama too well. All I have to go by is whats in the paper… and we all know they never print the Rrrest of the story… Everybody here is saying Ericsson lied. Whom did he lie to? Did they ever Prove that Ericsson lied? I agree with whomever said that we are jumping the gun on this. Nobody can prove a thing. and until they do, What happened to the ‘blue wall’? Arent fellow officers supposed to stick together? And whats this about the Chief telling his troups they cant associate with Ericsson?? Is that legal? Dont you have a Police Association or something like that, that would prevent that kind of dictatorship? And furthermore, just a question, dont you guys have anything better to do than kick people while they are down? Like.. I dunno.. SERVE AND PROTECT???
Dazed and Confuzed. You made some valid points, and I agree. I am looking forward to seeing if anybody can answer your questions.
You can goto KPVI.com and read the transcript of Ericsson’s interview with the Attorney General’s Investigaotr where he confirms that he has no guns from Mason…(obviously this was a falsehood). The guns were found in Utah…his daughter confirmed he asked her to keep them for him. The e-mail that was turned over by the Dept. of Energy officials between Ericsson and Nelson is incriminating. Ericsson knew the guns were stolen. That is why he took them out of state!
It is laughable that you are trying to make this about ALL OF US instead of HIM. Guilt by association is absolutely stupid in this case. Just because people know someone they are guilty? Come on. That is weak.
Dazed and Confused pick a very accurate screen name to use here. Its a fact that Todd claimed that he did not have the guns that were later found in Utah. They were moved to Utah AFTER he claimed that he did not have them. They were the ONLY guns in his collection to be moved out of state. The other guns that he had were locked away in a box at his home. Did he lie? Did he know that he had gotten these two guns from Kimball? Thats what the trial will be about. I guess we will see. What you have gotten from reading these posts is really a step farther than the PR could have taken you. You have heard from people who actually know the people in question. Most have known these people for more than 20 years — me included. In any case like this, there will ALWAYS be those who stand behind their friends, right to the end. People who cannot believe their friend could have done this. Just like in Kimballs case. In his case, I couldn’t believe it either. But he did it. He surprised us all. Was the charge against Todd a surprise too? I guess it depends on who you ask. His mother was likely surprised by the charge — but I certainly was not.
Why is everybody here using a fake name to bash this man? You all hate him, or think he’s guilty. You all worked with him, and think him a horrible man. Why dont you tell him to his face what you think? Or at least sign your name when you slander him? Maybe PIG doesnt stand for Pride Integrity and Guts anymore..
Shiloh,
Do you think that perhaps many people on this site are sick and tired of dealing with the criminal filth in the community only to have it right in the ranks? It is not about hate…it is about a total distain these men had for their positions of trust in this community. Police & Prosecutors hold important positions of trust and when they break that trust it effects the entire legal and police community. It also makes the populace question the system and takes years to repair the damage.
Whether people on here worked with him is irrelevant. We already went through this with Angel. Stop making this about US and keep the focus on HIM and what choices he made that were not in keeping with ethical and criminal concerns that we all have (or at least I hope so). People are angry about all the abuse of power….that in the final analysis is what this is all about!
Mike — Exactly! Well put and I agree.
Now lets be fair here, if the Idaho falls Police Department had done thier jobs like they should, none of this could have happened. Reguardless of how much you trusted Kimball Mason, if you guys had done your jobs right, and checked the guns, and looked at papers, then Kimball whouldnt have been able to get the guns. So, anything that is happening here can and should be layed at your feet. I mean, you guys are cops, you should know to look at things from every angle.. obviously you dont trust the men you claim as friends, why would you trust a LAWYER????
What? It’s turning into comedy area….continue to blame everybody but Mason….blame the cops for LETTING this happen…blame the clerks that LET their various judges signature stamps get stolen….yeah right. How much more of an apologist for Mason can you be? Your solution? Should we tell Kimball we are sorry and let him out of jail too?
So.. Mason is doing his time. However the police department was lazy, the only person in the court house with any courage or brains was one lone clerk who tried to stop it but was ignored. John Stosich was only investigated to placate the public. And there are still a lot of stolen guns out there (at least thirty). At Masons last hearing he was supposed to tell where those guns were, though his family and friends would not be prosecuted. So I’ve be waiting for find out who had those guns. What the heck, I think we’ve been had again. People are still being protected. Whats the difference between what Ericsson did and the others, yes he lied but so are they simply by not coming forward. Still a lazy police department and court system.
Put yourself in the police custodian’s position: A long time prosecutor presents you with what appears to be a valid court order to release items. What are you going to do? Well, gee, release the items.
However, I will say that I agree that Mason was to make a full accounting of the remaining stolen guns. I have not heard a peep about this either to say that it can’t be released because it is being investigated or Mason gave nothing up! The attorney general’s office has not released anything on this to my knowledge. Like you, I wonder why? Who else is getting protected?
I believe some of Kimball’s family were involved, so if they got immunity I also would like to see what the state got in return, especially in knowing where the remaining weapons are.
I think that everyone needs to read the court transcripts and needs to actually meet these people such as Todd Ericsson, who is a very good man and who is in Tajikstan at the moment doing work for this country, that none of you have the guts to do, and Stommell, another good friend of my family, who has been a police officer for many years, an honest Sheriff and not the scoundrel that has been made out to be. If you knew these men, and others like Kimball Mason and Ralph C. Nixon, then you might be able to make accusations, but wait a minute, there are no accusations to make, seeing how none of you are actually police officers or government workers, live and let live. Let the sleeping dog sleep.
Mr. Nixon. You must be careful and not make assumptions about who is making these comments. I have known all of those you list longer than you have. Even your father.
Add me to the list. I know everybody except Ralph (I would leave him out of this too). I don’t know what planet you are on Curtis….Mason was and is a criminal! His ethics went out the door over a decade ago.
As for Stommel….he has been in office too long and is a good ole boy with the rest of them. While he may not be unethical (to my knowledge) he has been supportive of alot of people who are. I have a problem with that from the perspective that he should be above the fray and he isn’t.
As for Ericcson, he will get his day in Court. Maybe you should go sit in and listen to the e-mails and the interviews he sent/gave. They are incriminating…and he lied. The fact that he is overseas as a contractor making money hand over fist doesn’t make him a hero or a good guy. People do dangerous jobs all the time. Big deal. He is over there for profit. His choice of current occupation has nothing to do with his past action, nor does it excuse his criminal behavior which he will be facing trial for!
“Let the sleeping dog sleep.”
With that philosophy, the PR would not have published Scout’s Honor and Brad Stowell would still be preying in my neighborhood.
I can see your point that you think these are fine individuals.
However, to just point to all the swell things you know about somebody reminds me of Kimball Mason’s first sentencing, when so many of his family and friends testified what a swell guy they thought he was.
You know, two days before the world discovered how Kimball had snookered everyone.
When is Todd Ericsson’s trial?
Aw, Joe, you’re such an optimist. Do you really think the local judicial system is going to let us mere citizens and taxpayers know what goes on in the hallowed halls of justice?
Does anyone know how long Mason will actually be in jail? What was the second sentence?
I’m admittedly naive 8^)
Good question about Kimball. He cannot start his second sentence until the first one completed, and the first one was up for review this summer, wasn’t it?
Anyone know if his first sentence was finished or not?
Having heard such wonderful things about the city of Idaho Falls and surrounding areas, I was thinking about moving there. So as I was surfing the net, looking to find out more about apartments for rent, I happened apon this site. And after having read the “wonderful’ things that the law enforcement and other professionals, and I use that term loosly, because nothing said on here was very professional, I have decided that stayin here in Atlanta is alot safer. If I want to meet people who would stab thier friends in the back, I can walk down to the 7-11. At least you ecpect it from those folks.
All Ya’alls attacked eachother like a pack of rabid dogs that smelled blood. I know somebody is gonna come up with some smart assed comment like ‘good, we dont want you here anyways’ and that is just fine. You opinion means nohing to me, but I will be damned if I will move to a community, where my tax money supports this kind of backstabbing, and name calling, and then calls it Justice, and truth. This ‘close, honest, community’ is the biggest lie since the holocaust.
You’d base your decision to move across the country on a few people arguing opinions on a blog?
Somehow I doubt it.
How can another person, who claims to be an upstanding person in their community, make accusations against people that I am sure that most of you have never known. I have known and been acquainted with these people since I was very young. None of these people that you slander and write such irrelevant things about, want anything to do with you. Understand also, as a man that works blue collar and works hard for his money, that I can see most of your viewpoints to a stand, especially Shocked and Appalled’s comment on here.
I think that until Ericsson is proven guilty that the comments and rude and ignorant things that are being wrote about him, need to come to a screeching halt. Sure there is such a thing as the first amendment to the constitution that our forefathers wrote so many years ago, but I think that if they could read what the descendants and people of their beloved country, that they would fall over dead.
Men who wake up every morning to leave their families, and strap on that belt and gun, and pin on that badge that shows pride, need to be honored, and not slandered for the mistakes that have been made. As the son of a former police officer in a small town, I can stand upright and say that if you all call yourselves citizens and stand when the red, white, and blue, flies high right past your nose, then you need to stop the slandering. Find a subject that has meaning to right about and debate on those matters. What about subjects such as economic problems and social problems that we face here?
I think that until you people quit slandering the names of brave and hardworking people, that you cannot rightfully call yourselves citizens of the United States of America. Can you not find better things to do?
Chew on that bone, Idaho Falls.
Ericsson I salute you to highest standards to leave your family behind and travel so many miles to work for this beautiful country of ours, and I pray for you every night. Also for your family. God bless you. To all of you other people that slander Ericsson and Mason and Stommell and Moulton and Nixon, I pray that someday, you will have to face problems such as these for yourself.
Well done “Tall in the Saddle”, but why would you be afraid to leave your name? And what have you done for your country?
I’ll agree Ericsson should receive a fair trial. There’s some strong evidence against him, but the man deserves his day in court.
This blog is not his court. It’s just folks talking and expressing their opinions. So relax if you feel he’s not getting a “fair trial” here, it’s just public opinion.
Kimball Mason? Convicted felon. Proven liar. No mercy. I’d as soon spit on him. Most people don’t have to face problems like Kimball Mason did, because most people are not lying thieves like Kimball Mason is.
Stommell and Moulton and Nixon haven’t done anything publicly wrong (well Moulton is debatable cuz of the recent lawsuit), again we just have folks expressing what they think about some public figures. Disagree! It’s your right also!
Joe Vandal, what makes you such a good person that you can judge others?
If you would soon as spit on a man that is serving time for something he did wrong, then you show that you are no better than him. From what I have read and what you write, you remind me of my niece who is in the 4th grade.
Do you even know any of the details in any of these cases. And you know there are such devices as trackers to other computers, right?
Be careful what you say, western justice is a whole lot worse than the injustice that is received in the court system in Idaho.
Oh you do not threaten thee on these trackable IP addresses?
I was actually agreeing with part of what you said.
Please explain what you mean by western justice, what are you implying?
All I am saying is that there is such a thing called karma and that you will have yours someday.
I think that you need something better to do. And I think that if you spent your time working or spending time with your family instead of writing ridiculous comments, that you would get a lot further in life. That is all.
Think about how you would want to be treated if you were in Ericsson’s or Mason’s positions and I pray to God that you have a tragedy happen in your family that will open your eyes and teach you not to slander others but to learn from others’ mistakes.
Why, if you are such a tough guy who can talk smack on the computer, state your real name or say what you want at the trials?
Grow some balls Joe Vandal.
Wow, tough talk from someone who won’t give their name, either. Well I can see who you are but I won’t give you up.
Don’t pretend to know my life, please.
Must’ve hit close to the truth if you got so defensive and mouthy.
Shocked & Appalled….if you think there’s no backstabbing and name-calling going on in Atlanta….then you’re pretty naive’! It happens in communities all over this country, big or small.
I agree with Joe on this one….for you to base your decision to move to our community based on some people arguing in a blog, then I for one think you should stay in Atlanta.
Tall in the Saddle – I’m a bit lost on your posts as I’m sure others are – for someone who preaches so fervently about not judging, slamming, or slandering others on this site (or ever it seems), you seem to h have no problem using these same qualities in your own posts. Threatening others with karma, telling them they have something better to do, comparing one to a 9 year old, hoping they face tragedy, etc. – why don’t these same standards of how to treat others apply to yourself? For someone so “non-judgemental” you come out with the potshots pretty freely.
Or are you the only one allowed to judge others here? Talk “smack” as high school kids say?
I fully respect officers of the law, military members, etc. as long as they are not breaking the laws they swear to uphold. And I am glad to be a citizen where we can freely express opinions to each other and not find big brother on our doorstep with guns drawn every time we open our mouths. This site is actually quite tame compared to other blogging sites around the country, including Idaho.
You might want to consider family therapy or a new hobby rather than taking your pot shots and anger out against total strangers. It’s very obvious you have some pretty deep-seeded issues and feelings about your friends’ arrests by your own words. Coming here won’t help you deal with any of them other than stir your pot more. Good luck.
post 313 – absolutely agree! – that was a planted post if I’ve ever seen one – who hears good things about a city across the country, decides to move here on a whim, then changes their mind after one blog?? And no mention of a job – loose plans – hmmm, a definate plant.
Shocked and Appalled and Tall In The Saddle have given their opinions just like we have given ours. It’s okay for them to say that they believe these guys are misunderstood…..just as much as it is okay for those of us that believe they are criminals.
I am not puffing up my chest getting holier than thou on this post. I am just expressing my opinion. I am not wishing bad karma on folks that I believe refuse to see how corrupt these guys are.
As Joe said, this site is about expressing opinions. Now, as long as we don’t serve on the jury for Ericsson we should be just fine. Keep up the posts pro and con. I find it very interesting to see the other point of view….even when I don’t happen to agree. I am glad there is some diversity of opinion. Honestly, it allows me to look at what I believe. In this case it reinforces what I believe.
Joe,
Check out this link for information on Mason’s sentence:
https://www.accessidaho.org/public/corr/offender/search.html
He will be parole eligible 5/31/2010. Sentence satisfaction on the most recent cases will be 5/29/2021.
Ericsson’s Jury Trial is set to start in Jefferson County 9/19/07. Pre-Trial 8/31/07.
Oh, so Kimball was sentenced to the full five years last May? I must have forgotten when the reported it.
Tall in the saddle is coming up a little short in the waistband. Some comments here definately must’ve hit a nerve close to home with you.
Think its time for you to mosey on now pilgrim.
Former Fed, I think that you, if you were really a fed at all, would agree with my statement on the 1st amendment, but I don’t think you are a former fed, seeing how I work for the federal government on an eye-to-eye basis.
Hey Slim,
How about a link to the song Happy Trails To You? lol
Sounds like a plan!
Mike, I think that you should be a little more careful about putting out a name, especially since you work for a local government agency, isn’t that going to ruin your image to a lot of people once I dispose you to the community?
Just when you think the issue is going to go away.
Apparently Mason is asking for a new sentence for a number of reasons:
http://www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=6828490
1. His current sentence is hard on his kids. My take: Boo Hoo. He should have considered that before he did the crime. It hard on any kids to have a parent in prison so he should get no special considerations here unless its standard practice to consider this for any prisoner.
2. He is unlikely to reoffend and would do well on probation. My take: He’s probably right on this. Mason would be an extremely unlikely to reoffend in any way and would be a model probationer.
3. Prisons are overcrowded so they should let him go. My take: Yep they are overcrowded but that shouldn’t be a reason coming from a prisoner to be let go.
4. Others who have committed similar crimes have received lesser sentences. My take: He’s absolutely correct here. Mason has already served much more time than other high profile local embezzlers over the last few years have – some didn’t even get prison time. This is the best argument of the bunch.
Oh brother can the dude act like a man and just take his punishment without trying to weasel out of it?
1. Soooo having convicted felon dad at home is going to improve his kids’ emotional status? Hey kids cry loud enough and you too can shirk your responsibilities.
2. Unlikely to reoffend? Even money on that. Sure he had stature and claims to have learned his lesson, however he abused his power and he chose to lie in the judge’s face when he had the first chance to set things straight. He has already proven his inability to go straight when he had the chance.
3. Overcrowded Idaho prisons? Yeah, we already have that solution: send him to Texas, I hear they have openings there.
4. Yes others in similar situations got lesser sentences, however Kimball’s situation is different because he chose to lie when he had the chance to come clean. The others did not dig themselves in deeper such as Kimball did.
I agree that most interesting is “…Mason claims there is new testimony and information in his case he wants the judge to hear but says it’s of a sensitive nature and if it got out could humiliate and embarrass Mason’s family.”
Oh. My. Guesses? I imagine he’s had time to cook up some more lies and cover stories with his buddies, and they want to test their newest scheme out. Or he will try the ‘alcoholic’ or ‘abused as a kid’ card.
This request is the most ridiculous thing I have heard yet from this pompous clown.
At the very least, the motion should be delayed until Todd Ericsson’s trial, and see what new information comes to light there. Even more evidence against Kimball may come to the surface.
Keep in mind, there were several other illegal allegations made against Kimball Mason that were not pursued by the Attorney General’s office. It was not just the guns, Kimball was completely crooked.
Tall in the Saddle, Post #329…your threats are amusing at best. It underscores the point that you can’t offer a coherent argument and attack the person or in this case threaten to expose a person. Big deal. Last I checked this is America and offering up opinions was not a criminal offense. Go ahead and protect your buddy Mason all you want. I think I was pretty fair with you in Post 323 when some others were less tolerant. Intersting how you mention the First Amendment in Post 326 yet try to chill it by exposing people on this site. Truly amazing.
BTW…you don’t know me and I don’t know you. I don’t work for a local government agency and if you work for the federal government that is scary that you offer opinions that attack people for offering simply offering an opinion. That is what this site is all about. If you don’t like it then tune out.
I have known Todd for over 30 years, how many of you who dis-credit him can say that? I have also been a Police Officer for over 10 years after retiring from the Military. I can’t speak factually concerning the allegations against Todd. I can speak of his devotion, not only to being a Police Officer but as a defender of this country. Todd is a contractor, it’s a hard job regardless of the pay, he’s been wounded, and he’s given selflessly while serving this nation and his community as Police Officer for twenty years. Isn’t it ironic that the very freedoms that he is actively defending right now, are being cast aside and his guilt has been all but determined on this site? I have a clear understanding of what he does on a daily basis, having served 12 years in Special Operations. Whether he’s guilty of anything hasn’t been determined as far as I know. And I have no doubt that Todd was a “Golden boy” in his department, most over-achievers are, because they make the commanders look good with high arrest and conviction stats, which in turn allows politicians to get re-elected. And yes the “good ol’ network” is up and running in ALL Police agencies, as it is in any other job any of us has ever had. A word of caution to the Police Officers who worked with Todd and are now condemning him, remember when any Officer in any division was placed on administrative leave, did the cops come to his/her defense or did they do what you are doing? Turning your back on a brother Officer? I remember sitting at home on admin leave after my third Officer involved shooting, and it was nice to hear my doorbell and see my entire patrol squad there. LOYALTY. I know Todd would and probably did lay his life on the line for some of you that wrote on this blog, how soon we forget? In closing, if he’s guilty, he’s still my friend, if he’s innocent he’s still my friend, always has been, always will be….
That is a nice story Bode. Good for you standing up for your friend. I am certain that Todd did a large number of good works in his career. However, you are forgeting two important things:
1) This site is not a court of law. We all know that. We are offering our opinions. That is all that they are. If I were to serve on a jury I would wipe the slate clean and start with a neutral position. However, since I am not, and I have looked at the evidence, I have made my mind up. I don’t need a lawyer to interpet it for me.
2) You are taking the responsibility for the actions that were taken by Ericsson and placed them on contributors to this site. Just because Todd made alot of arrests and protected people for a period of time doesn’t mean he gets a free pass (or get out jail free card). If he did the crime—gets a fair trial–and is convicted he has to do the time. Kimball Mason was a good guy for a period of time too. However, somewhere along the line he made decisions that crossed the line and placed himself in the category of a criminal.
All we are saying is that IT APPEARS like Ericsson and others took steps that went beyond public service to illegally benefiting from being in public service and lying to cover it up. The old saying rings true…Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Too many lawyers, judges, police officers, and even prosecutors step over the line with authority and access they are granted to do very important work for the community. When that happens- expect indignation from those of us that trusted them to do the right thing.
The anger that you see on these pages has a component of people really feeling hurt underneath. That will not be excused by good deeds done in the past. Other officers of the Court and police department would be good to remember that as they conduct themselves in day to day affairs. A lifetime of service can be destroyed by even one ethical lapse.
Anyone out there know what Ericssons defense is?
His defense goes something like this: He didn’t know the guns were stolen. He is hoping to get the emails exchanged with Glenn Nelson supressed that contradicts this. However, I doubt they will be supressed because law enforcement obtained them from a third party that had a right to seize them and give them to police. If he fails to get a favorable ruling on that piece, he will plead out. Right now, he is probably angling to get Jefferson County to cut him a deal to avoid the expense of a trial. His actions of taking guns out of state for safe keeping while away was also bogus…his other guns not obtained from Mason didn’t make the trip to Utah where the FBI found the other weapons at his daughters home. It will also be interesting to see if John Stosich is required to testify at the trial (with immunity)about what he knew of the guns being moved around from person to person. I wonder if he given a sealed deal to offer testimony in exchange for testimony against Ericcson?
Thanks Mike
Local media is reporting that Todd Ericsson has accepted a plea deal. He’ll be pleading to unspecified misdemeanor charges in exchange for the felonies being dropped.
Sounds like this whole thing is almost done. Now if only former Chief Livsey could find his duty gun which he apparently lost at an unknown time in an unknown location sometime in the last few years the IFPD would have all its guns accounted for.
Is it me or did Ericsson get a pretty light sentence?
He’s a first time offender and his crime wasn’t really that serious in the scope of things – violent criminals often get similar sentences. He’s not a risk to reoffend. And it appears there were mitigating factors. I don’t know enough about the case to say much more but I can say with some authority that Kimball Mason was punished far more harshly than other embezzlers which is essentially what he was.
What was that blurb about instant message traffic captured by the INL in which Ericsson incriminated himself?
Where they just admissions that he realized he made a mistake, or where they proof that he intentionally deceived the investigators?
I think those messages would be the ultimate public judgement of whether Ericsson got off easy or fairly. If he truly made a one-time and minor mistake in judgement, I think justice was served. If those messages indicate he intentionally deceived the process, then that’s another matter.
Are those messages available for public access somehow?
They may be part of the criminal file. The state may have provided discovery of the e-mails and that might make them public info. You should contact the Court in Rigby and determine if they exist in the public record.
I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. He got like.. what? no jail time. no probation. some community service, and a fine of like $400.00.. Whoo Hoo!! And do you know why?? cuz the AG’s office admitted they made a mistake, and they addmitted they got thier facts wrong. THATS Why. Like Ericsson said.. the ONLY thing he is guilty of, is not calling the cops ASAP, when he found the guns in his gun case.
For all those people who didnt come to the trial, or who didnt speak to Ericsson, cuz chief lilly liver said you couldnt, You are all weak people. Ericsson is a good guy, and you all judged him unfairly, based on some made up story, and some bogus charges.
I hope you read his case, and choked on all your misguided notions about him.
As for the emails between Nelson and Ericsson.. they dont have a single thing in them to imply that Ericsson was purposly hiding the guns, or to imply that he had planned to take them out of the state, prior to the day he left for his mothers funeral.
Guest, You are delusional! Todd was offerred a plea bargin to save the state time and money — happens all the time. It would happen in most cases with a first time offender. Get off your high horse and stop acting like you were right. You were wrong. He plead guilty to a crime. He is guilty of the crime. You say “the ONLY thing he is guilty of, is not calling the cops ASAP, when he found the guns in his gun case.” What, like he just went to his gun case one day and there they were? He put them there. He moved them out of state. Don’t let your friendship cloud your judgement. Anyone can make a mistake and Todd did. Get over it. It doesn’t mean that it has to affect the way you feel about your friend. But it is very “freeing” when you just admit something like this, forgive and move on. Your head is certainly in the sand. Open your eyes. He is guilty and has admitted it by pleading so.
I would still like to see those email messages. The contents of those will truly spell out if Ericsson was intentionally deceiving or realized he had made an error.
You might also want to listen to the tip “recorded call” that started it all!
where can one fine that recording?
I just found my name included in several discussions on this site, and so thought I should respond to those comments. My name appears in discussions from #266 to 277.
First, I am a retired Lieutenant, having taken an early retirement from our Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office for family reasons. I have been in law enforcement for over 32 years, about 20 of those years as a Reserve Office.
I have owned my own businesses for many years. Today, I contract with Bonneville County and Sheriff Stommel to provide financial oversight of six budgets for both expenses and revenue, internal auditing, planning and development, financial forecasting, and other projects and assignments as requested.
One of my recent projects, in cooperation with a number of very professional private and government supporters, and local Legislators, was a multi-year drug treatment grant – working with the Dept. of Health and Welfare and the Idaho Dept. of Corrections. This project/grant is nearly $5 million, and will benefit several southeastern counties.
I am also responsible for having developed and implemented a very favorable financial management system for our Sheriff’s Office, giving us the very necessary financial stability needed during times of such rapid community growth. Sheriff Stommel is envied by most Sheriff’s in Idaho for our financial management and success with our Commissioners. To “Mike” and “Joe Vandal”, I hope this answers your question(s).
I also do a fair amount of work on investigating opportunities to work together with local law enforcement for equipment, training, and to find funding for mutual projects. I have written grants for equipment that has been used by Sheriff’s Deputies and IFPD officers, and other southeast Idaho agencies. It’s all about officer safety! We’re all trying to do the same work, perhaps in different geography.
Someone mentioned that we should not be buying Tahoes if we cannot pay better wages. Tahoes, and most vehicles for now, are purchased with “one-time savings”, money that is not sustainable. So, if your Aunt Maude sends you a check for $1,000 this Christmas, would you go buy a new truck and commit yourself to #700/month payments for the next several years? Certainly not, and neither can our Sheriff’s Office. New Officers, and wage and benefit costs, MUST be supported with dedicated and sustainable funds. This year, we added five new Deputies and raised law enforcement wages. That, to me, is a pretty good year! And we still have much to do for wages in both law enforcement and our Jail; it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And, by the way, we’ll get significantly more of our money back when we trade/sell our Tahoes than we get for our Impalas.
“Mike” asked about how much I make and this must be a “cushy arrangement drummed up by Stommel and Bud”. When I started to contract in 2005, I calculated the average wage of all Lieutenants, and included all benefits and medical insurance. I then divided by the actual hours worked per year. I start with 2,080 hours of “paid time” and then subtracted holidays, vacation, and sick time, and came up with about 1,525 actual hours worked. So, the answer to the question is – I get paid the average of all Lieutenants. As for “cushy”, I’ll leave that to your interpretation.
Anyone wishing to know whether my services have been of value should contact Bonneville County Commissioner Christensen or Sheriff Stommel. But be careful, you’ll just get facts…something that makes these discussions boring! And, remember that as a contractor, I must pay all my own benefits and taxes, and medical insurance, and do not get paid holidays – vacation – sick time.
In summary, you are welcome to contact me at our Sheriff’s Office for further discussion on any point or question. I am very proud to have been a part of the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office as a law enforcement officer, and continue doing work for our Sheriff with great pride.
Thank you to those of you who question all the negative comments! There’s hope!
Bud is a well liked person, however when I read the explanation of why they purchase Tahoes vs Sedans there is no mention of the large difference between the vehicles in cost. The public is concerned with the fact that these type of funds come out of tax dollars. Maybe Bud can explain why Bonneville County doesnt use a program that many use by purchasing 1 year old fully equipped vehicles from Salt Lake. Instead we are loosing substantial amounts of tax dollars when those vehicles are taken off the lot. Most Police agencies have been pleased with the cost savings and have used this for the benefit of the Department and the Public. Lets see 40,000 vs 20,000 in cost, yeah you are right if Grandma gave me 40,000 I probably would go for the Caddy.
Vehicles are no longer available from Salt Lake County, and haven’t been for some time. I check their site regularly. I believe their Commissioners finally realized just how expensive that program was, and how much money they were losing. And, Salt Lake County cars were far from “fully equipped”.
BCSO uses several 4-wheel drive Tahoes in our Back Country work, and for all Patrol Sergeants. They use several 2-wheel drive pursuit rated Tahoes for patrol. Deputies are now patrolling residential areas that did not exist just a few years ago, with new challenges to get to in inclement weather. Tahoes are comfortable for officers working 12+ hour shifts and running the miles they do. Comfort helps lower stress and keeps Deputies ready for action. Further, Deputies work in remote areas, and can frequently wait for a bit of time to get a back up. So, Deputies are equipped to do their work – and that takes space and weight carrying capability.
Tahoes have been virtually repair free, making them quite cost effective. About a year ago, two trucks were sold with over 120,000 miles on each; we got about 60% of our purchase price back. I’d say that was a good investment.
One last comment about vehicles: We purchase new where possible because of the number of miles we put on vehicles. The cost of building a new vehicle for law enforcement is quite expensive, and so we look for the best mix of useful vehicle life and how many years we can depreciate the labor cost of building up the vehicle. New always gives us our best return on investment. We bought two Fords from Salt Lake City two years ago, and then had to add our equipment. Now, two years later, we are replacing the vehicles due to miles. So, I can only depreciate the cost of building the vehicle over two years. If we’d bought new, we would have had 4+ years to depreciate the labor. Equipment will be reused in other vehicles.
You have to look at the cost of owning the vehicle for the life of the vehicle, not just the purchase price.
For now,
Bud,
And you could send them a separate bill for the extra work you didn’t include in your contract.
Thanks for the info. It’s very informative. Too bad though that you didn’t have Dale Storer draw up your “contract” with law enforcement. That way you could have gotten the bennies like medical insurance and retirement money.
Guest–while I may not agree with everything Bud is saying your comment(s) are inappropriate. Don’t bash the guy for responding. It sounds like you have a personal ax to grind. We can disagree without personalizing. Try some constructive criticism instead.
“Mike” – Thank you for your comments. It is our constructive questioning, proactive challenging, and some occasional fire/heat that refines all our ideas to best solutions.
“Guest” – I am very satisfied with my contract. It works great with Bonneville and the other Counties I have worked with. I appreciate your suggestion, however you should know that what you suggest would compromise my “independent contractor” status, a status I fight hard to maintain. By choice, I work under the same IRS rules as the biggest corporations in the U.S.. It’s all about long-range planning and entity structuring, and working successfully within the IRS rules.
Thank you to both for your comments. Agreeing to disagree is a fundamental process to find new and exciting answers and opportunities. I wish there were more opportunity for lively – positive discussion.
I’d love to have some discussion on a “Metro Law Enforcement” system in Bonneville County. Now that would be a lively discussion!
For now,
Hmm, sorry you didn’t catch the sarcasm. I would personally never suggest you copy Storer’s “contract.”
I was and am still appreciative of your info. Very informative.
Sorry I didn’t catch your sarcasm. My defenses are a bit high from the mudslinging that had begun just with the idea of running for Sheriff. I’ll work on ratcheting down a bit.
Thanks for your comments.
There has been alot said about Chief Livsey and now that he is gone that a healing process needs to be done. In a bad marriage do you blame one person or do you evaluate that two people cannot get along. In the case in Idaho Falls Chief Livsey made his share of mistakes as has been listed in these forums for some time. Can we also admit that the Sheriff is equally responsible for his share of the conflict that has raged on for a lengthy period of time. Remember the Chief is appointed and that is the Mayors decision. Frequently the public has no choice in this matter. However the Sheriff is an elected official and he is responsible to the public for his actions and the actions of his officers. Now if you understand some of the basics in Politics the Sheriff is due to retire soon, (Of course he has said this for some time) and he will retire just in time that his second in command will take over and be appointed to the position. This has occurred in many Counties for many years. This keeps in place the theories and operations that have existed under the current command for the last 15 plus years. I would have to express concern over a exchange that I listened to in a Ammon City Council Meeting when Council Member Anderson had asked some basic questions of the Sheriff regarding their contract with Ammon. During the heated exchange the Sheriff was less than professional and was angered with the questions that were posed by Anderson. At one point the Sheriff told the audience that he was not going to talk with Anderson and directed his discussion to others in the Council Chambers. Later he would go on the nightly news and make statements that if Anderson was elected to the Mayor position that his Deputies would only respond to emergency calls within Ammon. These are the type of comments that concern the public about the professionalism that our current Sheriff displays. The public is concerned with the fact that several high profile cases have gone unsolved for some time, especially in the Ammon area. Then you have the mistaken notification to a local family that a body of a missing teen might have been found in a local reservoir when in fact it was a bear carcass. I cannot imagine the roller coaster ride that this family has had to endure with this type of irresponsible investigative leads. Maybe it is time that Joe places a section for Bonneville County Sheriff, not only the negative, but the good that his Deputies do perform.
Guest: good idea!
And, there is allot more to the story with former Councilwoman Anderson. To fully understand Sheriff Stommel’s comments, you would need to understand the whole story…and perhaps your opinion might change. Just a thought.
Regards,
In a professional situation the comments that were made were unprofessional and set a stage for conflict rather than resolution. This is not the only time that the Sheriff has made these type of comments. With the comments that were made in this issue, many in the public feel that this is a power struggle and that the tax payers will be the victims of that struggle. Again it is important that he be professional in his comments, I am sure that if a Deputy had made similar comments that he might be disciplined for conduct unbecomming an officer. I hope that the standards apply to everyone and that there is not a double standard.
Sometimes leaders grow stale when in the same position for too long, and Stommel has been sheriff for what 12 years now?
Livsey had some good and some bad to him, but clearly he was getting stale in his position. Is Stommel getting stale?
We heard several officers express discontent with Livsey’s leadership styles, but I have not heard any discontent with Stommel except from folks who do not seem to have gotten what they wanted from him.
There is a difference between bullheadedness and knowing from experience what works and what does not. Isn’t Stommel just experienced and maybe some folks mistake that for bullheadedness?
Joe is right. For the length of time that the Sheriff has been in his current position creates the Staleness that you talk about. The conflicts are not just with Ammon, but with many of the other cities within the County, and even extend outside of our area. The intimidation tactics that he uses to get his ways, have been seen in many open meetings with disgust from the public. They have not been reported on as much as Livsey’s issues, and thus the Sheriff was real happy to see much of the attention taken away from his office. Bud is a loyal servant to the Sheriff and has answered many questions in this forum. However he is careful to avoid some of the hard questions because he has seen some of those unprofessional comments and actions in the past. As a general rule most Chiefs and Sheriffs are found effective for a 3-5 year period. There are those who go longer but that is the exception.
I like the way you think and you seem to have a point, but the point isnt kimball Mason, he was just one that was cuaght, out of the many getting away. everybody sees it. this town is loaded with corruption and we are just sitting around and doing nothing about it and it sickens me. I have chosen to write my thesis about this topic, but all i can find out about corruption is this Kimball Mason, who cares he didnt have an effect on the poeple, its the things like how the majority of power-hungry cops around are more crooked than kimball himself. how the judges seem to think that the amount of years they give someone to serve is just a number they can pick out of a box. we have no freedom in this town. im mean i got a ticket for free speech. i got a minor cunsumption ticket and just cuase the judge had a … for poeple who drink i got 1 year suspended driverd license, paid outstanding fees, and had to take classes in which i had to also pay for. and it was completely unrelated to a vehicle.
illegal search and sezuires, im mean id love for a judge to sit in jail or be on propation or even be treated like one of us. you see its not kimball im worried about. its the fact that idaho falls takes advantage of its poeple. and i agree that i think an out of state detective should show up unannounced, so they dont have time to clean up and put on this act like its all fine and dandy like the rest of idaho falls already does. people say, “oh i dont see any corruption.”
its like are you blind or you just dont want to admit this so-called clean town is the more unclean than las vegas, oh no thats not the case your daddy is a cop so you dont have to worry about nothing right, or im friends with the chief, or the judge is my uncle so i dont understand what your taking about, get my point? im from vegas and corruption? what corruption? my point is it never affected the peolpe of las vegas, if anything the people would benefit off the corruption of vegas. but here, in idaho falls, ive been harrassed and bothered by the ways of the people in this town the day i moved here, and it needs change.
Isn’t the year suspension for minor consumption a state mandatory minimum law, or is it up to the judge’s discretion?