From all accounts, New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey is a good guy. I certainly thought so when I met him just after I moved here this summer, and frankly I still do. Plus, I've heard he's a pretty good lawman, and he has the credentials to support it. That's why the way he has handled Friday night's shooting death of 18-year-old Peyton Strickland, which involved a group of his deputies, is both surprising and disappointing. And in the end, it must make you, his constituents he is employed to serve and protect, question his fitness as sheriff.
Since the shooting, Causey and other investigators, including District Attorney Ben David, have said very little about what happened and the ensuing investigation. That's not out of the ordinary. Whenever law enforcement officers are involved in something like this, they typically close ranks hoping to find the truth as efficiently as they can and, if possible, protect their own. And typically they will not divulge certain aspects of any open investigation. But Causey's refusal to provide the names of the deputies involved is not only reprehensible, it is most likely illegal. And that is why WWAY NewsChannel 3 is joining the Wilmington Star-News and Raleigh's News & Observer and WRAL-TV in filing an open records complaint against the county, the Sheriff's Department and Causey.
As far as we in the media can tell, the deputies' names are public record. That means not only we journalists, but you the citizens have the right to know who they are. To his credit, Causey says he is trying to protect the deputies and their families. He has claimed that some people have threatened to harm and even kill the deputies for what happened. But there are other ways law enforcement has to protect anyone, let alone their own. And while trying to protect the people who work for him may be admirable, in doing so, Causey is failing to protect and serve the people who live and work in New Hanover County. That is, after all, his job.
Some of you may ask what it matters. You may wonder why if the Sheriff thinks releasing the names will put the deputies at risk we would want access to the information that could open them to harm. The simple answer is that, somewhat like Sheriff Causey, we work for you, too, and it is our job to find out the facts of every story for you. By knowing the names of the deputies involved, we can then find out what kind of history they have. For instance, what if this is not the first time one of them has been involved in something like this? What if one of them has been investigated before for wrong-doing or excessive use of force? Or what if one of them has received commendations for outstanding service? All of that information and much more, including their overall experience and training in law enforcement, is relevant to understanding what happened at that house on Long Leaf Acres Drive last weekend. And you have the right to know it.
By denying all of us access to the names, Causey is violating the trust you must have for him to effectively do his job. I don't live in New Hanover County, but I obviously work here and I spend a lot of time here. Coming to work in the middle of the night, law enforcement in the county is important to me, as I'm sure it is to many of you. But if the Sheriff blatantly defies the laws he is sworn to protect, regardless of his reason and intentions, can you really trust that he wouldn't defy other laws at his discretion? I don't think I can any more.
Sid Causey is in a no-win situation. Maintain his stance in an effort to protect his deputies, and Causey continues to betray the public trust paramount to his office. Give in, as he should, to the laws of the state, not to mention the First Amendment protection of Freedom of the Press, and he may look to some, especially in his own department, to be weak and not truly care about his employees. Unfortunately for him there seems to be only one logical answer: provide the information as required by law and find other ways to protect the deputies and their families.
Surely none of us would want to be sitting in the position the deputies involved Friday night are in right now. But I'm fairly certainly if we were, Sid Causey would tell the media our names.
