Anonymous Report Regarding Sheriff’s Office–Bad to the Bone!!! Police Brutality and Cover-up Alleged!! Injury to an Officer!! Transparency Gone!! Reports Forwarded by Robert A. Williams
Editor’s Note: The following anonymous report can only be fully verified by a truthful response from the Sheriff of Cleveland County. Sheriff Alan Norman himself. If a Sheriff’s Deputy experienced a broken leg while on duty and during an episode of police brutality, this is confirmed.
It is unfortunate that there is so much cover-up in Cleveland County Agencies that I am forced to write this article the way that I have. The Report came from a person that I cannot identify, but who has provided numerous reports in the past that I verified as true. The report is damning to the Sheriff’sOffice as well as to the Sheriff himself. I am going to name the persons named in the report with the caveat that, presently, I cannot state beyond a reasonable doubt that the report is totally true, but that I believe it is very likely to be true. Everybody named will have the opportunity to respond in writing regarding this article to tell their side of the story and I will make sure their side of the story, as it checks out, will be printed immediately; with an apology if the report is shown to be untrue. I urge Sheriff Alan Norman and the others noted in the report to respond fully and truthfully to the issues raised in this article. If such a report has reached me, others are bound to have heard it too. Wouldn’t it be better just to be honest and let your responses speak for themselves?
However, since it is the MO of Cleveland County Agencies to just refuse to respond to inquiries, I will have to consider a “No-Response” to this article as a true indicator that the reports are indeed true in its entirety. And since the issues raised in this report are, or should be, issues of very high public interest.
If there are any legal actions that arise from this article, I will immediately subpoena sworn testimony from all concerned as well as subpoena medical records, body cam footage, confidential reports, etc. as necessary to obtain the truth of this matter.
Hopefully, if this article is true, everyone will just ‘fess up and deal with the consequences. If this report is not true, let’s nip the allegations in the bud. For the protection of the Sheriff’s Office.
The Report:
An allegation of police brutality, injury to an officer and cover-up by the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office.
The report was regarding the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and it was, in my opinion, bad to the bone. As police brutality, injury and cover-ups always are. It undermines public confidence and trust in law enforcement and has no place in Cleveland County or anywhere else.
According to my Caller ID it was 4:57 PM January 30, 2019 when an anonymous call came in. I often do not answer calls from “Private” numbers, but as I had picked up the phone to read the Caller ID and had the phone in hand, I just hit the “talk” button and said “Hello,” expecting a telemarketer. Instead, I recognized the voice of a frequent and reliable source whose reports have always checked out to be true. So, I quickly reached for a pen and a piece of paper and started taking notes.
According to the caller: On December 27, 2018 Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mark Blanton and Deputy Russell Voyles allegedly travelled to the residence of a Mr. Walker. The exact purpose of the trip was not fully disclosed. According to the report, both Sgt. Blanton and Deputy Voyles wore body cameras that recorded te alleged incident..
(At this point I am interjecting a relatively recent incident when a Superior Court Judge severely admonished The Sheriff’s Office in general and basically called Sheriff Alan Norman a liar. A detailed article published by the Gaston Gazette is provided at the end of this article. Please judge for yourself how this indicates a continuing problem at the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office as indicated by the remainder of this report.)
The report continued saying that the Sheriff’s Office personnel as noted allegedly were abusive, harassing, intimidating and violent with Mr. Walker. The report alleged that Deputy Russell Voyles attempted to push Mr. Walker off the porch of Mr. Walker’s residence. And in that effort by Deputy Voyles, allegedly both Deputy Voyles and Mr. Walker fell off the porch, with Mr. Walker happening to land on top of Deputy Voyles leg, Allegedly breaking Deputy Voyles leg.
The report continued alleging that Sheriff’s Department Chief Phillip Todd recommended to Sheriff Alan Norman that this incident be forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) to be investigated. But Sheriff Alan Norman allegedly said “No! We don’t want bad publicity!”
End of Report
To the Sheriff’s Office:
This report alleges issues that, if true, represent major problems at about every level. We citizens recognize that Sheriff Alan Norman has brought the Sheriff’s Office from an almost destroying chaos to the brink of major respectability. Such reports as this as well as the following Gaston Gazette article indicate that although Sheriff Alan Norman has made decisive decisions in certain areas and tends to protect his officers, maybe too well-to a major fault. That publicity such as this shows that there is much work to be done to truly justify the trust of Cleveland County citizens is based on truth and not illusion.
Please Sheriff Alan Norman, respond to this article with the truth. No matter how good or how bad the publicity may be. The good citizens of Cleveland County want and deserve to know.
Thanks,
Folks, before we provide the noted Gaston Gazette article, we researched the court record of that particular case and found not only “repugnant” (the judges words) acts and testimony of the Sheriff’s Office all the way up to Sheriff Alan Norman himself. But also Assistant District Attorney Sally Kirby-Turner and the DA’s Office too. Clear evidence of Racial profiling and clear violations of the US Constitution as well as the North Carolina Constitution all the way down to violations of the Sheriff’s Office written Policies and Procedures. The Deputies on duty just made up their own rules, in violation of everything and ADA Sally Kirby-Turner had the audacity to put the “repugnant” stuff in front of a Superior Court Judge who scolded everybody in the Sheriff’s Office and obliquely the DA’s office too, in no uncertain terms. The Judge used such words as repugnant and falsehoods in testimony liberally in his written Order. For those who really want to see just how bad the Sheriff’s Office and DA’s Office violated constitutional rights, go to the official transcript below, of the hearing, scroll on down to about page 231 and start reading.
[gview file=”https://citizensforgoodgovernment.org/online/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Transcript-2-of-2.pdf”]
I have never seen a Superior Court Judge come down on Law enforcement and the phony DA case so hard as happened in this case. Unfortunately the Sheriff’s Office and the DA’s Office, especially ADA Sally Kirby-Turner, in several other cases that I am aware of, haven’t learned a thing. Stay Tuned as these cases have yet to be totally exposed. But they will be and soon.
Now, it is February 4, 2019 at 7:32 PM and another anonymous call comes in. It is from an entirely different person, but with the exact same report of alleged police brutality as described above. With an update. Deputy Voyles has allegedly been treated for his broken leg and is out on Worker’s Comp!!! No charges were filed against Mr. Walker. The Sheriff’s Office is allegedly in turmoil and the orders from the top are to suppress the story. The caller stated that “for a Sheriff who ran on transparency, there is no transparency.”
Again, we call on Sheriff Alan Norman to respond to these reports and tell all. One thing is now certain. One way or another the truth is going to come out in regard to these reports. Forces for truth within the Sheriff’s Office will prevail. Medical treatment for a broken leg leaves a record. An officer out on worker’s comp leaves a record. I have already received two anonymous reports and I will expect many more just as soon as this article is published. Cleveland County wants transparency and Cleveland County will get transparency. This reports described in this article may never see the light of day in the Shelby Star, but here it is and many will soon be reading it.
Stay tuned folks. The truth will come out about this alleged incident of police brutality. And the time is NOW!!!
The previous Gaston Gazette Article can be found here.