12 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: OCTOBER 2017 T here’s a great scene in the Scorcese re- make of the 1962 classic film Cape Fear where a prosecutor asks a private investigator how to protect himself from a psycho he put behind bars for rape and assault. The private eye tells the prosecutor he doesn’t have many options besides getting a gun because the criminal system is pretty weak when it comes to handling stalkers with a grudge. In Ohio, federal law enforcement officials have charged an Ohio man with harassing a county sheriff for more than two decades. Charging documents filed in federal court in Colum- bus show that William Young, of Columbus, was charged with one count of cyberstalking. Because of the popularity of social media, the increas- ing availability of personal information online, and “doxing,” these kinds of threats can reasonably be expected to increase. For 20 years Young has been after Delaware Coun- ty Sheriff Russell Martin. Young has accused the sheriff of several criminal acts and has filed numerous lawsuits against him. Young, a classic “paper terrorist” common in the “sovereign citizen” scene, has also sued other officers and the Delaware Police Department. Former Sheriff Martin was with the Delaware Police Department at the time Young was arrested. Young has pursued Mar- tin tirelessly. He sent him a mind-boggling number of harassing and threatening letters. He also sent letters to the sheriff’s wife, doctor, barber and numerous other individuals in Delaware, the affidavit said. “I’ll force his hand if the powers that be make the mistake of coming after me again,” Young said in a 62- page letter sent to Martin’s wife in 2015, according to the affidavit. “Then I’ll take everyone down who had a hand in what was done to me one by one.” The sheriff is not named in the affidavit or indict- ment but Martin told re- porters he was the law enforcement official being threatened. “The man the FBI ar- rested has threatened and harassed me and my fam- ily for years, and while I signed up for this job, my family didn’t. We deserve to be safeguarded from danger — just as any other citizen,” Martin said. Martin says the harass- ment has caused him con- siderable distress over the years. He was forced to change up his daily routines and al- ways kept his gun hand free while doing chores around the house or walking to his car in his own driveway. The never-ending harass- ment has also impacted Martin’s wife. She “is always concerned about staying alone in her residence and will often ask her adult son to come home when the sheriff is not at home,” according to the affidavit. But again, like the PI told the prosecutor in the movie – when it comes to stalking, the criminal justice system is weak beyond words. Ask anyone that’s had problems getting a restraining order enforced. Young, 54, was sentenced to 30 days in jail for stalk- ing a woman in back in 1999. He did five of those days with the rest suspended. The following year a judge ordered Young to complete the rest of his sen- tence after he disobeyed or- ders to stay away from the woman and didn’t show up to report to his probation officer repeatedly. It was unclear from the Associated Press article what criminal penalties Young is facing at the fed- eral level for violating the restraining order. Twenty years of threats and harassment comes to an end Law man endured years of threats, false claims and paper terrorism People with an axe to grind, like William Young, have found their new weapon of choice. Register Your Agency Today! ConferenceTopicsInclude: -Survivingandthrivinginacareerinlaw enforcement -Strategiestomanageexposuretotrauma -Preparingyouragencyforaline-of-dutydeath -Classesforlawenforcementspouses -StrategiestoavoidorworkthroughPTSD -Leadingahealthyagency -Police2f¿cerdeathanddisaEilityEene¿ts -Helpingyourfamilythroughyourcareer -Financialplanningforlawenforcement of¿cers -Settingupasuccessfulpeersupportprogram -Policechaplainprograms 3rd Annual C.O.P.S. National Conference on Law Enforcement Wellness & Trauma November 10-12, 2017 Grapevine, Texas Conference will be held at: Hilton DFW Lake Executive Conference Center 1800 Texas 26 Grapevine, TX 76051