Is Jeffs losing his hold over FLDS marshals?
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
The officers took an oath to uphold the law, and they swore it before God.

In the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the town marshals face scrutiny over their loyalties — to the constitutions of both states or to Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.

Now, authorities in Utah say they are beginning to notice a change in the town marshals.

"In your heart of hearts, you would like to think, 'Are they changing? Have they really come to a conclusion what a good solid policing agency is supposed to do?'" said Rich Townsend, the director of Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training, which certifies and disciplines cops. "I would like to think yes, but I'm not so foolish as to think that transition has completely occurred."

At its meeting on Thursday, the Utah POST Council said it would wait for the results of hearings by their Arizona counterparts before deciding whether to discipline members of the polygamous communities' police force.

At the heart of the officer misconduct investigations is a letter written by Marshal Fred Barlow to Jeffs, while the polygamous sect leader was still a fugitive.

"I love you and acknowledge you as my priesthood head," Barlow wrote, pledging his allegiance to Jeffs and seeking guidance in the police department's day-to-day affairs.

"They swore an oath to uphold the law but at the same time, put yourself in their position," said Wayne Caldwell, an attorney who has represented the officers. "They are still members of a church, and whether or not their leader has been arrested or accused of crimes on a fundamental religious issue, he's still their religious leader. They still look to him for religious guidance."

Looking for that guidance has landed the Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal's Office in trouble with the Utah POST Council, as well as its Arizona counterpart.

Ex-members have accused the marshals of operating under the direction of Jeffs. The court-appointed special fiduciary for the United Effort Plan Trust (the FLDS Church's financial arm), has complained that he has been unable to get assistance from the town marshals to investigate the disappearance of buildings and other property in the towns.

"If it's true that they're being more cooperative, that's good," said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who sits on the POST Council. "Whether they're acting or not, I don't know. Maybe they're just trying to keep their nose clean hoping they won't be decertified."

Still, some changes are being noticed.

The Washington County sheriff's deputy assigned to patrol Hildale said he is being invited out on calls that are dispatched to the town marshals.

"They turned over a sex offense case involving two FLDS members," deputy Darrell Cashin said in April. "The marshals have introduced me to other members of the community, and now some citizens wave at me and are at least willing to say hi."

People who live in Hildale are even noticing some changes.

Michelle Chatwin, whose husband Andrew is an ex-FLDS member, said she has also noticed a change in the FLDS police force. She recently called an officer to investigate the discovery of some drugs in a park there.

"He was actually being quite cooperative and amicable," she said of the marshal.

Andrew Chatwin filed a federal lawsuit against several marshals in the police department, alleging they violated his civil rights by kicking him out of a home there. Michelle Chatwin said the sum of all of the troubles surrounding the police may have prompted the new attitude.

"They finally figured out how serious everybody is," she said. "They can't stick their heads in the sand and ignore it anymore. It's staring them in the face."

Townsend partly credits Caldwell with helping to persuade the town marshals to understand the severity of the allegations and the responsibility that comes with their duties. Caldwell, a former Hildale Justice Court prosecutor, said he has merely been acting as a translator.

"I was able to help translate to them on what the law says and what's required, and translate to people on the outside why they act and how they act on what they were doing," he said. "At the end of the day, I trust them. I think they are fundamentally good people trying to do a difficult job in a very difficult environment."

Caldwell disputes many of the allegations leveled against the marshals but said they have no interest in responding. It is part of their culture to "turn the other cheek," he said.

Whether or not things have really changed, the officers' past loyalties to Jeffs will ultimately be what Utah and Arizona POST officials consider when handing out discipline. That scrutiny will never be satisfied, Caldwell said.

"I don't know how you dispose of it, unless they become atheists," he said.

In his interview with the Deseret Morning News, Caldwell said he believes a "separation" has been taking place between the FLDS Church leadership and the police force.

"I truly believe that the church leadership is aware of the position the cops are put in and the scrutiny they are under," he said. "They are out of the loop as far as what actions are being taken and the direction the church is taking."

Chatwin said time will tell what happens to the town marshals.

"I hope it continues, because we need change," she said. "We need law enforcement, not 'Warren enforcement.'"

Jeffs, 51, remains in the Purgatory Jail pending a September trial on two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

Shurtleff said FLDS faithful continue to follow Jeffs.

"There have been some changes. There are reports of other leaders' photographs going up on the wall (of FLDS homes)," he said. "But as I understand it, Warren's hasn't been taken down."

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Sunday, June 17, 2007
 
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