Utah Sheriff Meets with Local Leaders about FLDS
 
The Eldorado Success
 
Sheriff Kirk Smith of Washington County, Utah, told a group of twenty-five local citizens last Thursday that they could expect their new neighbors on the YFZ Ranch to keep a low profile and avoid trouble. Smith's county, located in the southwest corner of Utah, is where Hildale is located, the hometown of David Allred. He is the man who bought the YFZ Ranch, and who a few hours before Smith's arrival in Eldorado, admitted to local officials that the property is actually owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon Church nearly a century ago when it renounced the practice of polygamy.

Sheriff Smith and his undersheriff Pete Kuhlmann were joined by Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran and Chief Deputy George Arispe at a public meeting held for local officials in the Memorial Building. Prior to hearing from Smith, Doran informed the audience that he and Justice of the Peace James C. Doyle had met with YFZ Ranch officials the day before and that they had admitted to misleading the community about their intentions.

"They said that they represent the FLDS and that a group of no more than 200 select members of the church will soon occupy the three buildings that are complete and two more that are under construction on the ranch," Doran said.

Doran then introduced Sheriff Smith and thanked him for traveling to Eldorado in order to help educate the public on the FLDS.

Sheriff Smith said he first became aware of developments here in Eldorado when he saw Doran being interviewed on TV. "I thought, wow, this guy is holding up pretty well." Smith said. "I knew I had to come here because anyone who could stand there and face down that mob of journalists while explaining that constitutional civil rights apply to everyone, even a group of outsiders...well a guy like that needs to be supported"

Smith told the audience that his is in the middle of his second four-year term as Sheriff of Washington County. Prior to taking office, the spent 34 years as a Utah Highway Patrol officer. He said that he and his officers probably know more about the FLDS and its members in the twin cities of Hildale, UT and Colorado City, AZ, than any other law enforcement agency in the country. He noted that the strip of Arizona that lies north of the Grand Canyon and south of the Utah border is a virtual no-man's land. "For years the State of Arizona ignored that area and paid little attention to the goings on in Short Creek. That's the town that was later renamed Colorado City," Smith said.

"Then in 1953, as word got out that the citizens of Short Creek were practicing polygamy, the state raided the town and arrested all the men," Smith continued. "The women and children were shipped off to other towns and pretty soon the whole thing became a P.R. nightmare. It wasn't long before Arizona officials released the men and let them go home where they were reunited with their families. Arizona hasn't been too interested in polygamy ever since. At least until recently."

Smith said that for the most part, Colorado City and Hildale residents are hard working, law abiding citizens who just want to be left alone. He noted that his department has had very few problems there and that on the rare occasion when he has needed to detain someone from the community he would call one of the community leaders and they would produce the individual he was seeking.

Several audience members challenged Smith on the practice of polygamy and news reports that underage girls are forced into polygamous marriages with older men. Smith explained that polygamy, or plural marriage, is the one principle to which FLDS members are most loyal. "They practice polygamy and that has gotten them the one thing they don't want, attention from the outside world," Smith said.

Smith went on to say that underage sex, and child rape are problems in society as a whole, not just in the FLDS. "As law enforcement officers we dwell a lot on statistics," Smith said. "You take any group of people and a certain percentage of them will be child molesters. It's the same in this group."

Judge Johnny Griffin agreed with that assessment, noting that Schleicher County has its own problems with sex offenders.

Smith then complemented Sheriff Doran on being able to establish a dialogue with the FLDS members on the YFZ Ranch. "My officers and I have worked around them for years and we haven't gotten them to come in and sit down and talk to us," Smith said. "I thought I was coming down here to give your guys some pointers but your sheriff has been able to do in three or four weeks what we haven't been able to do in sixty years."

Smith said he was going to return to Utah and use what he learned here in hopes of establishing a better relationship with the FLDS community in Hildale. He concluded the meeting by saying that he had invited Sheriff Doran and Chief Deputy Arispe to visit him in Utah and that he would set up a meeting with his counterpart in Mojave County, AZ if they would agree to make the trip.

The Success has learned that Doran and Arispe will be making such a trip later this month.

"It's all about education," Doran said. "The more we can learn about the FLDS and how they live in Colorado City and Hildale, the better we can deal with them here."
 
MyEldorado.net
Originally published May 6, 2004
 
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