Front-and-center sheriff does not take role lightly


By Derek Jordan/wick communications
Published: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:43 PM CDT

With appearances on cable news channels and in front of Congress members increasing exponentially these last few months, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever has become one of the most visible faces and loudest voices representing the efforts of local-level law enforcement to force the hand of the federal government to take stronger measures to secure the nation's border with Mexico.

"It's been an interesting set of circumstances that have led to this," Dever said in a phone interview Thursday.

Dever was speaking from New Mexico, where his position in the national conversation about border security was highlighted once again after he was elected chairman of the Southwest Border Sheriff's Coalition.

"All of these guys are saying the same thing, speaking with one voice," he said of the sheriffs from 26 border counties that make up the organization, which was formed three years ago in an effort to better combat border violence.

It is active roles in organizations such as this and the National Sheriffs' Association, where he chairs the Immigration and Border Security Committee, as well as his multiple appearances before members of Congress in Washington, that have made Dever one of the most recognized and respected people in the increasingly heated discussion of border security.

It's a role Dever said he does not take lightly.

"We have an opportunity, in my lifetime, that I've never witnessed, to keep the pressure on and keep the dialogue going," he said, "and we need to take advantage of that if we ever hope to find peace in our times and our lives in Cochise County."

While the issue is obviously a national one, it is that concern for the people he is sworn to serve that initially propelled him to take up the cause, he said.

In his early days as sheriff, when it came to illegal immigrants and smugglers crossing into the country through the county, Dever said he was "one of those law enforcement executives who said, 'this isn't my problem, it's the federal government's problem.'"

Soon, however, it became clear that such an attitude "wasn't going to be sufficient to satisfy the people" of the county, he said.

"I made a decision back then," he said. "That decision was to do whatever it takes, to be a voice as long as I can be a voice, in bringing the message in how overwhelming this is to the Cochise County public in terms of our socio-economic welfare and the well-being of our homeland and our homes."

It is a decision that has brought both support and opposition.

Most recently, Arizona's passage of the anti-illegal immigration law known as SB 1070, of which Dever is a vocal supporter, has taken the discussion of border security to new heights.

In May, Dever and all of the state's sheriffs were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union challenging the law. A similar lawsuit was filed by The Department of Justice against the State of Arizona.

"Initially, the reaction was 'damn them,'" Dever said. However, "your first reaction isn't always the right reaction."

The correct response, he said, is to use the lawsuits as a springboard.

"These lawsuits have lifted us to where we needed to be in terms of the discussion" about the border, he said. "If we keep the pressure on now ... there is no place this political season that a congressman, a senator, any policy-maker at any level can run and hide. They're going to have to stand up and be counted and make it a point where they stand on this issue."

About a week ago, and with the unanimous support of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors, Dever's private legal council filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit brought on by the federal government against the state, which would allow him to speak, from his perspective as the sheriff of a border county, about the issues facing the state that sparked the creation of SB 1070.

"I can bring a discussion to the table that no one else has, or can," he said.

It was an observation he made while sitting in on the initial court proceedings.

"I got so frustrated sitting there, listening," he said. "They were missing the true essence of the practical application of the law and how that would be an effective tool in mitigating the effects of this continually ineffective border situation."

The issue has been so obscured by politics that the original intent of the law has been lost. An unsecured border is a public safety and national security issue, he said.

"The politicization of this has drawn us away from that focus," he said.

On the Web

A web site has been set up to raise money through donations to support the legal costs of fighting the lawsuit against the sheriff's, www.bordersheriffs.com.

The money is open to all Arizona Sheriff's, though no one but Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever and Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeau have agreed to accept the money.

www.willcoxrangenews.com