Another Round of Political Sparring Between Victor Hill and Eldrin Bell

In the latest round of sparring between Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill and Clayton County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell , the sheriff is making allegations of corruption and improper relationships towards Chairman Bell.

This latest incident started because of a party, mind you a very public party that was held in Butts County over the weekend that Chairman Bell attended. The party was thrown by the owner of the adult nightclub the Pink Pony. The owner is suing the Clayton County Sheriff’s department and Clayton County because of roadblocks the Sheriff has been setting up around the nightclub. In the lawsuit Chairman Bell is named as the defendant as well as Sheriff Victor Hill. Chairman Bell Attended the party which had somewhere around 400 to 1000 party guests. Chairman Bell injured his finger while shooting a gun at a private shooting range at the party. The chairman, a former Atlanta Police Chief, sought medical attention and his finger was bandaged and the incident was reported to the Butts County Sheriff’s department which is treating it as an accident. Upon learning of the incident Sheriff Hill sent his own investigators to look into the incident overstepping Butts County’s investigation of the matter. This is yet another example of the Sheriff overstepping his authority and trying to cause trouble for his political rival. He’s now accusing the chairman of having an improper relationship with the club owner. He’s even gone so far as to say that the chairman should not have been at the party at all. Now please tell me who the hell is Victor hill to tell anyone they shouldn’t be at a party.

Chairman Bell is up for re-election this year and this is all the ammunition the Sheriff needs to try to get Chairman out of his hair. On a recent television newscast the Sheriff said that the state constitution gives him the authority to investigate crime in any county in the state of Georgia. I find it hard to believe that statement, and my understanding of the state constitution is it gives the Sheriff the power to investigate crimes with in his or her own county not the whole state. Could you imagine the sheriff of say Troup County investigating crimes that happen in Fulton County, especially without an invitation of help from the Fulton County Sheriff?

Victor Hill really thinks he is god’s gift to law enforcement in Clayton County. It doesn’t make any sense for him to stir up trouble where there is none. What he needs to do is focus on crime prevention and finding fugitives within his own County, and stop looking for a fight. Since the Sheriff has been in office he’s managed to fight with judges other police jurisdictions and just basically tick everybody off. And if I didn’t know any better I would say he was a petulant child starving for attention. The Sheriff is the highest ranking law enforcement officer in the county he needs to start acting like it and not some schoolyard bully looking for a fight. That’s just my two cents.