Latest / The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert / Sheriff Hanson in studio

Transcript

Sheriff Hanson in studio · The KFAB Comment Line with Jean Stothert

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jean Stothert. Peyton Heilach, my producer, is
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Speaker 1: also here this morning. Good morning, Peyton.
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Speaker 2: Good morning, Jean. Good to be here.
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Speaker 1: We'll get to the weekend later, but we've got all
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Speaker 1: sorts of things to talk about today. Thank you all
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Speaker 1: for being here with us today, and we want to
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Speaker 1: hear from you. We want to get your feedback, hear
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Speaker 1: your comments, concerns, questions, complaints. Anything goes, city, state, national,
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Speaker 1: on the world or the world. And, of course, you're
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Speaker 1: going to hear plenty of opinions from me, too. And
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Speaker 1: we always have great guests, which we do today. But
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Speaker 1: it is your chance to speak up and sound off.
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Speaker 1: You can send your emails at comment at kfab.com. You
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Speaker 1: can call us at 402-558-1110, or you can leave us
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Speaker 1: a recorded message on the talkback mic, and we'll play
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Speaker 1: it on the air. But we are very happy that
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Speaker 1: you are with us, and I am very happy that
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Speaker 1: Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hansen is in the studio with
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Speaker 1: us today. Boy, we have lots to talk about, Sheriff Hansen.
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Speaker 2: Welcome.
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Speaker 3: Thanks for being here.
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Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Jane.
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Speaker 3: Good morning.
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Speaker 1: Absolutely.
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Speaker 3: Good morning.
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Speaker 1: First of all, there was an incident this weekend that
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Speaker 1: we're going to talk about. But I want to first
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Speaker 1: go back and talk about an article that came out
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Speaker 1: in the Flatwater Free Press, which to me, this article,
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Speaker 1: when I first read it and then I read it again,
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Speaker 1: was the most egregious political attack that I've seen ever.
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Speaker 1: And in this election cycle on you, because what they
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Speaker 1: were saying, the article was about the Douglas County Sheriff
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Speaker 1: and the Sheriff's Department has been involved in controversial interactions
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Speaker 1: with ICE, U.S. Customs Enforcement. He referred cases to ICE
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Speaker 1: and he expressed support for collaboration, which has drawn criticism
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Speaker 1: from immigrant advocates saying, who says this undermines trust in
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Speaker 1: local law enforcement. And then it goes on to say
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Speaker 1: it has sparked a debate. And then it goes on
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Speaker 1: to talk about the different issues that people are talking
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Speaker 1: about and people saying lack of trust. But they never
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Speaker 1: talk about Omaha Police Department and their interactions, which they
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Speaker 1: have the same. They never talk about Does your opponent–
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Speaker 1: does he refuse? Will he refuse to work with ICE?
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Speaker 1: Let's talk about that article alone, Sheriff Hansen, because when
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Speaker 1: I read it, I usually don't like to look at
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Speaker 1: Facebook comments because they're so awful anymore. But when I
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Speaker 1: read this, I would say 90 percent are saying Sheriff
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Speaker 1: Aaron Hansen and the Douglas County Sheriff's Department are doing
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Speaker 1: exactly their job and what they should be doing.
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Speaker 4: Sure.
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Speaker 2: You know why? Because that's why I love Douglas County.
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Speaker 2: That's why I love being the sheriff of Douglas County.
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Speaker 2: I have the best bosses in the nation because regardless
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Speaker 2: of whether citizens in this county are Republican, Democrat, or independent,
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Speaker 2: in large part, they're common sense. And common sense dictates
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Speaker 2: that if people are committing crimes and putting innocent people
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Speaker 2: at risk in our community, regardless of their immigration status
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Speaker 2: or citizenship status, that they want their law enforcement officers
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Speaker 2: to hold them accountable and make sure that they see justice.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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Speaker 1: And, you know, when I read this article, they even
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Speaker 1: said that critics claim that, and they always say your actions,
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Speaker 1: not the Douglas County Sheriff's Department, but of course this
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Speaker 1: is political, that your actions create fear within the immigrant
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Speaker 1: community and it discourages them from reporting crimes.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's not true.
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Speaker 3: I know it's not true.
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Speaker 2: And I think there's a couple of illustrations. Number one,
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Speaker 2: I want your listeners to just imagine two buckets, okay?
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Speaker 2: And in one bucket is individuals that are committing crimes,
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Speaker 2: victimizing people, driving drunk, reckless driving, street racing, committing murder,
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Speaker 2: sex offenses. Those are the guys I'm concerned about, right?
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Speaker 2: And the other bucket are hardworking folks that aren't causing
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Speaker 2: a problem. They're taking care of their kids. They're working hard.
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Speaker 2: I don't look, they don't even come on my radar screen.
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Speaker 2: And if my deputies come across them and they're a witness,
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Speaker 2: a victim, we don't, we're not concerned about who they
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Speaker 2: are beyond the fact that we have to identify them
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Speaker 2: for the police report. And so, you know, I just
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Speaker 2: got an email here recently from a immigrant advocacy group. And,
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Speaker 2: you know, they asked for our help on trying to
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Speaker 2: get some federal funding to help support the immigrant refugee community.
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Speaker 2: And we said, yes. And they said, hey, you know,
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Speaker 2: your agency has always been consistent in protecting innocent people.
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Speaker 2: We're the agency that we make it clear. Look, if
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Speaker 2: you're a victim of a crime or a witness of
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Speaker 2: a crime and you need a U visa, that's a
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Speaker 2: temporary U visa to help keep you in the country
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Speaker 2: legally while you're cooperating with law enforcement and maybe even longer,
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Speaker 2: come to us because we support innocent people. That's the
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Speaker 2: mission of what we do.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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Speaker 1: And you know, I know a bit more about Omaha
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Speaker 1: Police than I do about Douglas County Sheriff, but it
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Speaker 1: says in this article, you don't have a formal contract
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Speaker 1: with ICE. I don't believe Omaha Police Department does either.
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Speaker 1: You know, we always made it very, very well known.
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Speaker 1: That the Omaha Police Department– you could speak about the
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Speaker 1: Sheriff's Department.
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Speaker 3: We are not ICE agents.
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Speaker 1: But will we work in cooperation or collaboration with ICE
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Speaker 1: if the situation calls for it?
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Speaker 3: Yes, we will. But do we go door-to-door checking legal status?
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Speaker 2: Do we pull somebody– Well, ICE doesn't even do that.
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Speaker 4: No.
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Speaker 2: ICE doesn't even do that. No.
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Speaker 1: Do we pull somebody over for speeding and immediately check
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Speaker 1: their legal status?
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Speaker 3: No, we don't. Explain that with the Sheriff's Department.
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Speaker 2: Local law enforcement doesn't even have access to those databases.
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Speaker 2: We cannot differentiate between who is a legal citizen and
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Speaker 2: who is not. Those are things that the federal government
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Speaker 2: can determine. We don't have access to that at the
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Speaker 2: local level. And you're right. We don't have a formal
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Speaker 2: 287G agreement with ICE and the federal government. You know why?
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Speaker 2: Because we don't need it. I don't need it. I don't.
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Speaker 2: First of all. If I ran corrections like most of
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Speaker 2: my peers do across the country, I would probably enter
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Speaker 2: into an agreement with ICE just so that we could
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Speaker 2: access their databases to make sure that we know every
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Speaker 2: criminal that's booked into the jail, that we know exactly
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Speaker 2: who they are, not just who they say they are,
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Speaker 2: and that it would alert the federal government immediately if
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Speaker 2: it is an MS-13 gang member who's on the Interpol
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Speaker 2: list or a criminal who's lying about their identity or
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Speaker 2: someone who's in the country illegally. But because I don't
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Speaker 2: run corrections, I don't need to enter into that agreement
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Speaker 2: because if we come across someone in an investigation that
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Speaker 2: we think poses a risk to the community, we have
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Speaker 2: a good relationship with the federal government, with Homeland Security
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Speaker 2: and ICE, and we will communicate their information to our
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Speaker 2: federal partners.
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Speaker 1: So that's when it changes then, not if you're picked
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Speaker 1: up for speeding, but when it really changes is when
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Speaker 1: they are booked in Douglas County Correction.
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Speaker 3: That's when.
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Speaker 1: you look at what their names are and you run
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Speaker 1: through the federal database.
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Speaker 3: Is that correct?
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Speaker 2: For me, that's really the dividing line is if you've
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Speaker 2: committed a crime that's so serious that you're being booked
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Speaker 2: into corrections, you're being booked into jail, that's primarily the
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Speaker 2: folks that we are looking at. Now, there are other
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Speaker 2: crimes that you can get a criminal citation for that
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Speaker 2: are pretty serious. Apparently, when Flatwater did their story, they
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Speaker 2: talked about The guy who had a California CDL who
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Speaker 2: was involved in a pretty serious accident on Interstate 80
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Speaker 2: in our county was criminally cited for careless driving. Could
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Speaker 2: have killed somebody. You know, we've seen across the country
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Speaker 2: where people with CDLs from states that are more permissive
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Speaker 2: will give a CDL to someone that is not in
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Speaker 2: the country legally and can't even read or speak English.
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Speaker 2: That was the case in this individual. This individual had
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Speaker 2: a California CDL. It was reported to me that he
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Speaker 2: could not speak English, which is a huge problem for
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Speaker 2: a truck driver. Absolutely. You have to be able to
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Speaker 2: read street signs and speed limits. And otherwise, you're going
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Speaker 2: to cause a risk to the community, just like he did.
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Speaker 2: And so that's one of the very few limited situations
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Speaker 2: in which I did refer him to the federal government
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Speaker 2: just to make sure they were aware of his status.
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Speaker 2: And he was in the country illegally. He had come
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Speaker 2: over the border illegally in 2022. The Biden administration gave
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Speaker 2: him parole, temporary parole and a work permit. And for
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Speaker 2: some reason, the state of California decided, you know what?
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Speaker 2: Let's let him drive a commercial vehicle. Let's let him
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Speaker 2: drive a truck all the way across the country. And
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Speaker 2: that put our entire country. country at risk. Because in fact,
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Speaker 2: he did crash. We're lucky he didn't kill anybody.
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Speaker 1: So is it a correct statement to say that all
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Speaker 1: law enforcement collaborates with ICE on criminal matters?
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Speaker 2: I would say the vast majority do. There are some
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Speaker 2: states across the country or communities that have very explicit
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Speaker 2: sanctuary laws that prohibit, that have laws that prohibit law
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Speaker 2: enforcement But look at the state of Iowa. I mean,
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Speaker 2: they just passed a law a couple years ago that
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Speaker 2: said that every jail, every law enforcement agency must cooperate
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Speaker 2: with the federal government in the case of individuals that
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Speaker 2: are committing crimes in our communities or being booked into jail.
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Speaker 3: Okay.
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Speaker 1: And, you know, well, first of all, there are bad
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Speaker 1: actors who are in the county illegally.
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Speaker 3: And I liked what you said.
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Speaker 1: You said, I refuse to allow an innocent citizen in
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Speaker 1: my community to be victimized by a criminal. If I
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Speaker 1: could have instead cooperated earlier with our partners in the
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Speaker 1: federal government and remove that criminal, from our community. The
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Speaker 1: way this article was written, does this mean your opponent,
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Speaker 1: who is Mark Martinez, would not?
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Speaker 2: Well, if you read the article, Mark Martinez said that
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Speaker 2: he doesn't think it's appropriate to ever cooperate with ICE. Well,
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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, when he was the U.S. Marshal
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Speaker 2: under Obama... I find that hard to believe that there
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Speaker 2: was no cooperation with his fellow federal agency. But I
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Speaker 2: would I think it would be shocking moving forward if
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Speaker 2: if a sheriff or a law enforcement executive said we
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Speaker 2: will have no cooperation with ICE. Because, for example, we
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Speaker 2: have we have worked with ICE to try to remove
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Speaker 2: people from our community that have sexually molested children, raped
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Speaker 2: adult women. been involved in spree theft crimes, hundreds of
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Speaker 2: thousands of dollars in theft from construction sites, people that
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Speaker 2: are scamming senior citizens of hundreds of thousands, in some case,
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Speaker 2: millions of dollars. And it doesn't fall into one demographic.
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Speaker 2: We were going so hard recently after an individual was
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Speaker 2: in the country as a guest who's Russian that we
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Speaker 2: even had the Russian mafia coming after the sheriff's office
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Speaker 2: and putting us on their radar screens. So it's not
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Speaker 2: about your skin color. It's about, A, are you committing
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Speaker 2: crimes that impact innocent people, whether they're citizens or immigrants? And, B,
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Speaker 2: are you here illegally or as a guest? That is
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Speaker 2: my guidepost. in terms of how to cooperate with the
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Speaker 2: federal government.
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Speaker 1: Well, look at the incident back in 2016 with 21-year-old
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Speaker 1: Sarah Root. I mean, it was Eswin Meja, an undocumented immigrant,
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Speaker 1: killed her in a car crash while driving drunk. I mean,
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Speaker 1: and out of that, what it's called Sarah's Law or
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Speaker 1: Sarah's Rule was developed out of that. But these are
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Speaker 1: people that are criminals and that are hurting other people.
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Speaker 1: And yet you get an article in the Flatwater Press
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Speaker 1: saying that you are undermining trust.
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Speaker 3: By doing the things that you are doing.
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Speaker 1: I would say that 90 percent of the people in
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Speaker 1: Douglas County would say that you and your department are
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Speaker 1: doing exactly what you were elected to do.
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Speaker 2: Public safety first. Politics distant third.
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Speaker 3: Yes.
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Speaker 2: I have a statutory sworn obligation as the sheriff of
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Speaker 2: this county to do what I can. to keep my
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Speaker 2: citizens safe in this county. Public safety comes number one.
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Speaker 1: Public safety should be number one in government anywhere. The
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Speaker 1: number one priority in any government, whether it's local, whether
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Speaker 1: it's national, it should be keeping the citizens safe. I mean,
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Speaker 1: there's no doubt about that at all. Earlier, Sheriff, one
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Speaker 1: thing that you said, this is Sheriff Aaron Hansen with
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Speaker 1: us this morning, is you said, I don't run Douglas
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Speaker 1: County Corrections, which is the jail.
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Speaker 3: I don't run it. Who runs it?
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Speaker 2: Douglas County Board of Commissioners. So back in the early 80s,
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Speaker 2: the Nebraska legislature decided that counties over 150,000 population, that
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Speaker 2: the supervision of the jails would be removed from the sheriffs,
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Speaker 2: as it is in the rest of the state and
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Speaker 2: in most large communities in the nation, and handed over
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Speaker 2: to the county board of commissioners.
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Speaker 3: With that, I'm going to get back to that issue.
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Speaker 1: But with that, there was an incident that just happened
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Speaker 1: yesterday morning or yesterday early afternoon in northwest Omaha.
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Speaker 2: Irvington, yeah.
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Speaker 3: In Irvington.
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Speaker 1: And I'm going to– you know more about this than
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Speaker 1: I do because I'm just– I'm getting my information from
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Speaker 1: reading it.
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Speaker 3: So there was a fatality accident.
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Speaker 1: It happened about quarter to four yesterday afternoon on Ida
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Speaker 1: and Irvington Road.
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Speaker 3: Okay.
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Speaker 1: There was a 70-year-old man that was killed out there
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Speaker 1: just driving on a beautiful day in his Porsche, living
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Speaker 1: the dream there, probably retired.
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Speaker 2: Beautiful Sunday afternoon.
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Speaker 1: Beautiful Sunday afternoon. Someone ran a red light and crashed
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Speaker 1: into him, and he was killed. Talk about that incident.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, very, very sad case. This happened yesterday evening, a
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Speaker 2: little after 3 p.m. Douglas County Sheriff's Office received a
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Speaker 2: 911 call of a, property or a personal injury collision at, uh, at, uh,
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Speaker 2: Irvington and Ida street. And when they arrived, uh, investigating
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Speaker 2: deputies notice that we had a blue Porsche and the
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Speaker 2: driver who, uh, unfortunately ultimately, uh, was deceased was Christopher, uh, Zolkowski. Um,
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Speaker 2: and he was hit by a driver of a large
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Speaker 2: GMC pickup truck. Uh, that driver was Jose Ortega Romero. And, um,
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Speaker 2: Ortega Romero presented the deputies with no U.S. ID. He
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Speaker 2: had an ID card administered and issued by the Mexican
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Speaker 2: government through the consulate here in the United States. And
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Speaker 2: so knowing that Jose Ortega Romero admitted that he ran
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Speaker 2: the red light, witnesses indicated he ran the red light,
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Speaker 2: and his actions resulted in the death of that gentleman
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Speaker 2: driving the Porsche, We knew he was going to be charged.
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Speaker 2: He could be given a criminal citation. He could be
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Speaker 2: booked into jail. But in any event, we were concerned
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Speaker 2: that he was not here legally in the country. And
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Speaker 2: so if he were to take that citation or pay
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Speaker 2: a bond, in this case, it's $ 750 to bond out
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Speaker 2: of jail for killing someone in a car accident. It's
15:37
Speaker 2: a little lower than what people would think. We knew
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Speaker 2: there was a high likelihood that he would probably flee
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Speaker 2: the jurisdiction, if not the country, like Eswin Mejia did.
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Speaker 1: And was the victim of this, the man in the Porsche,
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Speaker 1: had he already.
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Speaker 2: Died in the hospital? We knew he had died.
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Speaker 3: Oh, so we knew that. Okay.
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Speaker 2: He had died immediately upon arrival to the emergency room.
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Speaker 2: And so my deputies contacted me. I contacted my counterparts
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Speaker 2: in ICE and said, look, here's the matricula card that
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Speaker 2: he gave us. Can you guys check just to make
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Speaker 2: sure that, you know, maybe he's here on a visa.
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Speaker 2: Maybe he's here with the consulate. Maybe he's legally supposed
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Speaker 2: to be here. They informed me, nope. No, he was
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Speaker 2: not legally here. They coordinated with us so that when
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Speaker 2: we booked him into Douglas County Corrections on his charges,
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Speaker 2: they simultaneously lodged a detainer. And we thought, okay, great.
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Speaker 3: And so how, is that a 48-hour?
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Speaker 2: 48-hour detainer. So what happens is ICE will go down
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Speaker 2: and they'll swear out administrative warrant with their judge, and
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Speaker 2: then they will lodge a detainer with the correctional agency,
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Speaker 2: in this case, Douglas County Corrections. And the intent is
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Speaker 2: that when individuals pay their bond, like Eswin Mejia did,
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Speaker 2: and ultimately like Ortega Romero did, that that detainer will
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Speaker 2: hold them for up to 48 hours for ICE to
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Speaker 2: come get them and take them into their custody.
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Speaker 3: Just 48 hours?
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Speaker 2: Just up to 48 hours.
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Speaker 3: Okay, okay.
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Speaker 2: So I woke up this morning and received a call
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Speaker 2: from the supervisor over ICE. And he says, boy, I'm
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Speaker 2: really glad you called us when you did. Because we
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Speaker 2: got a call last night at 1230 in the morning
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Speaker 2: from Douglas County Corrections, and they said, Ortega Romero has
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Speaker 2: paid his $ 750 cash bond. If you are not here
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Speaker 2: within four hours, we are releasing him out into the public. Luckily.
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Speaker 1: How does that happen? Is that a decision made by
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Speaker 1: the Douglas County Board?
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Speaker 2: Yes, because Douglas County Corrections has no formal agreements with
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Speaker 2: ICE whatsoever, even... even in the case of holding someone
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Speaker 2: for up to the 48-hour detainer, it'd be easy for
17:45
Speaker 2: the Douglas County Board to put it on the agenda,
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Speaker 2: get with the federal government and say, look, we understand
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Speaker 2: we don't want to be involved in a long-term detention contract.
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Speaker 2: That's fine. But we will enter into a limited agreement
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Speaker 2: so that people that get booked, that we can access
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Speaker 2: the federal records to make sure we know who they
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Speaker 2: are and alert you if they're on the radar screen
18:05
Speaker 2: of the federal government. And number two, Hold them temporarily
18:08
Speaker 2: at least until ICE can get there. Can you imagine
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Speaker 2: the ICE agent getting that call at 1230 in the morning?
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Speaker 2: They don't know. Maybe they're busy. Maybe they're sick. Luckily,
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Speaker 2: the State Patrol has an agreement with ICE and the
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Speaker 2: federal government that their on-duty troopers will come and take
18:26
Speaker 2: those individuals into custody. That's exactly what happened. Within that
18:29
Speaker 2: 48-hour window, before he was released, a trooper came and
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Speaker 2: picked him up.
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Speaker 1: Before he had the four hours to pick him up,
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Speaker 1: Ortega Romero to pick him up.
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Speaker 2: Correct.
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Speaker 3: Or he would be released.
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Speaker 2: He would have been released out into the public.
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Speaker 1: Then the state patrol, because they have a formal agreement
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Speaker 1: with ICE, they took him into custody.
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Speaker 2: And they took him to Sarpy County because Sarpy County
18:49
Speaker 2: has a formal agreement with ICE to do temporary holding.
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Speaker 2: Here's why I'm frustrated. I had deputies working until almost
18:56
Speaker 2: midnight on that case. I mean we're talking seven, eight,
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Speaker 2: nine hours, and they're still going to be working on
19:03
Speaker 2: that case for days. And to know that someone from
19:07
Speaker 2: the county would just call and say, you better be
19:11
Speaker 2: here in four hours, or this man that just killed
19:13
Speaker 2: a person in a traffic crash who was booked for
19:17
Speaker 2: that traffic fatality, we're just going to release him. Folks,
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Speaker 2: that's unconscionable.
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Speaker 1: It is.
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Speaker 3: For politics.
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Speaker 2: Unconscionable.
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Speaker 1: He was not only illegal, he did not have a
19:27
Speaker 1: valid driver's license, he ran a red light and killed somebody.
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Speaker 1: And they were going to release him when he posted
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Speaker 1: his bond from Douglas County Corrections.
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Speaker 2: That's correct.
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Speaker 1: So Sheriff Hanson, I always said when I was mayor
19:43
Speaker 1: that as long as I was mayor of Omaha, the
19:46
Speaker 1: city of Omaha would not be a sanctuary city. The
19:49
Speaker 1: decision made by the Douglas County Board, does that essentially
19:53
Speaker 1: make us a sanctuary city?
19:57
Speaker 2: I think the Douglas County Board has quietly created what
20:01
Speaker 2: is the equivalent of sanctuary policies under county government. I mean,
20:06
Speaker 2: just look at the Flatwater Free Press story. There was
20:08
Speaker 2: people in county government being critical of me cooperating with
20:11
Speaker 2: the federal government for criminals, for sex offenders, for rapists,
20:15
Speaker 2: for fraudsters. This issue needs some daylight. We need to
20:20
Speaker 2: have a public discussion because I think, look, corrections is
20:24
Speaker 2: a crucial part of the law enforcement business model in
20:28
Speaker 2: any community.
20:29
Speaker 3: It absolutely is.
20:30
Speaker 2: And imagine if some– I know, I'm aware, there are
20:34
Speaker 2: people who were released in the past– Because the ICE agent,
20:38
Speaker 2: prior to NSP having the agreement with ICE, there was
20:42
Speaker 2: no ICE agent available to come pick them up from
20:45
Speaker 2: corrections before they released them on bond. That is unconscionable.
20:49
Speaker 2: I'm aware that that has happened.
20:51
Speaker 1: Look at Eswin Meja. I mean, as soon as he
20:53
Speaker 1: was released, he fled the country.
20:55
Speaker 2: Well, that's interesting you say that. So Sarah's law was
20:58
Speaker 2: passed because of the death of Sarah Root and the
21:01
Speaker 2: fact that Eswin Meja bonded out prior to being detained
21:05
Speaker 2: by ICE. And fled the country. And luckily he came
21:07
Speaker 2: back and he's been held to justice. And now he's
21:09
Speaker 2: in a Nebraska prison. But Sarah Root's law only impacts
21:14
Speaker 2: federal agencies. It does not mandate that local law enforcement
21:18
Speaker 2: or corrections must cooperate. We need state law here in
21:21
Speaker 2: Nebraska to mandate that, in my opinion.
21:23
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
21:24
Speaker 1: And, you know, a lot of gratitude, I think, goes
21:26
Speaker 1: toward Nebraska State Patrol and Sarpy County government for their
21:29
Speaker 1: partnership with us and wanting to keep our community safe.
21:34
Speaker 3: I mean, holy cow.
21:35
Speaker 1: I would assume Jose Ortega Romero, if he was released
21:39
Speaker 1: last night, would be long gone today.
21:41
Speaker 2: And again, we're talking someone that killed somebody, right? I mean, yeah,
21:45
Speaker 2: he didn't do it with a gun, didn't do it
21:47
Speaker 2: with a knife. But I guarantee you this. The family
21:51
Speaker 2: of that 70-year-old gentleman who went out to enjoy a
21:53
Speaker 2: leisurely Sunday drive in his Porsche who no longer has
21:56
Speaker 2: their family member, I bet it hurts just as much
21:59
Speaker 2: as had it been a violent crime. And that family
22:02
Speaker 2: deserves justice. And that's why we need a better system
22:05
Speaker 2: to hold people accountable when they hurt people or kill
22:09
Speaker 2: them in our community like individuals like Jose Ortega Romero.
22:13
Speaker 3: And I would say Douglas County Sheriff, Omaha Police, the.
22:16
Speaker 1: State Patrol, you know, good for you for being out
22:21
Speaker 1: there and trying to protect us in this baloney from
22:25
Speaker 1: the Flatwater Press.
22:26
Speaker 3: I just I couldn't believe this article. It was it
22:29
Speaker 3: was so slanted.
22:31
Speaker 1: Towards saying you are undermining trust with local law enforcement
22:36
Speaker 1: because you work in collaboration with ICE. I mean this
22:40
Speaker 1: is an article that's really hard to understand why they would.
22:44
Speaker 3: Even do it.
22:44
Speaker 2: Many victims of crimes that we have helped solve their crimes,
22:48
Speaker 2: help them, especially skilled laborers, and we never ask them, right?
22:52
Speaker 2: Immigrant skilled laborers. We never ask them, are you here
22:56
Speaker 2: in the country legally? It's not your job. We don't
22:58
Speaker 2: do that because we don't want to disrupt that trust.
23:01
Speaker 2: We want every innocent law-abiding person in our community to
23:04
Speaker 2: understand that law enforcement and the sheriff's office is here
23:07
Speaker 2: to protect them and we have their back.
23:09
Speaker 1: I appreciate you being here with us. Do you have
23:11
Speaker 1: time to stay on after a quick break?
23:13
Speaker 4: Sure.
23:13
Speaker 1: Because I did want to get to, you put out
23:15
Speaker 1: a video talking about the homeless, unsheltered, that we have
23:19
Speaker 1: here in Omaha, and I'd like to get you to
23:21
Speaker 1: talk about that video you put out a little bit.
23:23
Speaker 3: So, Peyton, we're done for this section.
23:26
Speaker 4: Gene Stothert on the KFAB Comment Line, live with Sheriff
23:30
Speaker 4: Aaron Hansen, returning next after Fox News.
23:32
Speaker 1: Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hansen has agreed to be.
23:35
Speaker 3: With us for the second.
23:38
Speaker 1: Part of this show today, because there was another thing
23:41
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk to you about, and that is
23:43
Speaker 1: the homeless situation in Omaha. You published a video that
23:46
Speaker 1: came out, I think, just this weekend or late last week. And,
23:49
Speaker 1: you know, I will say this. Sheriff Hansen and I,
23:52
Speaker 1: when I was mayor, we didn't always agree on this subject.
23:54
Speaker 2: That's right.
23:55
Speaker 1: I mean we didn't– there was a lot of times
23:57
Speaker 1: we didn't agree at all on what the solution was
24:01
Speaker 1: to the homeless. But we knew that we had to
24:04
Speaker 1: find some sort of solution and work together. I hired
24:08
Speaker 1: Tamara Dwyer as a homeless service coordinator. back in 2022,
24:15
Speaker 1: and she started in December. You know, she came from
24:19
Speaker 1: working with MATCH, which is Metro Area Continuum Care for
24:22
Speaker 1: the Homeless, and she was one of over 100 applicants
24:26
Speaker 1: for that position. I felt like she was doing a
24:29
Speaker 1: very good job, that she was trying to coordinate all
24:32
Speaker 1: the services that were already in Omaha. But were we
24:37
Speaker 1: really seeing that much of an improvement? If you looked
24:42
Speaker 1: at the statistics, you could statistically see that there was
24:46
Speaker 1: an improvement. But I want to make sure people understand
24:49
Speaker 1: there is a real difference with our homeless population between
24:53
Speaker 1: the sheltered and the unsheltered. The sheltered are within our shelters.
24:58
Speaker 1: A lot of time it's a temporary homeless situation. Sometimes
25:02
Speaker 1: it's trying to get people back on their feet. These
25:05
Speaker 1: unsheltered that we see in Omaha are the ones that
25:08
Speaker 1: get the biggest attention because you see these tents being
25:12
Speaker 1: put up on intersections and on the fringes of our parks.
25:17
Speaker 1: You see a lot of people that have not only
25:20
Speaker 1: mentally injured, that they have mental problems, but they also
25:24
Speaker 1: have a lot of physical problems too.
25:27
Speaker 3: And we know that.
25:28
Speaker 1: So Sheriff Hanson, you and I have worked together on
25:30
Speaker 1: this quite a bit. You put out this video. It
25:34
Speaker 1: showed a fire under one of the bridges of a
25:37
Speaker 1: tent community. I think that was under there. Let's talk
25:40
Speaker 1: about where we're at now and what you see as
25:44
Speaker 1: a solution for our unsheltered.
25:47
Speaker 2: Well, I think that's the biggest issue. warning flag. If
25:50
Speaker 2: anybody comes up, if any politician, if any bureaucrat comes
25:54
Speaker 2: up and says, I have the only solution, do exactly
25:57
Speaker 2: what I say, I have the solution, especially when it's
26:00
Speaker 2: like a complex public safety or mental health or public
26:03
Speaker 2: health problem, run as far away and as fast as
26:06
Speaker 2: you can from those people.
26:08
Speaker 3: Or it would have been solved a long time ago.
26:10
Speaker 2: That's right. Because to solve these difficult issues and The
26:16
Speaker 2: issue with behavioral health and addiction and unsheltered people on
26:20
Speaker 2: our streets, it's going to require a team of rivals, right?
26:24
Speaker 2: And that's tough for politicians because everybody wants to paint
26:26
Speaker 2: their flag and say– or post their flag and say,
26:29
Speaker 2: I'm the one that did it, right? Well, it's going
26:31
Speaker 2: to take a team of rivals. It's like a baseball team, right?
26:34
Speaker 2: You can't be a good baseball team if everybody is
26:36
Speaker 2: the pitcher. You've got to have a variety of players there.
26:41
Speaker 2: And so my position consistently– since I've been sheriff and
26:46
Speaker 2: even before that, is we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach
26:51
Speaker 2: to this problem. Last week, here's a perfect example. Last week,
26:56
Speaker 2: my homeless coordinator that works for the sheriff's office part-time
27:01
Speaker 2: worked with our partners in the Stevens Center. We became
27:04
Speaker 2: aware of a single mom with a six-year-old daughter living
27:08
Speaker 2: in a storage garage in western Douglas County. And we
27:13
Speaker 2: problem-solved it together. And she was not living in a tent, right?
27:17
Speaker 2: Thank God. I'd rather the six-year-old not be living in
27:20
Speaker 2: a storage garage. But we worked with our partners in
27:22
Speaker 2: the outreach community to get her into a shelter. And actually,
27:26
Speaker 2: in this case, we got her into the Lydia House,
27:29
Speaker 2: the open-door mission. And that took a couple days. That's
27:32
Speaker 2: a very different situation than someone who is struggling with
27:39
Speaker 2: unaddressed schizophrenia, drug use, maybe fentanyl addiction. living in a
27:45
Speaker 2: tent under that bridge that you saw, that you referenced
27:48
Speaker 2: that picture, that tent that was on fire. You know,
27:52
Speaker 2: very different. And we're doing a disservice to both of
27:54
Speaker 2: those folks if we think that we can just drop
27:57
Speaker 2: a template on a one-size-fits-all approach in either of those situations.
28:01
Speaker 2: And it's going to take a team of rivals all
28:04
Speaker 2: working together with a continuous culture.
28:08
Speaker 1: One of the things you said is you said you
28:10
Speaker 1: thought the solution was a combination of things. And you
28:14
Speaker 1: mentioned case management. You mentioned enhanced acute behavior, mental health infrastructure.
28:21
Speaker 1: And you also said forced medication. Now, that got some
28:26
Speaker 1: people riled up a bit. And myself, too, Sheriff Hansen,
28:30
Speaker 1: because obviously I have a background of being a nurse.
28:33
Speaker 3: And I understand that.
28:35
Speaker 1: Where meds can be forced and when they cannot be forced,
28:38
Speaker 1: patients have a right to refuse treatment. But in certain
28:43
Speaker 1: emergency or life-threatening situations where that person is a threat
28:47
Speaker 1: to themselves or others, they could be deemed a danger
28:51
Speaker 1: and they could be, I don't want to say forced,
28:56
Speaker 1: but they could be compelled to take meds under special
28:59
Speaker 1: legal framework.
29:00
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about anybody with just mental health issues, right?
29:03
Speaker 2: A large cross-section of our community as mental health issues
29:06
Speaker 2: struggling from anywhere from depression or PTSD or anything like that.
29:11
Speaker 2: And in most cases, it doesn't impact anybody around them.
29:15
Speaker 2: What I'm talking about is that very acute population that
29:19
Speaker 2: are usually, almost exclusively, already under the supervision of maybe
29:24
Speaker 2: the Board of Mental Health, Department of Health and Human Services,
29:28
Speaker 2: people that are already under court supervision. Court or government supervision.
29:32
Speaker 2: And would this mean.
29:33
Speaker 1: That they are not competent to make their own decisions?
29:36
Speaker 1: They're conscious and they're not competent to make their own decisions.
29:39
Speaker 2: And I think we need updated state laws. So for example,
29:42
Speaker 2: here's what I know from the research that I've done
29:46
Speaker 2: and talked to people around the country. Even in this
29:49
Speaker 2: acutely mentally ill population, if they can, if 80%, if
29:56
Speaker 2: they can be managed with medication, right? And not just
30:00
Speaker 2: choose to say, well, I'm going to succumb to my
30:03
Speaker 2: own mental health condition addiction. You know, if they can
30:06
Speaker 2: be managed on that medication, 80% of that population could
30:10
Speaker 2: be case managed out in the community. They can live
30:13
Speaker 2: a life of dignity. In some cases, they can work.
30:16
Speaker 2: They can live in an apartment. They can be managed, right,
30:19
Speaker 2: with that medication. And then that is going to save
30:23
Speaker 2: our community a lot of money because then we can
30:26
Speaker 2: focus instead on that 20%. that we know are just
30:30
Speaker 2: chronic that need really enhanced care. They need to be
30:34
Speaker 2: in a mental health institution to be able to get
30:37
Speaker 2: them back on track.
30:39
Speaker 1: But still, if you're going to give them medication, they've
30:41
Speaker 1: got to be under some sort of medical supervision or
30:45
Speaker 1: they're not going to take it.
30:46
Speaker 2: It would have to be.
30:47
Speaker 3: So they would have to be in custody somewhere.
30:49
Speaker 2: In that case, you're only talking about individuals that are
30:54
Speaker 2: already under some type of a court order or court supervision.
30:59
Speaker 2: We're not just talking about random people out there in
31:02
Speaker 2: the community that maybe have depression or dealing with some
31:06
Speaker 2: other type of mental illness that is managed on their own.
31:09
Speaker 1: And that's what I really wanted you to explain because
31:11
Speaker 1: when people hear forced medication, they're like, whoa. But what
31:15
Speaker 1: you're talking about is they have to be under some
31:18
Speaker 1: sort of special legal framework that allows them to be
31:22
Speaker 1: able to to be medicated.
31:24
Speaker 2: When I tell you who's the biggest advocate for that,
31:26
Speaker 2: a lot of the parents I talk to whose kids
31:29
Speaker 2: are living in these homeless encampments and they're refusing to
31:33
Speaker 2: get any help at all. They're terrified that they're going
31:35
Speaker 2: to get that call in the morning that their kid
31:37
Speaker 2: is dead, either died overnight of frostbite, died in a fire,
31:41
Speaker 2: died of a drug overdose, was murdered, stabbed or raped.
31:44
Speaker 2: We owe it to these very vulnerable people to update
31:48
Speaker 2: our state laws and public policies to actually give them
31:52
Speaker 2: a shot at and a life of dignity. You're not
31:55
Speaker 2: doing any good for these folks if you look at
31:57
Speaker 2: them and say, gosh, I'm so glad we upheld their
32:00
Speaker 2: constitutional rights to live in a tent and die of
32:03
Speaker 2: a drug overdose on the corner. That's not justice. That's injustice.
32:08
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
32:08
Speaker 1: Now, there is a task force, a homeless, what do
32:11
Speaker 1: we call it, homeless service task force. I mean, I
32:13
Speaker 1: know Tamara's on it. I know there's people of the OPD,
32:17
Speaker 1: Sheriff's Department. Are these things that you are discussing with
32:21
Speaker 1: the group that... is on the task force? I mean,
32:25
Speaker 1: are you bringing this up? And is there any agreement
32:28
Speaker 1: of how, you know, Sheriff Hanson, I got to bring up,
32:31
Speaker 1: I lived in Seattle, Washington in the 1980s. A lot
32:35
Speaker 1: of people listening weren't even born yet. In the 1980s,
32:38
Speaker 1: they had a huge homeless population there. They still do.
32:42
Speaker 1: If this was easy, this would have been solved a
32:44
Speaker 1: long time ago. This is not easy, folks.
32:47
Speaker 2: It's not easy. And luckily, there are good conversations that
32:50
Speaker 2: are occurring. So the sheriff's office is an interlocal partner
32:54
Speaker 2: with the Continuum of Care here. Every area in the
32:57
Speaker 2: nation has to have a Continuum of Care.
32:59
Speaker 5: Right.
32:59
Speaker 2: And we have it. That's a collaborative team of rivals.
33:02
Speaker 3: Metro Area Continuum of Care for Homeless.
33:04
Speaker 2: But what's happening right now is there's very serious discussions
33:08
Speaker 2: happening on the state and local level. State senators, county attorney,
33:12
Speaker 2: public defender, mental health community here, Region 6, health care providers,
33:18
Speaker 2: to try to figure out what type of a legislative
33:21
Speaker 2: package can be introduced in this next legislative session to
33:25
Speaker 2: really start to get to heart of the problem. I'm
33:27
Speaker 2: gonna tell you something, the numbers are scary. One person
33:32
Speaker 2: being institutionalized for mental health costs a half million dollars
33:36
Speaker 2: a year. One person. So you start doing the math
33:40
Speaker 2: on that. If we don't find a better way to
33:42
Speaker 2: case manage these folks and help them stay medicated and
33:46
Speaker 2: help them regain a life of dignity, we're not only
33:49
Speaker 2: doing a disservice to them and their families, I don't
33:52
Speaker 2: know that the taxpayers can absorb that cost. All right.
33:57
Speaker 1: And I would assume you are not one that would
33:59
Speaker 1: support– it was brought up for a while back about
34:03
Speaker 1: arresting or putting into custody some of the homeless.
34:07
Speaker 2: Well, if you're littering, if you're committing a crime, like
34:10
Speaker 2: you shouldn't be wrapped in bubble wrap if you're a
34:14
Speaker 2: homeless person from– you shouldn't be protected from being– arrested
34:19
Speaker 2: for committing a crime. So if I'm on private property
34:21
Speaker 2: and I'm throwing trash all over the place, yeah, you
34:24
Speaker 2: could be subject to arrest. If I'm trespassing on private property,
34:27
Speaker 2: regardless of whether I have a home or not, you
34:29
Speaker 2: can be subject to arrest. If I'm doing drugs in
34:31
Speaker 2: those areas, but just being arrested because you're homeless, no
34:35
Speaker 2: one has never, that's never even been a conversation. All right.
34:39
Speaker 1: Sheriff Aaron Hanson, we could talk for a couple more hours,
34:41
Speaker 1: but we've got commercials and things to do here. I
34:45
Speaker 1: really appreciate you being on this morning. Really interesting subject.
34:48
Speaker 2: Thanks for the tough questions. I love them. I'll take them.
34:52
Speaker 1: We had tough questions for each other for many, many years,
34:55
Speaker 1: didn't we?
34:55
Speaker 3: But you know what?
34:56
Speaker 1: We still work together and hopefully we'll continue to get
34:59
Speaker 1: things done in Omaha. I really appreciate the job that
35:01
Speaker 1: you do. Appreciate you coming in here. Good to have
35:04
Speaker 1: you on the show. Thank you, Sheriff Aaron Hanson, Sheriff
35:06
Speaker 1: of the Douglas County Sheriff's Department. Appreciate you being here today.
35:09
Speaker 2: Thank you.
35:10
Speaker 3: And that is very true.
35:11
Speaker 4: Kfab.com slash podcast or the free iHeartRadio app. And we
35:15
Speaker 4: had an amazing guest today who you can also find
35:18
Speaker 4: in a little bit on the podcast page. Absolutely.
35:20
Speaker 5: Thanks.
35:21
Speaker 1: Many thanks to Omaha Sheriff, Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson.
35:24
Speaker 1: You know, really, really interesting update on this incident that
35:28
Speaker 1: happened just late yesterday afternoon or early evening yesterday with Mr.
35:35
Speaker 1: Ortega Romero and And the interaction that local law enforcement
35:41
Speaker 1: have with ICE, you know, I said before, the Omaha
35:44
Speaker 1: Police Department, they are not ICE agents. They do not
35:48
Speaker 1: go checking door-to-door people's legal status. There's nothing to be
35:52
Speaker 1: afraid of with them. But they do work in cooperation
35:55
Speaker 1: with ICE. But this article that was in Flatwater Press
35:59
Speaker 1: just really attacked Sheriff Hansen and none of the other
36:02
Speaker 1: local law enforcement that also work work in collaboration with
36:06
Speaker 1: ICE when there's criminal activity. So I thought it was very,
36:10
Speaker 1: very interesting. The other thing is about the homeless, the
36:14
Speaker 1: unsheltered homeless that we have in Omaha. And I meant
36:16
Speaker 1: it when I said Sheriff Hansen and I didn't always agree.
36:19
Speaker 1: In fact, we used to argue about the best way
36:22
Speaker 1: to approach the homeless, unsheltered situation when within the city
36:27
Speaker 1: of Omaha. And that's when I hired Tamara Dwyer in
36:31
Speaker 1: 2022 as a homeless service coordinator for the city of Omaha. But,
36:35
Speaker 1: you know, um, his solutions, he's come out with different
36:38
Speaker 1: solutions that he thinks, uh, including case management and, and, um,
36:44
Speaker 1: other approaches that he would take. But I think the
36:47
Speaker 1: important thing is, is that we focus, this is a problem.
36:51
Speaker 1: If it was an easy solution, it would have been
36:54
Speaker 1: taken care of a long, long time ago. And so
36:58
Speaker 1: many of these unsheltered, they are dealing with severe mental
37:02
Speaker 1: health issues, and they're also dealing with severe physical health
37:06
Speaker 1: issues too.
37:07
Speaker 3: And so it is a big issue.
37:09
Speaker 1: I think the city of Omaha has made a lot
37:12
Speaker 1: of progress with what they are doing. I wish Tamara
37:14
Speaker 1: Dwyer could be on this show because I think she
37:17
Speaker 1: does a great job. But as we know, Mayor John
37:21
Speaker 1: Ewing will not let his staff be on this show.
37:24
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
37:25
Speaker 4: And, Jean, I have an email here that came in
37:28
Speaker 4: at comment at KFAB.com. And it's a pretty strongly worded email.
37:32
Speaker 4: So I'm going to not read this on the air,
37:35
Speaker 4: but I want to ask you a question with the
37:39
Speaker 4: general idea, the general theme of the email. And it's
37:42
Speaker 4: basically saying I will never support paying high dollars for
37:47
Speaker 4: no standard of living with a person completely out of
37:50
Speaker 4: their mind. You know, at what point? I don't think
37:53
Speaker 4: anybody wants homeless around. Nobody wants anybody else to be homeless.
37:57
Speaker 4: But at what cost does the price that you pay
38:01
Speaker 4: as a taxpaying citizen make it– I don't know how
38:06
Speaker 4: much I agree with that anymore.
38:07
Speaker 2: Do you get what I'm trying to ask you there?
38:08
Speaker 1: I absolutely do, and I got to say I agree
38:12
Speaker 1: with you. It's just that it's costing taxpayers a lot
38:16
Speaker 1: of money too to have all of these tent communities
38:19
Speaker 1: all over the city– with people that have mental health
38:22
Speaker 1: problems and physical health problems littering all over our city.
38:26
Speaker 1: I mean, that's not a good thing either for us
38:29
Speaker 1: to do. You know, the current mayor, Mayor Ewing, will
38:32
Speaker 1: say it's all about housing. We need more affordable housing.
38:36
Speaker 1: It's not just about we need more affordable housing. We
38:39
Speaker 1: do need more affordable housing. But how much is that
38:43
Speaker 1: going to cost the taxpayers? And then that is not
38:46
Speaker 1: going to solve the problem of mental health and physical
38:49
Speaker 1: health issues. And so it needs somebody to coordinate all
38:53
Speaker 1: of the street outreach, the mental health providers, those that
38:57
Speaker 1: are in our community that can get together and come
39:01
Speaker 1: up with some solutions that will help. But to say,
39:04
Speaker 1: are we going to completely eliminate? The homeless situation in
39:09
Speaker 1: Omaha and Douglas County or in this country, it would
39:11
Speaker 1: have been done a long time ago if there was
39:13
Speaker 1: a solution. I have seen more people on medians and
39:17
Speaker 1: intersections recently than I have seen in quite a while.
39:21
Speaker 1: And if you recall, back several years ago, we passed
39:25
Speaker 1: an ordinance, the city council did, that actually it forbids anybody.
39:32
Speaker 1: from being on these medians. Anybody, I can't campaign on it.
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Speaker 1: Peyton can't talk about soccer on it or a homeless
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Speaker 1: person can't be on it because it proposed a danger.
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Speaker 1: That's the only way we could address homeless panhandling are
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Speaker 1: sitting on intersections. Because if we mentioned the word homeless today,
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Speaker 1: The ACLU jumped right down our throats and said, you
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Speaker 1: cannot prevent this homeless person from being on that median
40:02
Speaker 1: because they have constitutional rights to be there just like
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Speaker 1: you do. And you can't use the word homeless. You
40:09
Speaker 1: can just make it all or nothing. Nobody can be
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Speaker 1: on this busy median. You can't say a homeless person
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Speaker 1: cannot be on the median because they will say they
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Speaker 1: have just as many rights as you and I do.
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Speaker 4: Two minutes here left on the KFAB comment line. You're
40:23
Speaker 4: our host of the show, Gene Stothert. Let's get one
40:25
Speaker 4: quick phone call in here. Pete, you are live with
40:27
Speaker 4: Gene Stothert on KFAB.
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Speaker 3: Good morning, Pete.
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Speaker 4: Good morning, Gene.
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Speaker 5: I hope you're doing great. You know, I agree quite
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Speaker 5: a bit with Sheriff Hansen on this issue, and it
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Speaker 5: sounds like with you as well. You know, we're not doing...
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Speaker 5: The people, what are we supposed to say now? Experiencing
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Speaker 5: houselessness or whatever.
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Speaker 3: Experiencing homelessness.
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Speaker 5: We're not doing them any favors. Experiencing homelessness. We're not
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Speaker 5: doing them any favors by just letting them stay out
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Speaker 5: there and rot in a tent and end up dead
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Speaker 5: by overdose or this or that. I know somebody who
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Speaker 5: has been homeless. And that person, when they were homeless,
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Speaker 5: it wasn't because they didn't know anybody they could stay
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Speaker 5: with and they had absolutely no place to go. It
41:18
Speaker 5: was because that person was making a series of incredibly
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Speaker 5: bad decisions. they got them kicked out of an apartment
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Speaker 5: and hooked on some drugs. And before you know it,
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Speaker 5: they didn't have a place to go because they'd shut
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Speaker 5: everybody out of their life so that they could do drugs.
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Speaker 5: And I think that's a pretty common case. So it's
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Speaker 5: incumbent upon us, whatever your creed is in the world,
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Speaker 5: it's incumbent upon us to help them get back on
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Speaker 5: their feet and Absolutely.
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Speaker 3: And you know what?
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry for cutting you off because the music is
41:53
Speaker 1: playing here. But I agree with you. And one reason
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Speaker 1: that the unsheltered don't want to go into the shelters
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Speaker 1: that we have is because they have to follow the
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Speaker 1: rules and they don't want to follow the rules. So
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Speaker 1: we have a lot more to talk about tomorrow. We'll
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Speaker 1: pick up this subject tomorrow. But that is it for
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Speaker 1: us today. We are glad that you have joined us
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Speaker 1: and we'd love for you to join us again tomorrow.
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Speaker 3: I'm Jean Stothert and this is 1110 KFAB.