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He’s shored up his law-and-order image with dramatic busts of drug smugglers, prostitution rings, and dogfighting operations. A few weeks ago he and his deputies invited fugitives to a hotel to collect “holiday gift cards” and led them away in handcuffs. At the same time Dart has been signaling that he’s aggressively looking out for the little people with crackdowns on child support scofflaws and his brief refusal to evict the residents of foreclosed properties, which made national news.
Dart has been trying to settle his office’s portion of the 40-year-old Shakman legal battles over patronage hiring, firing, and promotions. On Thursday he announced that his office was working with a court-ordered Shakman compliance officer and launching a new Web site designed to keep voters informed about its progress. The site, sheriffshakman.com, includes relevant court documents and forms for people who want to file claims that they were illegally discriminated against for political reasons. As retired judge and compliance officer officer Clifford L. Meacham gets going, his reports will also be posted, according to a statement from Dart.
