SUTTONS BAY -- Leelanau Sheriff Mike Oltersdorf shouldn't need any help investigating allegations that his deputies illegally entered homes, the American Civil Liberties Union said.
The ACLU said in an Oct. 5 letter to Oltersdorf that deputies illegally entered Leelanau County homes on at least five separate occasions from mid-2007 through this summer. The deputies were looking for underage drinkers in each instance.
Oltersdorf sent letters on Oct. 9 and Oct. 21 inviting ACLU representatives to meet with him. He contends he can't complete an investigation because the ACLU's letter doesn't provide dates, addresses, alleged victims' names or other information he needs.
"There is no way for me to substantiate their allegations without their cooperation," Oltersdorf said.
But the civil rights group's letter includes months and years of the alleged incidents, and local ACLU representative Steve Morse believes it provides "sufficient information" for Oltersdorf to investigate. A Monday letter from the ACLU to Oltersdorf said he shouldn't need any more info.
"When we say an incident occurred in Leland in June of 2009, it's not as though there were hundreds of situations in which there is a search of a house for a minor in possession," Morse said.
Tickets issued in some of the incidents also were thrown out by 86th District Judge Thomas Phillips and Leelanau Prosecutor Joe Hubbell, leaving a paper trail. The ACLU's Monday letter said those dismissals mark "indisputable evidence" that deputies behaved inappropriately.
"(Oltersdorf) appears to take the position that we have some kind of burden of proof here, which would be true if its a matter of litigation, but it's not," Morse said. "We're simply reporting (incidents) that have been brought to our attention by members of the public."
Oltersdorf said in his most recent letter to the ACLU that he plans to personally investigate the allegations, though he won't rule out bringing in an outside agency.
"You may share your findings with another source and I will cooperate 100 percent with them," he wrote. "Ideally, the people who were involved and subjected to the alleged abuse will come forward and reiterate their first-hand experiences to me."
But the ACLU said some of the alleged victims aren't eager to meet with police.
"Some of them did not trust your department to police itself and, after having their rights violated once, did not want to be interrogated again by other sheriff's deputies," the Monday letter reads.
Related Stories:
- Sheriff to look into ACLU allegations
- ACLU alleges Leelanau deputies broke law
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