HOW WE SEE IT: Impersonation Case Needs To Be Pursued

If there’s one thing we know about constables in Arkansas, it’s this: They don’t need help looking ridiculous.

Constables are a constitutional office that once played an important role in law enforcement, but the position today is unneeded. Cities have police forces and counties have large sheriff ’s offices ready to respond when someone with a badge and gun is needed.

It will require a constitutional amendment to eradicate the useless post, but it seems there’s always something else more important in need of amendments. We’re stuck with them.

But at the least we expect a man who lost his bid for reelection as constable to give up his delusions of being a real law enforcement officer.

Tom Clowers reportedly’ , ended up in jail.

Clowers served as a Washington County constable since 1998, and he took the position seriously. Many constables accept the title and don’t do much with it. But Clowers outfitted a car with blue lights and tried to make it look official. It read “Civil Officer” on the side. He also acquired a uniform.

Clowers, however, was defeated in November and gave up the offce Dec. 31. According to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, however, he was arrested after reports of a man had stopping a driver in Rogers. The person who complained said the car had blue lights, and the man was wearing a jacket with a sewn-on badge. The uniformed man left after the driver challenged his authority as an officer. A sheriff’s deputy spotted the car, with “Civil Officer” on its side, while on patrol at another location.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Clowers told investigating officers he believes he has the right to make traffic stops.

Clowers, even as a private citizen, is making constables look bad. And they don’t need any help.

Even if Clowers was still a constable, with some modicum of authority, he was well outside his jurisdiction when it’s alleged he pretended to be a law enforcement officer.

Count us among those glad to see the Sheriff’s Office take into custody the tools Clowers could use to make an unsuspecting citizen believe he was a legitimate officer.

We credit Prosecutor Van Stone for agreeing to file charges in the case. Nobody needs to turn a blind eye to actions that undermine the work of real police officers. If Clowers did what he’s accused of doing, it presents a danger not only to him, but to the public and the real officers trying to serve and protect.

People need an assurance that anyone running blue lights and wearing a uniform who looks like an officer is, in fact, an authorized law enforcement officer. We’re glad Benton County is trying to assure citizens they can feel that way.

CASUALTIES OF WAR To honor the men and women in our armed forces and remind our readers of their sacrifices, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers is publishing Department of Defense announcements identifying Americans killed in active military operations.

Army Sgt. Enrique Mondragon, 23, of The Colony, Texas, died Dec. 24, in Baraki Barak, Afghanistan, from wounds suft ered when his unit was attacked by small-arms-fire while on dismounted patrol. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany.