YOUR COMMENTS

If you think we are winning the war on drugs, spend a vacation day in El Paso and travel over the border to Juarez for day.
12-20 murders per day. It's coming North due to Nixon's temperance movement. It's only a matter of time.
- Mike, Portland

It seems that too often in this state when someone tries to challenge authority and questions whether rights are being violated the attempt is to threaten them into submission as has been tried here. It didn't work. Brad Jardis, stood up for himself and did protect the badge. What some people can't see is that by doing so he also protects many other civilians and police officers because maybe someone thinks twice about doing it to someone else.
We need more BRAD JARDIS' who wear the badge and aren't afraid to stand up the bad apples and expose the real goings on behind closed doors in some of the states police depts.
- Jason, Jaffrey

I have been following this article and comments for the past few days and finally I have noticed that people have sterted to write about the true reason that this man was brought up for suspension/termination-- His REFUSAL to follow orders. He may not believe in the laws as written but has an obvious problem with following them. Why is he a police officer then? There were a few people who had tried to explain in the comment section that they had a problem with particular things that he felt were immoral ( I think was the word used by one) but as I read all I got out of this womans comments was she was uncomfortable about him upholding the laws when he clearly did not agree with them. People tried to turn it around to whether or not there was a problem with the drinking age which was not what I got out of her comments at all. What I got out of her comments was exactly what she wrote-- she has a problem with him not believing in the laws he is supposed to uphold and whether or not he can be trusted to do so. My feeling is that the epping PD chief Dodge should clean his house- so to speak- and stay on top of all of his officers. I would think with him being chief for that town for so long ( I checked how long he's been there) he more than knows his job and obviously does well for the town, if he thinks that Jardis should go then he should but he should also look at the other officers in question and get rid of them as well.
- Kay, Derry

The current war on drugs is not working. Once we legalize it, we can tax it, treat it, and monitor it. Has anyone done research on the Great Prohibition on alcohol? That didn't work either. I agree, recreational items such as alcohol and marijuana do need to be heavily monitored. And just because alcohol is legal doesn't mean it can't tear apart families. It needs to be used in moderation.

I am not a drinker nor marijuana smoker. Nor do I plan to rush out and start smoking marijuana the minute the law changes. The reason why I don't drink or smoke isn't because of the law; it's because of the way I was raised. I was taught to treat these things as to be used in moderation-- too much of anything is just too much.

I agree that marijuana should be legalized--- AND that laws should be imposed on its use, just like alcohol. I agree with Officer Jardis' position.
- R, Hooksett,NH

Change the name of the police dept to Stepford Police. Seems that the administration wants officers to think in a uniform manner. No deviation accepted.
How sad. This happens in other professions and I feel that everyone with an opinion is deservant of it.
- mary, Mass

the 60s generation are back to say knock it off and let the officer do his job, stop scapegoating anyone who stands up for his beliefs.
- bb, allover nh

Jail all the pot smokers? I'll drink to that!!

Good luck Brad and thanks for being a Peace Officer and not a thug intent on controlling what adults do with their own bodies.
- Bob C, Grafton ,NH

I’m familiar with quite a few cops and am also familiar with some of the different personalities that these cops have. The problem seems to always be with seasoned officers of 10, 12 and 15 years, that we keep hearing are the ones disobeying orders and then ending up fired. I doubt that most are suddenly having mental breakdowns and becoming bad cops, but instead have become seasoned, experienced and knowledgeable cops. Cops who know the laws and know how the laws are sometimes used and manipulated in order to protect those that are in the wrong. Sometimes those in the wrong are in their own departments. When it’s these people that have done the illegal and unethical things and it’s the superiors wish to squelch any admittance to this bad behavior it’s the one who has brought it forward that gets labeled trouble maker and then gets fired. It’s too bad we keep losing good cops because I don’t agree that if you do not follow a bad order that automatically makes you a bad cop.

Sometimes the motivation of the one giving the order should be examined and not the other way around. That is democracy – not blindly following orders just because you’re told you have to.

Would you lay on the railroad track waiting for the next train to run you over just because your superior told you too?
- George, Manchester

First, Mr Jardis is a US citizen and on his own time he can belong to whatever legal organization he likes.

LEAP is saying the obvious - prohibition not only doesn't work, it creates a new class of problems, and these problems are worse than the drugs they are trying to stop.

Prohibition doesn't work because there are not enough resources. No matter how hard law enforcement tries, there are just not enough officers to put a dent in the trade.

With all due respect to the police, I hope people are teaching their kids to stay away from drugs because its not realistic to think the police can stop drugs.
- tom, concord

This guy has a history of either challenging his superiors or being supportive of those that do (Matt Doyle from Kensington PD, who was fired, comes to mind-check the blogs from a few years back in this paper on that issue and you will see what I mean). If Greg Dodge and/or Mike Wallace, two of the nicest guys going, recommend you should go, then you should go. Epping PD, under the direction of Greg Dodge, managed to survive before Jardis got there and will do so after he is gone......he is a blowhard
- Jay Mack, Portsmouth

The guy is a mess. A police officer should be a role model for kids. This guy should be ashamed of himself. Jerks like him are trying to mainstrem drugs. Is the Epping police doing drug testing for its officers? This jerk needs to change his ways.
- Tom, Epping

Dear Officer Jardis,

Do the law enforcement profession a favor and resign your appointment. It is quite obvious you possess a superior intellectual capacity to all other law enforcement officers with your vast knowledge from a high school education and very short years of experience as a police officer in the town of Epping. A person of your insight, knowledge, expertise should anticipate an appointment to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

You not only bring disgrace and dishonor to the law enforcement officer's oath of office, but you also tarnish the very badge you wear on your chest just so you can fulfill you and your organization's own self serving polical agenda. You and your 130 member organization do not speak for the law enforcement profession! And regardless of what harassment you've experienced at your own agency, you brought this on by yourself. And stop wrapping yourself in the Constitution. Seeing you're such a worldly person, you're probably aware of U.S. Supreme Court decisions pertaining to 1st Amendment rights and public employees. The simple solution to your problem was to keep your opinion and statements to yourself.

While you're standing on your soap box, when was the last time you spoke with a DEA or ATF agent? How about an undercover narcotics officer? These are men and women who are in harms way preventing poison from reaching our children. Talk to those who know the real impact of illicit drugs in our society. But you think all these bad things will go away when we legalize drugs.

Do the words "integrity", "honor", "duty", "trust", and "dedication"mean anything? Does "chain of command" come to mind? Or weren't you taught this at the NH Police Academy. When you took that oath as a law enforcement officer, you gave a promise to enforce all laws fairly and without bias or prejudice...whether you agreed with the laws or not. You apparently have a different perspective of this oath.

This breach of your oath means you're not obligated to enforce those laws enacted through our democratic process...the will of the people. Nor are you obligated to obey ranking/superior officers because you disagree with certain laws. Enjoy the ranks of the unemployed.
- LT, Laconia

Unless I missed something, from what I am reading about Brad Jardis, he was suspended after allegations he was insubordinate and violated standard operating procedures and policies.

NOT BECAUSE HE BELIEVES THE “WAR ON DRUGS” IS NOT WORKING, at least on the surface.

Initially, it appears, Jardis complained of being targeted for beliefs that did not mirror his superiors.

A separate internal investigation ensued some months later due to Jardis handling of a case. He effused to follow what he believed to be an illegal order given by his superior. Because of that belief, he was found guilty of not following standard operating procedures and he was also found guilty of discussing with fellow officers his concerns about his treatment and looking for support before going to the union via email.

Paramilitary organization aside, whenever a superior orders a subordinate worker to do something and that worker refuses it MIGHT be grounds for dismissal.

However, no boss or superior can order you to do something that will put you in harm’s way outside of the line of duty of your job, order you to do or say something that is illegal, or prevent you from doing or saying something that is legal, nor can you be ordered to do something against public policy, be it a police job or waitress job, unless the superiors are willing to accept the consequences of the actions.

This looks like it could be another case of a police officer being targeted, being fired and then filing a lawsuit against the town.

In these small towns, they don’t expect that the dismissed employees have the where with all to go up against them. These small towns think that employees will just walk away and give up everything that they worked for and will just give in to the political power plays that are infamous in their way of dealing with opposition.

However, they should be seeing a trend that is taking place where violations of rights and freedoms aren’t being tolerated so easily and employees are fighting back.

The police, in particular, in the state of NH are beginning to look more and more corrupt each day as our new Attorney General Michael Delaney has shown us over the past several months since he has taken over the position.

Either Jardis has a 10 year career that he suddenly screwed up just because, as the police are having us to believe, or he is being targeted for termination for having views that although are not illegal , simply don’t match that of his employer.

If that is the case, it is concerning, because we don’t want to have such closed door policies that we stifle growth of knowledge.

I hope the people making the determination of whether to fire or not are open minded individuals who are not puppets doing somebody else’s bidding.

I am not a member, nor do I know any members, I just did a little research on my own and LEAP is not an organization that believes in the free for all use of drugs but an organization that believes the methods used today in the war on drugs are not working and alternatives that work better for all of society are needed. Whether you agree or not that is their philosophy.

From there website: The mission of LEAP is to reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition.

Good Luck Brad in whatever your future endeavors become.
- Dale, Keene

Jardis- You are a public servant, in an organization that takes orders. If you want to be a public figure run for the NH legislature. Otherwise, pipe down and just do your job. I hope they dump you; I wouldn’t want a loud self serving guy like you policing my community.
- Tim, Enfield

Brad, I followed your story very closely since the end of 2008. Keep up standing for what you believe in. Your friend ...
- Steffen, Germany

I have been following this case from the beginning and the harassment that Jardis has received on the job would NOT be acceptable in any workplace but because Epping is a small town run by small town politics they expect him to quit quietly so that he can be replaced by someone who will do what is asked of him even if it is wrong. I commend Officer Jardis for sticking up for himself and challenging his suspension. My only questions is why is he FINALLY getting a hearing on something that happened in JULY? The town supports you for bringing these things to light so we can see how our tax dollars are really being spent. The whole town is supporting you!
- Joanne, Epping

It's becoming common knowledge that it's prohibition that fuels all the so-called drug-related crime; not the drugs themselves. Sure, there are some scary drugs out there but prohibition is the wrong way to deal with them. Education and treatment will go a lot further with a lot less money. The miserably failed drug war is job security for police officers so it doesn't surprise me that so many police would gang up on a drug war whistle-blower like Brad.

Kudos to Brad for trying to shine a light into dark places.
- Dale, Marlborough

It is also common knowledge our liberal democrats claimed stopping the Soviet Union was a waste of time and effort also. History proves they were wrong and all that was needed was the right leadership with the right resolve and willingness to fight back. I can only imagine how many of our nation’s drug dealers with ties to the cartels were first illegal aliens who were granted amnesty.

Just reading the replies on here tells me if push came to shove some of you would side with the drug cartels and dealers. If the best moral stance you can put forward is giving passive support to drug dealers who sell poison to the nations young in the end you will loose this fight also when someone like myself takes the real fight to the cartels and dealers and real justice is dispersed.

And Dale at the moment the education you speak of that our young receive is Hollywood and the music industry glorifying drug use as our leaders are too busy screwing up state dinner invitations and media turning it into news.
- Deb, Derry

This is going to be a very simple case. Don't be fooled by the smoke and mirrors. If your supervisor tells you what to do and you not only tell him you aren't going to do it but you are going to further your actions be speaking with the media should should be fired. Law Enforcement is a Para Military organization. The Patrolman don't rule the roost!
- Jeff, Manchester

This guy is a publicity-seeking malcontent. He works for a paramilitary organization. That means following orders. He apparently is unwilling to live up to the sworn oath he took as a police officer to enforce the law fairly and impartially. He needs to resign and find another job. His law enforcement career is over anyway. No self-respecting police adminstator will ever hire this fool. Maybe he should run for state rep., he'd fit right in with the group that wants to legalize everything. Sure, that will fix our drug problems.
- Hal, Meredith

It's unfortunate that so many reader's focus is on Brad Jardis's personal views on the war on drugs in this country and less on why a police officer was suspended for disobeying an illegal order.

I admit that I am bias - I know Brad and I heard the story of what happened long before this ever hit the news. I know what Brad's views on drugs are - and I also know that he fully enforces the current existing drug laws regardless of what his opinion of those laws is. I also know that he is not a drug user himself - unless you count alcohol - and even then I'm not sure I've ever seen him drink a beer.

All too often, people accept everything a police officer says or does as legitimate when unfortunately sometimes their actions are unacceptable. They don't get to make up the rules as they go along - that goes for their interaction with the public and within the chain of command.

Tax dollars pay the salaries of our police force - and I know I would prefer my money be spent on a cop whose personal views may be controversial and differ from my own, but who is a good and honest cop - than having my tax dollars spent on a cop (or cops) who issue illegal orders down the chain of command and hold personal vendettas against a fellow officer for expressing his first amendment rights and being outspoken on an issue he feels is important to talk about.

Is it just the drug issue that cops are not allowed to have personal difference of opinion on, or does the same apply to all laws? Can a cop not publicly discuss whether the speed limit should be increased? What about whether the drinking age should be 18 - can a cop have a personal opinion on that?

I wish Brad all the best. I am confident that Epping will be losing a good cop if he is fired.
- Tammy Simmons, Manchester

Can people actually read the artice. It is JarDis with a "D" not JarVis with a "V"
- Quinn, Bow

To BA, Derry, really? Do you work for Epping PD and are you in the know about what might really be going on? He has a right to his opinion but he needs to stop using his "Epping" police status to give it. If he wants the laws to change then he should get a job in the Legislature like Dave from Laconia. American Hero-you have got to kidding.
- JA, exeter

It's becoming common knowledge that it's prohibition that fuels all the so-called drug-related crime; not the drugs themselves. Sure, there are some scary drugs out there but prohibition is the wrong way to deal with them. Education and treatment will go a lot further with a lot less money. The miserably failed drug war is job security for police officers so it doesn't surprise me that so many police would gang up on a drug war whistle-blower like Brad.

Kudos to Brad for trying to shine a light into dark places.
- Dale, Marlborough

I too am in law enforcement and officers like Jardis and the poster Mike G of San Antonio are an embarrassment to this profession and make me sick. Go ahead and legalize it and see what bigger problems you have. Obviously these guys have not seen the supplement crimes caused by drug use and the lives and families torn apart. Let's just go ahead and create even more drug addicts! Or give people a chance to try it because now it's no longer against the law where the fear of getting caught stopped them before.

You want to really reduce drug use in this country, make it harder to obtain the product. Quit coddling those who sell it. Set 2 levels for each respective drug and make the first level a 10 year minimum mandatory. Second level gets you life as would any second offense for a 1st level.
Make it so scary for drug dealers that many won't risk is.

It would work like the crime rate in Florida when we toughened our laws where those sentenced to jail had to do a minimum of 85% of their sentences instead of the 33% they were doing. We have no "suspended sentences" here.
A funny thing happened then. Crime went down dramatically. The phony saying "You do the crime, you'll do the time" suddenly was reality.

Drug use would too because you'd have those too afraid to go to jail and less dealers supplying the product because they too would be in prison instead of out on the streets peddling their products. You'd also be amazed how much cooperation you can get from someone facing a long sentence.

But this country has never really been serious about tackling the problem thanks in large part to our politicians and now a seemingly more liberal community.

And as for Jardis and his 1st amendment rights, he should understand that not all 1st amendment rights apply to police officers. He definately cannot say or write what he wants if it interferes with the daily operation of the police department. This is one cop that, from what I see written in this article, has a problem with authority figures and following orders and lets his personal opinions interfere withe the job he was hired to do. I'm curious how many drug arrest he has made and whether or not he has comitted any crimes himself by stopping someone with drugs and not doing his duty and instead, destroying the evidence?
- Joe, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Officer Jarvis put himself in this possition by spouting off his personal views and those views put him at odds with our laws. Now the people have their choice of supporting those who fight against the drug dealers who poison our children or those who wish to turn our government into the nations drug dealer. I hope everyone takes the time to consider how many aspects of society such thinking will effect from drug users in the work force to the cost of treating them when it does not work out so well.
- Deb, Derry

If Brad the American hero doesn't like, or support the drug laws of this state, or this country he needs to resign. Not that oaths count for this me-generation of whiners, but he took an oath to uphold the laws and Constitution of the State of NH and the United States.

Do your job hero or turn in your badge and get a job elsewhere.
- PF, Swanzey

Why does the UL continue to be a mouthpiece for this guy? It is getting old.
- Alex K., Deering, NH

To all those who have ever said that being a police officer is no different than any other profession and may now be defending this "Officer": If any person out there publically identified themselves as an employee of a particular company and then publically spoke out against a policy of that company, or worse spoke out in favor of a competitor they would be tossed out the door. Its like an employee of Coke going to the media and saying I drink nothing but Pepsi. In this case you have a Police Officer speaking out publically about his belief that drug laws should be repealled. Maybe they should and he can believe whatever he wants but he can't identify himself as an Epping Police Officer and then say I want sdrugs legal. If he just said, "My name is Brad Jardis and I think drugs should be legal," there wouldn't be a problem.
- Sam, Nashua

I no longer live in NH but I grew up in Dover and graduated from UNH 40 years ago.

I have worked in the criminal justice field in one way or another for almost the entire time since and never used any illegal psychoactive substance.

After have studied drug policy issues extensively I came to the conclusion, like Officer Jarvis, that the "War on Drugs" was far more destructive to the society than all the illegal drugs combined. In short, most of the adverse problems we attribute to these substances are first and foremost a function of their legal status. Prohibition policy causes most of the problems. Furthermore, the absolute worst drugs by far are already legal - alcohol and tobacco. After looking carefully for years for evidence to support prohibition policies and socially beneficial and findins none I chose to join Law Enforcement Against Prohibition as Officer Jarvis did. I don't know him personally and have never met him but have occasionally responded to some on-line discussions in which he participated.

Officer Jarvis is a true American Hero -- standing up for what he views to be true based on the overwhelming evidence. It take courage to stand for an uncomfortable truth when everyone else sits and maintains a traditional and accepted position that is based on ignorance and misinformation.

Rather than being suspended or fired for standing up for his rights and freedom of speech he should be applauded and respected -- if this were a movie he would be "John Wayne" standing against a vengeful crowd.

What is needed is not scapegoating Officer Jarvis but a serious public discussion about how best to produce a lower drug use society. As it happens legalization and regulation of drugs (like alcohol and tobacco) is far more likely to to accomplish that goal than prohibition. All of the historical evidence since 1875 when the first prohibition laws were passsed in San Franscisco point away from prohibition toward legalization and regulation.

Look at the evidence -- don't accept traditional beliefs (which are manifest unsupportable) simply because they are traditional beliefs.

Read everything you can on this issue -- you will be surprised -- the history and evidence do not support what we have been doing.
- Mike G, San Antonio

This guy is an embarrassment.
- steveo, east andover

All I'm saying is if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck.......
- Al, Berlin

If you want to make the Laws, work for the Legislature.

If you want to enforce the Laws, work as a Police Officer.
- Dave, Laconia

@James T - I am not a Free Stater and I support this officer regardless of his views on legalization of drugs. I know that while officer Jarvis does not believe our "war on drugs" is working, he does however take his job seriously and enforces all of the laws including those involving drugs. This situation is not about a public temper tantrum but about what recourse an officer must resort to when his superior orders him to do something that is illegal. Should Jarvis had just gone along with doing something that he knew was wrong just because his superior told him to? I know I don't want police officers that won't question doing something wrong.

Last I checked, police officers are still allowed to have their own private views on things. His views did not interfere with his performance of his job. Jarvis was targeted because of his views on drugs. That's just night right in my book.
- Sue, Manchester

Alex, a "true American hero"???

Hero defined: "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal"

Yes yes, this guy is a true model for our kids! Look junior, officer so and so says drugs should be legal, now thats who I want my kids looking up to.
- John, Dover

I'm with James T! Throw this man to the dogs! We don't want cops who believe in Freedom of Speech, or think that it's a bad idea to throw people in jail because they use unapproved plants! We don't want cops who will take issue with following illegal orders! We want relentless, unfeeling automatons; who will, when it comes right down to it, kill dissenters if they won't submit!

And what's more, it shows how suspicious this guy is that he wants to let anyone who is interested read his entire personnel file, and attend his hearing. No reliable government agent would just allow any old tax payer to look at the workings of the system without restriction. That might lead to people calling for changes! And we all know what holding the government accountable leads to--Freedom. And that's bad.
- Mike Ruff, Manchester

I'm sure beause of his position on legalizing drugs he silently became an outcast in the department.

Play by the rules, accept the department's ploicies and ideals or we'll find some reason to get rid of you. That's what really happened here.

I'm sure they'll find a reason to get rid of him. Even in a private company you have to play the political games or your not on the team.

The public can come but they can't speak? Small town politics. I hope a lot of people show up to see this game in action.
- BA, Derry

I don't think people think through their actions, esp. in this case.

What about a Muslim cop who is personally against the age of consent and monogamy laws? The founder of that religion was simultaneously married to four women including a six-year-old girl whom he consummated the marriage with when she was nine. Many Islamic countries take a bizarre (from our perspective) stance on age of consent, for example.

Should he or she be suspended in such a case, a cop who believes girls much younger than the current age of consent--what is it, eighteen?--should not be prosecuted? I think it's a fair question, esp. as we are having different populations come into the country of which we're a part.

No. Let's return to the First Amendment. Let people speak their minds; judge them on their actions. Stop muzzling them for convenice.

We think Officer Jardis has committed the fault of thinking more broadly than the typical cop and coming to a heterodox position. No one likes a smart aleck--especially cops who have to deal with such people all too often.

Jardis may just rub them the wrong way. The assertion, however, by Police Chief Dodge seems dishonest that the actions against Jardis, which do strike one as being petty and harassing, are unrelated to his outspoken beliefs and membership in LEAP. I guess Chief Dodge thinks the public is stupid.

It looks as though it's a case that Dodge has it in for a Jardis, joined by others in the department, because of Jardin's outspoken beliefs and has long applied the vice against him. That's too bad.

A lot of bureaucracy's troubles begin with the statement, "That's not the way we do it around here..."
- Brent, Moultonborough

Good luck to a true American hero. This man stood up for what is right and isn't just accepting of ludicrous rules because they're forced upon a people.
I thank you Jardis, not because I'm a druggy or stoner or anything like that, but because you are standing along side fundamental American values.
- Alex, Deerfield

Good luck, Brad!
- Kevin, Lancaster

Aside from the travesty of a police officer promoting the legalization of drugs, this young man threatening to "go to the media" if he didn't get his way tells us all we need to know about his tactics and disposition.

Like the Free Staters and pot legalizers who support him, this fellow wants to get his way or is willing throw a public temper tantrum. Then they'll probably put it on YouTube for other law-hating types to revel in and chat about.

Show this guy the door, Epping!
- James T., Manchester