BETSY PROJECT

THE BETSY PROJECT

IN LOVING MEMORY

BETSY COOPER LOPEZ

05/13/1987 – 01/19/2021

One of the most tragic of all tragic cases perpetrated by this office was the false arrest of this sweet woman for a false accusation of abusing her two beloved children by the prime suspect party of opposition in an active civil matter (divorce), without any reasonable cause whatsoever other than a hearsay statement; perhaps one of the most cliché of maneuvers commonly seen in active divorce proceedings while one party seeks to gain an advantage over the other. This is something we see alot of here in White Pine County, injustice after injustice, where young inexperienced deputies will accept hearsay statements by another with an undeniable motive to boot, to justify the excessive use of force and the most inhumane acts of humiliation of innocent members of the public as a means to increase their quota numbers for their own self vocation advances. These deputies are oftentimes inexperienced in life in general, and often the case as we see in WPC, just fresh out of high school.

Betsy was horrifically assaulted by THREE White Pine County deputies after they had confiscated her eye glasses, leaving her blind. Then she was thrown about and battered by the gang as if she was a rag doll to be toyed with. This office is perhaps the most notorious of any sheriff office in the entire State of Nevada (and perhaps all of United States) for using the “resisting arrest” scapegoat to justify these horrific gang-like acts of hostility and force, seemingly perpetrated against the most vulnerable and meek amongst us.

But the Betsy Project in White Pine County puts all claims for qualified immunity from scrutiny and requital to rest ONCE AND FOR ALL. Finally, the tides have turned with the increased unveiling as to what this establishment has become. The vindication for this kind of aggressive lawless misconduct on the basis of “resisting an arrest” can no longer maintain its legitimacy, after having been caught red-handed, a gang of three bullies that beat down a harmless defenseless innocent 33-year-old woman, knowing full well she was cruelly left blind before their escapade. Because of Betsy’s most sorrowful sacrifice, perhaps not of her own conscious choosing (her kids ripped out from right under her, having risked her safety for the courage to speak out, and then ultimately her life), the doors have swung wide open for the discussion about this Sheriff Office’s existence and would we be better off without it. Betsy tragically died shortly after the horrific incident in a mysterious off-road vehicle accident. She was found dead off the side of the road in one of our more remote areas where deer aren’t known to roam. She was found THE VERY MORNING of her first divorce court hearing which she had eagerly prepared all week to attend. The highly suspicious and tragic nature of Betsy’s death remains unsettled to this day.

Does this administration really exist to harbor “peace officers”? Or might it be that it has evolved into a counter-productive, aggressive organization of intimidation and control, to serve a pecuniary (monetary) enterprise, over the welfare of the people for which this formation was originally intended? Most residents would concur (or at least recognize the need for change) that the devastation caused by the innumerable unresolved cases of abuse and neglect of this Office of the Sheriff, far outweighs the benefit of any peace that could ever be realized by its existence. This is a long well-known problem here in White Pine County that has been allowed to spin this much out of control, long before our latest Sheriff took office.

As a result of the gross mismanagement of this Office of the Sheriff and lack of accountability, the excessive use of force, bribery, blackmail, and abuses of power (especially toward our women and girls coming of age), the demoralization and slandering of citizens through their infamous (biased against the people) Sheriff Blotter as a means to intimidate and cause discord among this small community, the lawless encroachment of innocent civilians in what should be considered their most safe and private spaces (even their homes and private property), the police stalking and conspiring to entrap harmless civilians to criminalize them, the widespread fear of even leaving our homes anymore to run basic errands, in fear of being pulled over (basically legalized harassment) for something as innocent as a u-turn on these barren god-forsaken crumbling roads, is felt beyond measure. It has reached such a critical point, that we the people simply cannot ignore that White Pine County has become a full-blown police state at the brink of something worse if we do not unite and take a stand. It is our duly obliged responsibility to take a stand, for the sake of our children and future generations of this county, many kids and adolescents whom don’t have a fighting chance for a successful future, and it’s not solely due to the families of misfortune they are born in, as many would like the assert. These kids are the next in line prime targets to be exploited and degraded. We must take a stand now, in honor of all of the innocent lives lost who treaded the path before us, that we may re-establish honor in our people and rid the cancers that prevail us.