Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association

The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) is a politically far-right organization of local police officials in the United States who believe in a radical interpretation of the United States Constitution wherein federal and state government authorities are subordinate to local government authority. In this regard, the CSPOA is an outgrowth of the Patriot Movement and has some ideological similarities with the Sovereign Citizen Movement, although they are by no means identical.^[1] An article by the Intelligence Report of the Southern Poverty Law Center states that "... the real root of the 'county supremacy' movement that has been explicitly embraced by the CSPOA is the Posse Comitatus, a racist and anti-Semitic group of the 1970s and 1980s that also defined the county sheriff as the highest 'legitimate' law enforcement authority in the country. . . ." and continues to identify several county sheriffs who are in sympathy with the stated goals of the CSPOA.^[2]

References

1. Rothschild, Mike - What this Sheriff said on Twitter is part of a dangerous trend, Attn.com (Oct. 15, 2016).
2. Potok, Mark and Lenz, Ryan, Line in the Sand, Intelligence Report of the Southern Poverty Law Center (Jun. 13, 2016).