US police chief in hot water over love letter to polygamist

A police chief who wrote a letter pledging love and allegiance to the leader of a polygamous sect, who was on the FBI's most wanted list at the time, has been accused of misconduct.

"I love you and ... know that you have the right to rule in all aspects of my life," Fred Barlow wrote in October last year to Warren Jeffs, who faces rape-related charges in Utah and Arizona. "Without priesthood I am nothing."

Jeffs the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which practices polygamy. Congregants revere Jeffs as a prophet and are taught to be obedient, including marrying at his order.

big following

Barlow is the police chief of a joint department serving Colo-rado City, Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, which have 10,000 followers of the church.

In his letter, Barlow warmly addressed Jeffs as "Uncle Warren" and referred to himself as Jeffs' "servant.''

"I am praying for you to be protected and yearn to be with you again," Barlow wrote. "I and all of the other officers have expressed our desire to stand with you and the priesthood."

Jeffs arrested near Las Vegas on Aug. 28, and a judge will decide on Thursday whether he will stand trial in Utah on charges of rape as an accomplice for forcing a teenage girl to marry an older cousin.

brother arrested

Federal authorities obtained Barlow's letter of Oct. 28 last year, when Jeffs' brother, Seth Jeffs, was arrested in Colorado with items believed to be intended for Warren Jeffs.

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board is using the letter as evidence in one of three misconduct charges against Barlow, who could lose his certification. The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper obtained the letter and published it on Friday.

The Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council this week voted to conduct its own investigation of the police force, whose officers are accused of being too loyal to Jeffs.

Barlow not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Friday.