NOT our finest hour!

[hcsodale]

Unfortunately my agency will be talked about on the TODAY show tomorrow morning for the following news item. One of our Detention Deputies dumped a quadrapelegic out of a wheelchair because she didn't believe he couldn't walk. Then she serched him while he was down on the ground. Then to add insult to injury a booking supervisor is laughing about it. All of this recorded in booking and it turns out it was never reported up the chain until the victim notified the media.
www.tampabays10.com/video/news/?aid=55876&storyid=73832

[hcsodale]

Boy I should really proof-read better before hitting the Post Reply button for spelling and typo errors! sorry.

[bluepride]

I had seen this clip earlier tonight and like most everyone else, I was pretty horrified. Indefensible as was described in the clip. Suspensions should just be the start of the disciplinary process in this case. Firings, yes. What the hell were they thinking? It can't be defended as an honest mistake by any means.

[blu06]

I saw the news item on CNN.Com but was unable to view the clip. If it is as distasteful as it sounds, I don't think I want to view it.

I like to think that the guys I work with talk a big, bad talk, but all I ever seen from them has been professionalism under sometimes, some very extreme situations. All the big bad talk is to vent, but none of them or push-over. I don't think any of them would hurt anyone maliciously without warrant of defense of body of self and/or others.

I'm sorry the heat will be on your department Hcsodale. It's never fun to have a public tanning. Know that we know this is not the norm, not with men like you on the job.

Oh, Oh, I'm watching Inside Edition, late night, it's 10:30 pm here in Texas and guess what's the first segment....

Kepp your head up buddy...

[Deleted]

Those of us who work in correction know that inmates can be nasty and abusive. They know how to push our buttons and work our last nerves. Still, there is no excuse for that officers behavior. She lost her cool and because of that, she will also loose her job and her pension. And now, an inmate will walk away with a check from the Tampa taxpayers for a minimum of 100K. He gets the last laugh.

[bluepride]

What an imbecile this cop is. In this day and age, even joking about wearing a KKK get up is one of the stupidest things you can do. It underscores just how much more education and work has to be done to make people understand about unacceptable behavior. This was totally unprofessional and stupid. Suspended without pay should be only the start of this officer's troubles. What an idiot.

KKK prank has troopers in trouble

[Deleted]

On Tampa television this morning, they gave an update on the Hillsborough county deputy that tossed the inmate out of the wheelchair. Deputy Charlotte Marshall Jones will not be spending any time in jail. She will have to serve 100 community service hours and pay all court costs. In addition, she will loose her law enforcement licence. She will have to complete the community service within 18 months.
They did not say if she would be fired. But, the sad thing is that they asked for the inmates input regarding her punishment. That's really a dumb idea. The inmate said that he wanted her to serve her time at a place that assists wheelchair bound people. I dion't think they should have asked him anything. You should have seen his oh so smug face looking into the TV camera. He now has a case against the county for lots of money and he will probably get it.
Hey Hcsodale, do you know why he was arrested in the first place? I'm sure he's not exactly a pillar of the community!!! It's a shame that the deputy lost her cool. She made us all look bad and now the taxpayers have to pay for it.

[hcsodale]

Prydeguys, you are right, he is not a pillar of society. I think that arrest (there have been others) was for, of all things, a Fail to Appear warrant for FLEEING AND ELUDING in his disability/customized vehicle. He didn't think he had to stop for the pretty red and blue lights and loud horn screaming at him! I have heard that he is a first class smart-ass until the media camera is on him. I wasn't there, just repeating the dirt.
Charlotte was allowed to resign back when the incident happened, so she is not being fired, though she did lose the detention certification for anywhere in the State of Florida. It was a poor decision on her part to let the inmate provoke her to do that, but it was wrong anyway you look at it. It is a tremendous shame though, because Charlotte was a very well liked and conscientious deputy otherwise.

[Deleted]

you know, now that I think about it, perhaps in the long run we are the ones who get the last laugh. Back when Luis Miranda, (I think his first name was Luis) a petty criminal, bitched so much about one of his arrests that It led to the Miranda warning decision.
You have the right to remain silent, bla, bla, bla. He thought he had the last laugh. That is until he got into an altercation with some other low life in a bar and was shot to death.
Sooner or later we as a society will have the last laugh on Mr Wheelchair and all other smart ass inmates. Their behavior will always lead to their ruin. They may sue us, get a big check and snort it up their nose or shoot it up their arm causing their distruction. They may force us to change jail policies and procedures to suit their comfort. Like the inmate who sued because he wanted chunky peanut butter instead of smooth. Or the inmate who sued because he wasn't allowed to worship the devil. They may try to run us through all kinds of hoops. But we always get the last laugh.
We get it because, at 5PM we get to go home to our loved ones. We get to have a nice dinner, a nice life, and a nice warm bed with the people we love. We get it every morning when we wake up in freedom. So we do get the last laugh, and I'm laughing all the way to the bank!!!

[Deleted]

After looking at the victims photo, my gaydar tells me that he's not gay. But even if he is, how can just looking at somebody warrant twenty blows to the head and an ambulance flight to a hospital. That officer needs to be charged with assault and riot. Not only that, he needs to loose his job.
In the past. whenever someone would beat up a gay guy they would use the "panic defense" They would say that ''when he looked at me, I was so upset that I lost my head. I had to defend my honor. I just went crazy. I don't know what happend. It's not my fault" You would be surprised at how many men got away using this defense. Fortunately, that no longer works. Now they have to come up with a better excuse.

[hcsodale]

Here is a little follow-up piece on the wheelchair dumping incident. It reiterates my belief that Charlotte was wrong in what she did, but I was pretty sure she had to have been provoked and that the "victim" was a P.O.S.

www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7066313&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

[Deleted]

Here's a story that will make you sick. Sheriff Greg Bartlett, of Morgan County Alabama, was arrested and put in jail for starving inmates. An old alabama law allows a sheriff to skimp on inmate meals and pocket the change. Bartlett did so to the tune of $212.000.00
Inmate breakfast. in the jail, featured a few spoonfulls of grits, a slice of toast and part of an egg. Dinner was bits of undercooked bloddy chicken. After this abuse was discovered, the head of the Alabama Sheriffs Association Bobby Timmons said, "You're never going to satify any incarcerated individual." The sheriff was released after spendig one night in jail, and coming up with a better dietary plan for the inmates.
If the Alabama Sheriffs Association thinks it's alright to starve inmates, they probably think It's alright to bring back the cat-o-nine tails and the bull whip. I guess farmed out inmate labor, chain gangs, substandard housing, and lack of medical care is alright with them as well. How dare those people call themselves Correction Officers. In reality, they are nothing more than jailers and their behavior is just as bad as the inmates they "care" for.

[bluepride]

Well, I'm not one to advocate coddling criminals but this situation is pretty bad. Not only is it out and out corruption but some of the foods being served are downright sickmaking. Bloody chicken? Most likely raw or nearly raw. Just idiotic. And the guy only spends one night in jail and then is told to come up with better dietary plans. What a joke. I wonder who else is getting kickbacks from this alleged Correction Officer? Someone has to be sharing in the profits from this deplorable situation.

[ScottNbama]

55 of Alabama's 67 counties allow the Sheriff to keep any money he has left over after paying for the inmates food. A lot of times they get donated food, or find bulk amounts of food for cheap prices. I think you will find that several inmates they interviewed said they weren't starved and some said they were. I'd like to know the truth. I look forward to hearing more on this. They just said more information will be aired on the 10PM news.

I think the system of the sheriff keeping any money is wrong. It was left over from a day long since gone (1930s) where the sheriff got his pay from serving papers, making arrests, etc instead of a decent salary. It was probably a needed thing back then. $1.75 was likely more than was needed in the 30s to feed a person. That don't go far at all these days. The feds pay them only $3 a day....thats very low too.

The county that I live in and work in is one of the 12 that do not use this type of system. The county buys the food...not the sheriff himself.

Update: The 10PM news didn't offer any better info. Instead, they showed the meals being served for lunch. Hamburger helper, rolls, and veggies in some of their footage. They also said that the sheriff is asking for a raise since he will now be losing the food money. His salary is $65,000 a year. The probate judge makes $77,000 a year. One of the county commissioners interviewed stated that figure might be more in line with what the sheriff should be paid. The news said that the sheriff made $316,000 in food money since he came into office in 2002. That is separate from his salary.

local news links:

www.whnt.com
www.waff.com
www.al.com

The newspaper in his town requires a subscription to read it online, unfortunately.

[bluepride]

This is a copy of a photo from the early 60's during the civil rights struggle down south. The Selma, Alabama PD responded to a demonstration and when some realized they were being photographed, a couple of "cops" decided to show what they were made of. It's a classic photo but not in a good way.