where do we go from here

Okay? Really enough is enough…… A wise person once said that war is a drug and he is an addict. Let me begin with it’s really getting old. You’re not happy with this administration, nor were you happy with the past, a matter of fact you’ve been disgruntle since day one. But now you make the department in whole look like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. The latest is the best, you leak a lawsuit to your buddy and return he splashes it all over the internet. The greatest thing about it is both these officer are your friends? That really shows your true colors. It is so obvious on who you are. Your independent reporter friend claims that he talks to numerous employees, but no one wants anything to do with that guy, he’s totally anti-cop? Whatever event happen the last shift you work, he was the first to know and it was on his website and now your current shift incidents are all over the web? It doesn’t take a detective to solve that one. As for the reporter friend, this guy claims he’s not belittling the officer who he recently just blog his heart out about but he had no problem plastering their names on the web. He claims he pro-police but his article say “Venice Police give up the war on drugs” or “Want to sell crack or heroin, Welcome to Venice” yeah sounds like he’s pro-police. He’s never been a cop, LOL wait he’s got law enforcement experience, LOL! The point is one team one fight, then how can we support someone who is buddy buddy with someone that in no way can be trusted? Something else weird happen…. The FOP just had a great benefit lunch for one of our fellow officer. Just about everybody showed up and showed their support, it was great. This officer had no excuse not to show up???? None once so ever????? That is sad…….. He wants back into the same FOP that he dropped out of not too long ago. I wonder why he left, no clear reason, wait maybe he didn’t like that president. He gave up is personal position and abandon his fellow brothers and sisters cause he didn’t like someone. Now he wants to rejoin the union that he abandoned so suddenly, for what reason???? Don’t you have to be in “good standings” to rejoin the lodge? So quitting all of a sudden with no letter letting anyone know really why you left leaves you in “good standings”? Yes we have internal issues to deal with but how can we deal with them if we have an nobody that turns on his buddies and well tell anybody anything just for his personal gain? That’s including an active investigation…….remember we don’t talk about active investigations to your friend who is very well known for posting stuff on his website. He talks about Venice Police being a danger to the community, well that’s a complete danger to the community talking about active investigations to the press? Hence the letter, Sorry to hear that your unhappy but guess what nobodies happy, but that doesn’t mean lets go take down the whole department for your enjoyment! There are great cops working here that care and try their hardest every time they go x8 so let’s try not to screw it up for them just because you have poopie pants? be a cop and shut your mouth that is what the tax payers ask you to do.

Just to be clear, nobody leaked a lawsuit to me. I stopped reading the above post after that.

At city hall, in the clerk's office, is an in-out basket known as the Press Tray. On a daily basis, anywhere from 10 to 70 new documents to the clerk's office, including copies of all snail-mail to and from council, are placed in the basket. Anyone can peruse the basket, even you. Anyone can ask for copies of anything that is in the basket. Copies are free up to 5 pages, 10 cents a page after that. I have a running account with the clerk's office specifically for use of docs from that basket, and I burn through about $10 a month (Lori Stelzer can verify this).

All notices of lawsuits have to be sent to both elected officials and the city attorney, hence they all end up iun the press tray. I review the contents of the tray every three days or so, as does the Herald-Trib, the Gondo, and quite a few private citizens.

That's how I found out about the lawsuit. In fact, that's how I find out most of the stuff that you guys are attributing to leaks.

Shooting from the hip is not a good thing for a cop to do. Gather facts first. I do.

In fact, outside of Chief Williams, I don't think anyone at the PD knew anything about the law suit until I posted the copy from the city clerk's office to the web, and she may not have known until she read it on the web as well. If you look carefully at the scan of Mogensen's letter, you'll see the city clerk's document login stamp.

Really, if any of you have any questions or wish to verify anything, feel free to call me at 525-0289.

Notice that I am posting using my real name. Would you care to identify yourself here? If not, why not?

This is just more bullying. Just because you say the majority of you are in favor of bullying doesn't make you better men or cops, nor does it make bullying a good thing. It just makes you bullies, and it is particularly sad when you bully on your own and then when your workmate victims complain, you call them whiners.

Look Mr.Patten the department is tired of your source, he's in it for himself and your being used as a complete tool box. Its not bullying when you just want to do you job. Its trying to shut up the biggest mouth in the department the same mouth that talks to you every single day. He tells officers that he talks to you everyday. One thing you have never been is a police officer, so you wouldn't know that it is a family and everybody talks and you can't hide anything. Its time for your source who is about to get called out believe me to stop the bullshit and just do his job. More is to come from our end believe me your not the only one with dirt. What I really want to to realize is your bashing of VPD makes the department look like crap, and you are a big factor in fueling that fire for your personal greed. VPD has many great officers and you continue to bash us daily? and now bashing us personally? and the only bullying his being done by your source, if your not with us then screw you thats their M.O. even if your totally un-bias on whats going on in the PD and just want to be a cop, you telling me theres nothing wrong with that either?

Try "sources" as in my name is Legion for we are many.

There's a lot of good cops at VPD, the majority in fact.

One thing that George Hunt never figured out. Julie is blind to it, too. When you try to clamp down on leaks, the leaks start springing like mad.

There's a lot of cops who want to do their jobs and are sick of the bullying. I become, by default, the last place of refuge.

By my reckoning, there's 1/3 of the department that are doing the bullying, 1/3 of the department that doesn't give a s**t, and 1/3 of the department that has had enough of being bullied. You have no idea how many good cops have contacted me and thanked me for taking up this fight. Not that I really wanted it -- you guys kind of threw me into it, but that's OK, I don't mind. I love taking down a bully or 7.

You wanna impress me? Use your real name with me. Other than that, f**k off, ya cowardly toadie. I've chased many a corrupt official out of town in the last ten years, and I'm just getting warmed up.

Now go piss your pants.

Oh look, that's my real name up at the top. And you all know where I live.

You could tell at the city council meeting that you had nothing after the chief gave her speech and answered the questions. She sure did squash the Lauerl Ave incident, no further hate posting about that incident right, remember JP to always re-interview your witnesses to see if they're telling the truth????? I like the comment that VPD will not take legal advice from you because of zero experience. What you have done is using your website to single out officers to attack one person, i.e. BL and SS incident, who now have realized that your "source" used them for his own personal gain. Your now claiming to be pro-police, but at that time you had no problem posting that? Also awhile back you slandered another officer on your website, I believe you called him “Officer fun boy?? You also stated that he was an idiot and that he only had a associates degree in criminal justice. Soon after slandering this officer on your public website, you were told very quickly in fact that he was one of the smartest officers in the department and he held a masters degree in criminal justice? I think your source doesn't like him because he was hired by the Chief, but he is hands down the most dedicated cop at VPD and has never once attacked any member in the department. You don't like someone because they were hired by the Chief, shady business and that doesn't sound like "bullying". See JP the truth is there are many good cops that were hired by the Chief, and all of a sudden if you were hired by the Chief you are "ousted" by a very small group (sources) just because the chief hired you????? (the new good olde boy system) and that’s not bullying? When you are supposed to be training to be a police officer and instead you are being told by your trainer about every little thing about the department and are pressured to join the club, is that bullying????? (cough) your sources.... Let’s forget the fact that he has the duty to train this officer because his life may depend on it one day, I’ll just try and brainwash him into submission! A very small group of officers (your sources) believe that its either "us" or "them" and if you really don't care and just want to do your job and be a third party member you are label as "them" and labeled as an a$$ kisser because you don't care about politics and just want to be a cop, and that’s not bullying????? Walking down the hall and passing someone and saying "hi" and getting a dirty look just because your labeled as “them“. You get arrests and do your job with a smile your now labeled as an a$$ kisser by "us" and that’s not bullying??? And god forbid you are seen talking to a supervisor in front of "us", believe me you are automatically labeled as and a$$ kisser and "them", every stop and think that not everyone is against you and maybe he or she is trying to get guidance on something because you refuse to talk to them, and that’s not bullying??? The true bullying is done by your “sources” JP but you only talk to your “sources” so who are you to get the whole picture? F.Y.I. “us” is your “sources”. The true number is around 4-5.

The information that you claimed to have from your “sources” is the reason why over 30 VPD officers can’t stand your “sources”. This is no lie with the numbers! You have no clue what the actual numbers are, so stop trying to make yourself look good. See Sir this is a personal grudge you have against the Chief. Once the Chief threaten you with a criminal charge that burned you so bad that now you’re doing anything to get her fired, hay whatever. That in alone would be no problem and a lot of officers don’t care. See once you started attacking and singling out officers for your own personal greed to attack the Chief is when everybody had enough. This was very apparent when at the city council meeting when several incident that were brought up just to humiliate those said officers in a public forum was your source of entertainment. What you fail to realize these officers that you have personally attack on your public forum are not the only ones suffering. When their kids go to school other kids make fun of them. When they go out to get their mail neighbors look at them. Not that being a cop is hard enough, but when your personal life is effected that’s it, that’s enough. Your tactics are clear, comment on every little thing that any cop does to try and make the department look bad. Don’t even think about mentioning the good that is happening like catching Delmer Smith (the sickest man Sarasota County has every encountered), solving two murders and having the perps in jail, and yes VPD is heavily fighting the war against drugs, you can tell by that number of felony drug arrest and drug dealers that are out of business. You could realize all the good that is going on and check the SSO arrest site here and there, but your to busy I guess. VPD officers care about their jobs and protecting Venice and could careless about politics.

We don’t care about “sources” releasing an active investigation information to you either. Not only is that a danger against the public to post such comments, it’s an extreme danger for us as well. We don’t care much about an officer that is actively trying to get another officers fired (who has a family to feed) then tries to befriend him so he can get him to say that other officers are trying to intimidate, so he can sue them?? Didn’t hear about that one JP?? (cough cough) your source. Did you also hear that he used his personal appointed union position to try and get that very same officer fired? WOW JP that sounds similar to the fras case you put so many hours into? Which by the way good job but how come you never wrote any articles about this person that is single handle ling trying to burn any one in his way to get what he wants? When I say “WE” I mean over a third of the department, and that’s no lie.

Another thing that is very unsettling is the fact you used PRIVATE minutes from a FOP meeting to use as ammunition to personally attack the City Manager and the Chief. The FOP is a private union and state reps weren’t very apperceive about that one. Nevertheless who every released the notes violated union laws, and also lost trust of the union, geez, I wonder who that was? care to share?? If you want to see the TRUTH then if I were you I would try and get invited to the next FOP meeting there will be over a third of the P.D. attending, are those numbers good enough JP? Then you will be able to get all the names you want. If you could please respond to the last two paragraphs, sorry about the first two they were only emotions but the last two need some answers, please don't beat around the bush :roll: thanks for your time :wink:

You are someone cowardly hiding behind the mask of anonymity, and you deserve an answer... why , exactly?

It's pretty bad when some lowlife reporter has more balls than some anonymous keyboard jocky pretending to be a cop.

Wow, you are amazing and still no response to any of the questions :roll:

Seriously, with seventy-something officers and all this drama, why even bother having this department around. Protecting some citizens, preventing some crimes, arresting some criminals, is quite simply not enough, but then to also try rationalize its existence other than to the illusion to old people that they are safe, and being provided with law enforcement service that is personal.

Close up shop and call in the sheriff.

WE ALL KNOW WHO THIS SOUNDS LIKE. GET A LIFE BEFORE WE CALL YOU OUT!

LoL....Sounds like a wanna be South County Deputy..... SSO wear's green; just like slugs......maybe ex-vpd......I just can't believe who they hire these's days......Yes! great job, just look at south nokomis and laurel, keep up the good work....with that being said, the SSO is a great organization with a great leader and really has great cops, but there's always that certain few that slip through the cracks....

Sorry I don't want shit started with an undeserving person, I'm not someone you know...

BUT I DO AND THATS ENOUGH! YOU'VE MOVED ON, NOW STOP YOUR SHIT!

the SSO is a great organization with a great leader

The SSO has great potential. I was not a Balkwill Fan but Id take him back in a second compared to this nut case we have now. Worse is I voted for him and regret it every day. Ask any of our patrol and most will tell you it sucks now. favortism is still alive and better then ever. Oh yea, those appointed lieutenants that knight said his get rid of are now just called inspectors! knight still has final say on promotions and at least balkwill fought for pay raises. knight is so far up the commissions arse hes suffacating.

So please dont spread a rumor that we have a great leader. maybe a better candidate will surface in2 years! Im praying!

What is even more amazing to me is that Chief Williams was so very quick to call in and request FDLE on the possible violation of someone recording her saying "she is more powerful then the president of the United States", yet a serious incident in our town like Tyler Spann (regardless of what side you take), no one other then the agency that did the shooting is called!

That is incredible!! If City Commissioners are reading this or the media, that is a good question to ponder.