Is Your Identity Protected When Posting Here?

Greetings,

I co-founded this site back in 2002 along with Jim Preston (the current Florida FOP president). Protection of your identities was important back then and it is still of the utmost importance today. I say that to say this...it has come to my attention that some deputies may not be posting here because they are worried that the administration may be able to identify them. I want to alleviate everyone's concerns by saying your identities ARE PROTECTED. Of course, we prefer that you post using your real name, but we also realize that sometimes you need to enjoy anonymity when writing about certain things. The fear of repercussions from an agency are all too real and I personally know them all too well.

Back in 2005 a suspected deputy posted in the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Message Board about how the sheriff's office screwed up an investigation and that they were going to pay dearly for it. The poster's information turned out to be accurate and his prediction came true. The sheriff's office responded by suing for poster IP addresses in an attempt to identify and punish them. LEOAFFAIRS.COM hired First Amendment Rights attorney Luke Lirot and fought a year long battle against the HCSO. We won every major legal battle along the way, including an appeal in front of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, and we now have case law on our side. The IP addresses were never given up.

I encourage you to please use this site as intended and to enjoy effecting change through the website and message boards. If you have any questions, please contact me directly.

Thanks,

Chip DeBlock, Co-Founder
LEOAFFAIRS.COM
(813) 760-2900 Cell
chip@leoaffairs.com