"New" Controversy...now publicized

The facts are that Mr. Smith is a sexual predator that has beed alowed to retire. The lakeland police department did nothing to arrest him even after all the facts showed he was guilty. How many more sexual predators have they let go, It does matter if the victim is 6 years old or 18years old. The question is how much dirt does he have on jerry hill and the Captian of the lakeland ploice department that they would cover this up. Maybe sexaul predators should move to lakeland as they will be free to roam!!!!!

the onlyl thing that comes to my mind ==who is the adult
if the girl had some problems in the past she still was not a mature adult.s
so who is the blame. the one trying to grow up and change and try to start her life and pay the price for what happened in the past, or is it the adult dressed lets not say sheeps clothing but a blue uniform who is supposed to be the adult.
No wonder that we cant rehabilitate our young adults when the people with authority are the ones who continue to show them the wrong way in life.

Free money brings nothing but trouble. You wonder why kids sell drugs
free money, why people dont respect authorith -- coverups. It is now a day of not what you know but who you know. What happened to the saying no one is above the law.

How can we have our children and young adult respect authority. Remember no one has a clear past of their childhood but no one will have a clear adulthood history if the adults lead them astray.

Do not be the one to throw stones unless you can say you are completely
innocent and never did something you regretted

The saying is set by example. Well I guess the lakeland police dept is not setting a good example

Dear minniemouse

Great comments , but I feel the last line should be changed. The Lakeland Police Dept. did the investigation to the best they were aloud to. They made the proper charges with the PC we had and filed them where they are supposed to be filed. Once they got to Jerry Hills office is where the ball fell and boy did it fell far. We are still waiting for it to bounce back.

Yes there was many fights at the station about this but in the end the Det.'s did their jobs they did an excellent job. Us on the bottom do not have much control over the third floor and Bartow.





Oh Thank you MEG.

i can think of a few other officer's recently shown the door that the govenor should have questioned. staff I II &III AND SO ON TOO. what happened to mediationgate or change my job description so i don't have too go also only show the door or missing in action. it will all come back. sleep well. folk's need to feel what they have dealt out to our other brother's no longer here. it's just the beginning. wait and watch your back and never forget.

Published: Saturday, April 12, 2008

Questions Swirl Around Investigation
Case against longtime official accused of impropriety generates talk of fairness.

By JASON GEARY
THE LEDGER

BARTOW | An investigation into a former 10th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's official who quit late last year is far from over.

Arley Smith abruptly resigned from the office as director of its pretrial intervention program after an internal investigation and a recommendation that he be fired. He was accused of propositioning a 20-year-old woman who was in a pretrial diversion program.

"It's still a very active and pending investigation," said Pam Bondi, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office, which was assigned by Gov. Charlie Crist to handle the case.

The status of the case recently came into question when the St. Petersburg Times published a story about it. And Bondi's description of its status differs from what sources told the Times.

In The Times story, another Hillsborough assistant state attorney is said to have told Deputy Chief Debra Henson of the Lakeland Police Department that "they were not able to move forward with any criminal charges" against Smith.

The story, published Sunday, reported that Smith, who spent 23 years working for the State Attorney's Office, was caught during an Aug. 31 recorded conversation propositioning 20-year-old Brittany Mong.

Smith began meeting with Mong while she was part of a pretrial intervention program, the story said, and had given her money for a down payment on a car and to pay for traffic accident damages.

Smith told the woman she could pay him back with weekly sex, according to the Times.

The story has generated controversy, in particular whether State Attorney Jerry Hill attempted to help Smith, a longtime friend, and why Lakeland Police Chief Roger Boatner called off plans for recording a second meeting between Smith and Mong.

The Times reported Mong, her stepfather, Don Bell, who is a Lakeland police officer, and others are questioning why Smith has not been arrested.

"In Polk County, when you see Lady Justice with her blindfold on, is she peeking out to make sure the person in trouble isn't a friend?" Bell asked in that article.

But questions are not being answered now as long as the investigation remains open.

Attempts by The Ledger to reach Smith and Mong for their accounts have been unsuccessful. The Bells said they could not talk about the case.

Officials from the Lakeland Police Department and state attorney offices in Bartow and Tampa refused to comment or provide records relating to the open investigation.

Jack Gillen, a police spokesman, said the department could not comment on any aspect of the investigation - not even whether an internal investigation is being conducted on how the Times received documents, e-mails, the taped conversation and other information in an open case.

"We are not going to comment on the Arley Smith case while it is still an ongoing investigation with the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office," he said.

Bondi said her office does not intend to refer the Smith case to a grand jury to decide whether any charges should be filed. "No, we'll make the decision," she said.

Asked if her office could have a grand jury review the actions of Hill and Boatner to determine whether there was any official misconduct, Bondi said no.

"The scope of our authority in this executive assignment is limited to Arley Smith and Arley Smith alone," Bondi said.

Records show Smith, who was paid $64,278 per year, was placed on paid administrative leave Sept. 11.

After receiving a file on the police investigation, Sam Cardinale, executive director of the State Attorney's Office, spoke with several prosecutors and investigators, an Oct. 12 memorandum states. He recommended Smith be terminated as of Oct. 16.

Smith submitted a letter of resignation on Oct. 15, with his resignation effective Nov. 15, 2007, when his available leave time was used up.

Hill sent a letter to the governor in October requesting that another office take over the investigation, and it was assigned to the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office.

[ Jason Geary can be reached at jason.geary@theledger.com or 863-802-7536. ]


Hope the feds come in here and clean house so we can get our department back.

My understanding is that the St. Pete Times story is full of lies. I also understand that Jerry Hill, long ago, wrote the governor, who assigned the matter to the Hillsborough SAO.

Let's wait and let the sunshine clear this up. We will probably see that this is one blow in an internal dispute within LPD>

My understanding is that the St. Pete Times story is full of lies. I also understand that Jerry Hill, long ago, wrote the governor, who assigned the matter to the Hillsborough SAO.

Let's wait and let the sunshine clear this up. We will probably see that this is one blow in an internal dispute within LPD>

This post was obviously made by one of the people in the cross hairs or one of their minions. Nice try. Would you like me to book you a one way ticket to Jonestown because you obviously like to drink kool aid.

We all have to ask ourselves if we (an LEO) had been the ones accused of the crime if JH would been as concerned with our pension as he was with his buddy's? Would it have taken this long for us to wind up in jail? Probably not. All we ask for is equal treatment all the way around. Hopefully, once the smoke clears and the reports are public record we'll get to see the facts. That being said, I'll continue to watch my back and bide my time. The GOB's are alive and well as we all know

[Lonewolf1]

I wonder why everyone is so surprised at this good ole boy network that exists between the major players and decision makers who are trying their best to stifle this investigation. They, along with their various minions have worked together for years taking care of each other and ensuring that anyone or anything that got in the way was taken care of.

When you speak of police corruption it does not necessarily relate to taking bribes, or passing along confidential information, or stealing, it can also relate to a system where certain members of the "ruling class" or "families" get that way because they have cheated, slept, lied, and manipulated the circumstances in their favor all along the way without any regard for the "real" cops or anyone else except themselves and their little do boys and do girls.

These people have been destroying people's careers for years with no regard other than their own personal agendas of taking care of each other even at the cost of what little integrity is left at LPD.

With any luck, this will blow up in their faces and bring about some much needed change.....but I won't hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

The upper administration is not on your side. They have no idea what the average officer goes through. Its been decades since any of them have answered calls. For the first time in a long, sad time, there are more people wanting to leave LPD than wanting to come here.

The people in charge are happy to have control. Though instead of using the control as a way to make this a better place, they use it to hide in their shells and protect each other.

The only reason this incident has come to light is because one family stood up and said they would not take the lies and back door deals any longer. Everyone should take a lesson from this. Stand and fight. Don't let them get away with it any longer. They are employees just like us. They are not the owners.