Officer Down

Thats Roth 2.0 got to blame someone could not be the half ass radio system that was seriously changed from it's original design, no in car radios, 12 hour shifts, under staffing and refusal to pay overtime to cover shifts with enough people. Another worker ant down hire the next 1. God bless Missy Powers and her family and have faith in knowing that 1 day Bob (Roth 2.0) and the Marathon boys will answer to the same God. The right thing at the right time for the right reason yeah right.

It's worse than you know. One state agency offer their complete radio system including in-cars, consuls etc when they went to Macom. FWC still uses their old handhelds to monitor us. The offer was refused.

I remember the "Lou and Julie show". Still wake up screaming in the middle of the night from the "Lou and Julie Show". I still can't believe the Capt. at that time did nothing to stop it. It made the dept. and officers look bad. To allow that type of behavior what a shame. Sneak off here sneak off there, plan an out of county vacation while working with the other person on the same shift. Who goes grocery shopping for over an hour during their shift in full uniform in their Police Vehicle every week and gets away with it every week. I guess the one who is "with" her Sgt. thats who.

Sheriff report on fatal crash cites possible violations
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BY GARY PHILLIPS
gphillips@keysreporter.com
Posted - Friday, October 29, 2010 10:00 AM EDT


A report released this week on a crash that killed a sheriff’s deputy says some possible violations of policy should be investigated further and could result in discipline against sheriff’s office employees.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office’s internal investigation into the crash of Deputy Melissa Powers has been concluded, but no disciplinary action against any sheriff’s office personnel has been assessed yet, according to spokeswoman Dep. Becky Herrin.

Herrin made the report available on Wednesday. She wrote in an e-mail to The Reporter that the report summarizes a number of issues that “need to be investigated by the appropriate commanders for possible discipline. Those investigations will be taking place now that the administrative investigation is finished.”

Powers, 36, died after the June 22 accident, in which she lost control of her police car around mile marker 101.8 on Key Largo. The vehicle left the road and struck a parked truck, a fence and a tree. A Florida Highway Patrol report said she was driving 106 mph before the crash.

Powers, along with other officers, was reportedly trying to locate Sgt. Tom Kiffney, who dispatchers couldn’t reach after numerous radio and cell phone calls. It was later learned that Kiffney had stopped to use the bathroom at a store he owns, Kiffney’s Firearms at mile marker 106. Video surveillance confirmed he was at the store for approximately 40 minutes, the report said.

Kiffney said he had tuned his police radio to an alternate channel used to check vehicle registrations and warrants and he had not switched it back to the regular dispatch frequency, and had mistakenly left his department-issued cellphone in his police car. He was located about 20 minutes after the accident, the report said.

GPS disconnected

Sheriff’s office vehicles have Global Positioning System units to track their whereabouts, but the one in Kiffney’s car was disconnected because it interfered with his in-car computer, he said.

The report, by Inspector Donnie Elomina, also says communications supervisors had not been monitoring patrol car GPS systems for more than two months and had been using the GPS monitor screen to watch television, the report said.

The report says Kiffney committed three possible “neglect of duty offenses” that night.

“Kiffney failed to maintain radio contact, therefore other patrol units were looking for him. Kiffney did not respond to his department issued cell phone when dispatch was trying to locate him, and Kiffney failed to advise communication that he was out of his vehicle when he went to his gun shop,” the report said.

Kiffney’s last known location was John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park at mile marker 102.

The report says other possible violations were Deputy Darnell Durham’s and Powers’ use of a “Code 3” response — high speed with emergency lights and sirens — to Pennekamp park when it was not an emergency and it had not been determined that Kiffney needed help. The report says they also failed to inform dispatchers they were using “Code 3” responses.

Following the accident, Col. Rick Ramsay, second in command under Sheriff Bob Peryam, instituted several policy changes to limit danger to sheriff’s officers.

In a memo to Peryam outlining the new rules, Ramsay wrote, “I ordered anyone who has a second job or business not to go there while on duty, unless it is a call for service within their zone.”

Other policy changes are that deputies are to use “Code 3” response only if instructed to do so by their supervisor, all GPS units must be connected and working, deputies who have sheriff’s office cellphones must have them in their possession and turned on, and in-car video cameras will automatically begin recording when vehicles exceed 65 mph.

The new driving policies also ban passing vehicles on the right side, which Powers was attempting to do when she lost control.

Nicolas Briand, 23, of Key Largo was arrested August 6 in connection with the incident and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death. The FHP said witnesses claimed Briand pulled from Michelle Drive onto U.S. 1 and into Powers’ path, causing her to swerve and lose control.

Numerous phone messages left at the office of Briand’s attorney have not been returned.

This is all fine and dandy I suppose, but the MCSO website still maintains NO info on the crash and that she was responding to a "call"..and thats all....No mm, no location, no respect for her and what she actually died for..Technically, that is false info considering all the other reports say otherwise yet in her memory..PIO states only "was killed in the line of duty in a traffic accident which took place at 10:20 p.m. on June 22, 2010 while responding to a call." Nothing more..thats it...no call type she was responding to, or location where she died...Look at all the other the other deaths since 2007....compare...

Again, when you state someone (deceased) was responding to a call, that would mean several things,an actual call for starters and it would be public record therefore someone called in, but no one made a report that nite for a call for service...thats not what happened...we know that..she was listening to ptl1 code 5's in sector 6 and no responded....what a shocker! Was his phone off too? Thats the number I would have called..I also would have know from the background noise where he was at...Who was on ptl2, if he switched channels and someone was doing their job right, this would not have happened...