Q&A With 124

[Unregistered]

Was the Garcia campaign responsible for the "Sheriff Whidden is a racist" signs located in Harlem and near Edison Ave. In LaBelle?

Absolutely not! I do have to laugh at Steve jumping to baseless conclusions, without a shred of evidence though. Just like his version of law enforcement, evidence is irrelevant and he will do whatever works best for himself. In this case its crying foul and pointing at his finger at the Ricky. Steve is the consummate victim.

124

[Unregistered]

This is not a sycophantic comment, but my honest anecdotes and opinion on you two. I was going to keep silent, but I've never considered myself a part of what one might like to call the 'Castrato Brigade'. The reason why I have decided to share my comment here is because I don't have a way to speak to you both directly. Also, maybe this might help others understand who 124 and Ricky are from somebody who isn't asking for favors, much less any attention from them. I apologise if if this detracts from your topic in anyway, 124. Hopefully you can still parse down my intentions in so far as to write this in as much of a palatable format as I possibly could.

During my time with the HCSO I had the honor to work along the side both of you. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to express how much you had influenced the way I thought not only as a DS, but also as who I am as a person. I value every one of my FTOs and I took away tidbits from each person on how and how not to conduct my job.

Ricky was one of the few Deputies that had a great rapport with communities such as Harlem. I remember him always getting out of his vehicle talking to the residents even when not on calls. We are in an era of community policing, it seems like some cops are more interested in staying inside their comfort zone; ie patrol car instead. On calls he was always building his relationship with people to get information. He was genuinely interested in problem solving and creating amiable situations for all parties and not just squashing calls. I distinctly remember driving by one day and seeing him playing cards with what I thought were strangers. To me that shows that he cared about the area he patrolled and he was proactively building trust in those people. I had not really seen anything like that in any agency I had been apart of(not to say that others didn't do that). I've seen some cops have a hard time or flat out refuse to try to understand certain cultures that they may not be used to. Usually LE from those communities have a better time relating to them. Ricky carried himself in a way like he was grew up in that community and understood the intricacies there. I had been on calls with him where tensions were high and defusing them was the first thing he focused on with much success. While I'm not aware of Hendry County LE having any distrust with the black community and hispanic community, I have no doubt he can relate to them as I saw him do so in the past. He was one person I tried to model myself after to get the tools I needed to be an effective cop. He gave me advice when I was training and seemingly took interest in me even though I wasn't his FTO or responsibility. He taught me various ways to safely conduct my job while keeping officer safety as a top priority.

I was told that one day that I may develop an admiration for a person(s) that I wanted to be. One of those exceptional people is 124. I've heard many cops state ad nauseum that gone are the days of the brotherhood in LE. 124 was one of the few people that I saw where the brotherhood was still alive. He was a fair and honest person who didn't obfuscate any issue that I had as a trainee. While he stated he stated to me that wasn't fawn of being an FTO, he was easily one of my most helpful and effective trainers I had. I had gone in thinking that I was bulletproof with no weakness and I quickly learned that I had a lot to improve on. He taught me ways on how to speak to people in a way to not be passive, but yet still maintain every standard of professionalism you would expect an LEO to act. He was fair to the people on his shift and had a strong bond between everybody. His shift routinely made the most proactive arrests. To show how effective his shift was, even the people who were trainees then made that month's most arrests. The fruit that fell from his shift then went on to become outstanding cops. He is also another person at HCSO that had a great understanding of the communities. He diligently took his time to make sure that not only were the people on his shift were doing their job, but that their reports and follow ups were done with the utmost accuracy and timeliness.


There are a few people that were truly awe inspiring in my time in LE and from those few I can say with confidence it is hard to imagine anybody more qualified than Ricky and 124 to be Sheriff and Chief.

Cheers.

Thank you my friend. Training was sometimes a tedious task and occasionally a fantastic experience. It all depended on the deputy in training. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent working with you, both as a trainee and a deputy. You took the jokes and rookie harassment in stride and gave it back when appropriate. You have and will always be welcome on my shift.
I hope your new endeavor is going well, and thank you again for the flattery.

124

[Unregistered]

Was the Garcia campaign responsible for the "Sheriff Whidden is a racist" signs located in Harlem and near Edison Ave. In LaBelle?

Considering the guy is known almost exclusively for inappropriate behavior this is pretty funny. Plenty of possibilities. Maybe the other candidate he faces in the primary did it. Oh but I guess he can't come out and say that lest he show how he lives up to the accusations, right. Or maybe his personal history of bad behavior has caught up with him in the public eye and citizens are taking action. Everyone knows the list of hendry citizens who have received racist or otherwise inappropriate jokes from his email account(s) is a virtual who's who about town. Plenty of opportunities for people to see that. Most likely possibility, guessing he probably did it himself to look like a victim. Either way hope he stops whining about what he made for himself. No one likes a crybaby.

[Unregistered]

What Sheriff has anyone ever heard of that takes a sign and post it on facebook crying about something that was said about them? The answer to that riddle is none ladies and gents. Classless, like someone else said on this post. Play the victim like a typical democrat.

[Unregistered]

Absolutely not! I do have to laugh at Steve jumping to baseless conclusions, without a shred of evidence though. Just like his version of law enforcement, evidence is irrelevant and he will do whatever works best for himself. In this case its crying foul and pointing at his finger at the Ricky. Steve is the consummate victim.

124

I did not think so, but when I want to know something I try to go to the source therefore I had to ask. I know you are smarter than that. I believe it was the sheriff or one of his supporters. Whoever did it even used Ricky's sign colors. I do remember a similar incident in an election against Ronnie Lee, where one of Steve's signs was graffittied and damaged; it looked like the other campaign was playing dirty. I was surprised later to find out it who did it, by then the election was over. I am afraid I have no proof, and my memory is not what it used to be, so I will not name names. Needless to say, it helped him more than it hurt him then and may do so again. I can't help but wonder how the investigation to find the true suspect is going. Be careful.

[Unregistered]

Would he assign one of the crack detective s from his agency??? If so one things for sure, that s#%@ will never be solved. No, probably not they are busy with yeti - oopps homicides. Maybe Stevens can handle it if hes not too busy working as an unlicensed PI.

[Unregistered]

Stevens is too busy changing oil, somehow he got that business deal while qorking for the Sheriff Office. Weird.

[Unregistered]

Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's get this thread back on track. Apparently I have sufficiently painted a picture of the future, and y'all have run out of questions. What about the past tho? I'm sure y'all have questions about some of the things that Lloyd and Harry... I mean Steve and Kevin have done over the past couple years that left you shaking your heads. I gave y'all the real story of Simeon's separation, but that can't be the only question y'all have about the last few years.

124

(Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne). Just in case you didn't get the reference. Google it!

[Unregistered]

What is the story behind the girl who was let go that came from Dept. Of Children and Families ? By story, I mean how did she get her job, because she led on alot about knowing 102 from her previous job.

[Unregistered]

What happened to Cpt. DW, it seemed his role was short lived ?