Q&A With 124

[Unregistered]

124 you were Lt when the whole FH and RA battle occurred at the gas station. What was the deal there?

[Unregistered]

What was the deal with a certain west district deputy who was scolded for trying to make a DV arrest on one of Steve's friends? A friend who constantly figure skates away from trouble and arrests? and for that deputy to be threatened with termination instead of being allowed to do his job . Did his Sgt. put him out to dry again on that one?

[Unregistered]

So you're going to try a new business and leadership model from the one that is in place now? That sounds so crazy it just might work. I am very curious to hear your plans on civilian employees, or support staff/ office assistants. It seems this administration has taken the liberty to add more people in the office than on the road. Take a few days to answer this if need be there is no hurry.

That’s another solid question. As I said in a previous post, there are 3 or 4 misappropriated communications positions that needs to be returned to communications. All of them are currently being used as support staff in the main office. I do believe that the SO is heavy with support staff, and that’s something we’ll have to evaluate after we get in. Obviously Susan won’t need a personal assistant to do her job for her while she’s out campaigning for a job in another county.

124

[Unregistered]

How do you plan to get all this type of information out to the voters of Hendry County so they can be informed about the reality of what goes on at the agency with their tax payer dollars?

This information is currently being distributed by word of mouth. Ricky attends all the functions he can and has these conversations with his supporters. In the next few weeks and most definitely after the primary on August 30th, you’ll see the Garcia Campaign ramp up. The web site and Facebook pages will become public, fliers, and door to door campaigning will all push into full swing in the next couple weeks.

124

[Unregistered]

124 you were Lt when the whole FH and RA battle occurred at the gas station. What was the deal there?

This is another situation where I won’t discuss the events that precipitated the altercation, because they involve the personal lives of people who are not involved here. So, that altercation took place at the Pioneer Shell at a time when they were both off duty. I’ve heard both sides of the story and they’re pretty similar. At that time I had no relationship with Herrera, other than being former co-workers.

Three or four days later, I was put in a position where I had to take the initial offense report of the altercation. I tried to talk Archer out of it but that wasn’t gonna happen. I completed the report and listed the crime as “Simple Battery”. I should have known then that something filthy was going to happen as I was directed to forward it to CID for follow-up.

A couple days later I found out that CID was going to arrest for Herrera for Battery LEO, and Aggravated Stalking. I immediately called Kevin and expressed the need for that whole case to be written up and forwarded to the SAO as a warrant request. Under the circumstances, it is absolutely inappropriate for the investigating agency to make that decision. Not to mention that the investigator was Archer’s BFF. Kevin told me that the SAO would not file the warrant and that they were going to make the probable cause arrest. I then argued that Battery LEO did not apply as several of the elements of the crime were not present, and that the situation only amounted to Simple Battery. Kevin snapped back at me and told me that they were filing the felony charges, and warned me once again to mind my own business.

Herrera turned himself in and quickly bonded out. A couple weeks later, the SAO dropped all charges based on “insufficient evidence to prosecute”. It was just as clear to me as it was to everyone else involved that arresting Herrera was done out of vengeance. This is just another example of why the relationship between the HCSO and the SAO is so poor. SMH

[Unregistered]

What was the deal with a certain west district deputy who was scolded for trying to make a DV arrest on one of Steve's friends? A friend who constantly figure skates away from trouble and arrests? and for that deputy to be threatened with termination instead of being allowed to do his job . Did his Sgt. put him out to dry again on that one?

Are you referring to the same person who punched Deputy Crews in the face at Top Draw and was arrested for Battery LEO, only to have the arrest changed to a Marchman Act after Steve got there? The same guy who has already been arrested for DV once because he threw his phone out in the front yard before called Steve? The same guy who Steve told me that he didn’t really know that well, but I later found that his daughter refers to Steve as Uncle Peach? The same guy who taunted the deputies because he already knew that Steve told them not to arrest him?

I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same guy. Basically he's one of many friends Steve keeps around who he will go out of his way to protect. That was another situation where Steve told me that he was just “preventing the deputy from making a bad arrest”. Typical Steve move!

As for the deputies involved, they were all about taking the guy to jail. Including the sergeant. I did what I could, but talking to Steve about that was like beating your head against a wall. Absolutely pointless

124

[Unregistered]

What's up with RA. I heard he's in a jam and the 101 is backing him?

[Unregistered]

What's up with RA. I heard he's in a jam and the 101 is backing him?

Ok… Apparently Archer seized some narcotics as evidence from a home, and arrested a guy who previously urinated in his Wheaties. The bigger problem was that the judge denied a search warrant for the house and Archer did it anyway. For that reason he was arraigned on Monday for “Contempt of Court”, and plead “not guilty”. You can see that info on the Hendry Clerk's Office web page. His trial date has been set for some time in September. I’ve been told that Steve is doing everything he can to make it go away, but unfortunately for him it’s way beyond his control. (LMAO by the way)

As far as the incident goes, it is what it is. My problem with it is this: Under the precedent they set with Simeon’s legal issue, Archer should be on (un-paid) administrative leave. He’s on duty and in uniform working his shift right now. If y’all recall that’s what they did to Simeon, and even refused to put him back on paid admin leave after the charges were dropped. Kevin told me that the the Internal Affairs investigation was still pending and refused to pay him. (Internal Affairs is another can of filthy worms somebody really needs to ask me about) This is a classic example of the DOUBLE STANDARD by which Steve and Kevin run the agency, and by which Steve conducts his law enforcement. Policies are interpreted and imposed one way for some and another way for others. Just as Steve interprets and enforces the law one way for some and completely different for others. Now somebody please ask me that IA question.

124

[Unregistered]

Let's blow the lid off the shotty IA work conducted by HCSO. Do inform the masses.

[Unregistered]

What's wrong with IA?