*PLEASE READ*

Now that yet another Monroe Deputy has lost their life in a traffic crash, will the Sheriff and his command staff finally put a stop to the practice of allowing Deputies to race up and down the highway, follow too close to bully legal traffic over, pass illegally, etc, etc, ?? It is a disgrace that you have allowed it so long. Just look at the number of Deputy involved crashes. How do some people sleep at night ?

Bullying traffic... YOUR SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THE ****ING WAY YOU SHITHEAD!

Don't speed on your way to your job at MCDonalds, or you might get a ticket. Stop breathing my air you POS.

Bullying traffic... YOUR SUPPOSED TO GET OUT OF THE ****ING WAY YOU SHITHEAD!

Don't speed on your way to your job at MCDonalds, or you might get a ticket. Stop breathing my air you POS.
With that lack of respect of the public you "serve" you better cover your tag or you will lost your job. See ya !

Deputies who race up and down the streets of the county, follow to closely and "bully" legal traffic..... These deputies are going to emergency calls to protect citizens of the county. Not all calls require lights and sirens however some do. Perhaps if you did a ride along with a deputy you would understand this alittle better. It is illegal for you not to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle. As a matter of fact maybe the man who pulled in front of deputy Powers causing her to lose control and crash felt he was being bullied by the emergency vehicle with lights and sirens going. I'll bet he had a similar attitude as you before he killed deputy Powers. Maybe instead of having drinks with a Sheriff who doesn't care about his deputies you should be grateful for the deputies who risk thier lives for you everyday. Instead of threatening thier jobs. Because you uninformed attitude offended a person who does serve you ..... Not like a waiter or maid but someone who knows thier lives are in danger just by putting on the uniform. Knowing our sheriif if you called to complain on a deputy he might be fired. But shame on you for even thinking it

Deputies who race up and down the streets of the county, follow to closely and "bully" legal traffic..... These deputies are going to emergency calls to protect citizens of the county. Not all calls require lights and sirens however some do. Perhaps if you did a ride along with a deputy you would understand this alittle better. It is illegal for you not to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle. As a matter of fact maybe the man who pulled in front of deputy Powers causing her to lose control and crash felt he was being bullied by the emergency vehicle with lights and sirens going. I'll bet he had a similar attitude as you before he killed deputy Powers. Maybe instead of having drinks with a Sheriff who doesn't care about his deputies you should be grateful for the deputies who risk thier lives for you everyday. Instead of threatening thier jobs. Because you uninformed attitude offended a person who does serve you ..... Not like a waiter or maid but someone who knows thier lives are in danger just by putting on the uniform. Knowing our sheriif if you called to complain on a deputy he might be fired. But shame on you for even thinking it
Where do I start. 90% of time when uniformed Deputies are violating various traffic laws they are doing it unlawfully and are not on an emergency call (court, lunch, roll call, etc). If they in fact are going to emergency calls without their audible and visual emergency devices activated they are in violation of both internal rules and Fla. law, as I hope you know. It is not "illegal" for a lawful vehicle to not "get out of the way" of a car without emergency equipment activated. Maybe that's the problem if you folks do not know that. Unlike you, I am not going to comment on the cause of Missy Power's crash. Thanks for your offer but I don't think a ride a long will change the facts. As to your comment about citizens calling in valid complains to your Sheriff when they see them, I would agrue that rather than worrying about them "being fired" we should worry about them being injured or worse as well as the safety of the very citizens that you profess to protect. Before you start with your b.s. insults I am a 30+ yr veteran cop with supervisor and crash investigation experiance. Watch your driving folks!

Sir I respect your experience in law enforcement. However you didn't work in Monroe County. In Monroe county deputies are not allowed to attivate lights and sirens without permission. I your 30 in law enforcement you have never heard of the move over statue how failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. You correct they are not criminal but they are aganist flordia statue and moving violations that drivers can be citied for. Yes we should all be careful driving and abuse of traffic laws by officers is a problem. In thirty years u never exceeded the posted speed limit? Unlike u the rest of us r human and we sometimes make mistakes. You r correct sir we should watch our driving and I hope we all stay safe. Enjoy your retirement and thank you for your service

Monroe county deputies are not allowed to attivate lights and sirens without permission.

What?

I didn't finish my thought... what do you mean permission?

Sir I respect your experience in law enforcement. However you didn't work in Monroe County. In Monroe county deputies are not allowed to attivate lights and sirens without permission. I your 30 in law enforcement you have never heard of the move over statue how failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. You correct they are not criminal but they are aganist flordia statue and moving violations that drivers can be citied for. Yes we should all be careful driving and abuse of traffic laws by officers is a problem. In thirty years u never exceeded the posted speed limit? Unlike u the rest of us r human and we sometimes make mistakes. You r correct sir we should watch our driving and I hope we all stay safe. Enjoy your retirement and thank you for your service
Hey, All due respect. The move over law only applies when " an authorized emergency vehicle making use of any visual signgals is parked...." Nothing about tailgating to get to the station from your home in south Miami-dade Bro. I think someone owes someone an apology. P.S. Are you really a Monroe Deputy ????

From: Rick Ramsay
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:02 PM
Subject: Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

By Colonel Rick Ramsay



Due to the recent death of Deputy Melissa Powers, and due to a string of deaths in our agency due to traffic accidents, we have examined our current practices, and are directing that some changes take place in the way road patrol operates when responding to calls.



Since I began working here, we have had five Deputies killed in the line of duty. ALL of them were killed in Traffic Crashes. Three of the five accidents occurred when the officers were responding to a call and traveling at or near 100mph. In all three cases, this high speed response was completely un-called for. I do not say this lightly, or to be disrespectful to these fine officers, but this should be a wakeup call to everyone when it comes to how we respond to calls for service.



In 1998, Res. Deputy Dave Cormier was a passenger in a patrol vehicle when the unit he was riding in responded to a report of a stolen bicycle. The patrol car was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it collided with another vehicle, killing Deputy Cormier. In 2007, Deputy Robin Tanner was responding to an unattended death call at an extremely high rate of speed. Robin swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her, lost control of her vehicle and she was killed in the resulting accident. Deputy Melissa Powers was driving at an extremely high rate of speed to help locate her Sergeant, who was out of touch on his radio. Melissa swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her and she was killed in the resulting accident. At these high rates of speed, if even a small thing goes wrong, there is simply no time to react. Even an expert driver would not be able to handle a collision at such high speeds.



Across the nation officers are being killed, injured, and are killing and injuring others because they are driving too fast. In many instances, they are speeding to calls which do not require such a response. We talk about officer safety all of the time when it comes to armed suspects and other dangerous situations, but it is clear to me that the number one threat to a law enforcement officer is unsafe driving – particularly here in Monroe County.



We all know the officers who drive too fast and we all say to ourselves or each other, “someday something is going to happen.” Well, it is time for us to tackle this problem head-on. On the day after Deputy Powers funeral, a meeting was held at headquarters with all Commanders and Chiefs in attendance. I outlined what I see as the problems we are having, and what I want to see happen to help solve those problems. My number one concern is the safety and security of our officers, followed closely by the safety and security of the public. I am going to make every effort to see that everyone goes home at the end of their shift if I can possibly help it.



The responsibility for making sure this effort is successful and is consistently applied will be on our supervisors – primarily on our Road Patrol Sergeants. The main responsibility of a road patrol sergeant is and always has been to monitor and control his or her road patrol shift; there are some sergeants who do this very well. There are others who have not been adequately supervising and it is now time for them to step up to the plate and do their job.



From now on, I want to make it clear: it is a sergeant’s responsibility to direct the type of response a call requires. Before a deputy runs code to a call, that response must be approved by a sergeant. There are very few times such a response is called for, and even fewer where a high speed code response is required. This will ensure the sergeant knows what’s going on which is important because he or she may be called upon to justify the response.



The goal here is to limit code responses to calls. For example, there is absolutely no reason to run code to dumpster fires, brush fires , fire alarms, verbal disputes of any kind, trespassing, crashes (unless there are injuries), repetitive alarm calls, or most medical calls.



And remember, when you are responding to a routine call – and not running code – you must be driving at the speed limit. There is absolutely no reason to exceed the speed limit on a routine call. I get more complaints from the public about deputies speeding than about anything else. In addition to the deadly crashes I talked about, we have also had many vehicles badly damaged or destroyed due to high speed driving. This unsafe behavior is going to stop. If it doesn’t, someone will be held responsible for it.



Also, from now on, no more than two units will respond to any call, unless a sergeant authorizes more than two units. If a sergeant authorizes more than two units to respond to a call, he or she will specify what level of response and must be able to justify it based on the circumstances of the call. There is simply no reason to have more than two units going to most of our calls.



Remember, your safety outweighs everything else! We may see an overall slower response time as a result of these safety efforts. We may see some calls escalate because it took us a little longer to get there. But we have to get there in one piece to do any good.



We will be doing a better job of tracking our officers. Making sure we know an officer’s location is a major safety issue. Data Processing has ordered new air cards that will also act as GPS antennas. This ensures they will not be accidentally or purposefully disconnected. These new cards will also allow us to monitor vehicle speeds and locations.



I have also directed data processing to change the configuration of our in-car video systems to automatically activate at 65 mph. I am telling you this up front – consider this fair warning. We aren’t trying to trick anyone here, but we are going to make sure we do everything we can to keep our officers safe.



I’ve made this clear to Commanders, and now I’m making it clear here for everyone. Road Patrol Sergeants have now been given clear direction. They will be held accountable for this. And, if a particular sergeant doesn’t take appropriate action when directing officers to a call, I expect other sergeants on duty to step in. Road patrol officers, let me be clear: if you receive direction from any sergeant, even if it isn’t your shift sergeant, you are to follow that direction.



Some of you may feel this sounds harsh. But we are going to learn from the past and make every effort to avoid these deadly situations in the future. I look forward to any other thoughts or suggestions on how we can tackle these serious safety issues.



Colonel Rick Ramsay

strange reaction..

strange reaction..
Really. Do you have any idea what L.E. traffic deaths costs both in terms of funds as well as the human toll ? We should applaud the Dept. for taking positive steps to control an obvious problem. You can't have officers running 100 mph to b.s. calls in busy traffic areas.

Personally after reading this memo sent out by Colonel Rick Ramsay to all of the Monroe County Sheriff staff, i see a few flaws. First of all i see that he is wanting the Supervisors to be the person who judges whether or not a call requires more than two officers and also the code that should be run to certain calls. We can not forget that in the case of Deputy Melissa Powers she was going to back up her supervisor, who was supposedly on another channel. So let me ask you a question, What happens if someone is drowning or some other call that may need to be run on a Code 3, and it just so happens that the supervisor is on another channel. This could cause loss of citizens lives. We can not depend on the supervisors. People may trash talk and say that Deputy Melissa Powers shouldn't have been driving at the speed that she was driving, but we must remember that she was under the impression that her "supervisor" was getting his a** beat or he was in trouble. The second this i see is that now after loosing another Deputy, Rick Ramsay decides to implement new air-cards and a updated car cam system. The question in mind is why wasn't all this implemented in 2007 when the other deputy was lost in the same type of accident. It seems to me that Monroe County is scared sh**less and are trying to fix all the problems before hell strikes there department.

RIP Sister Deputy Melissa Powers, your family is in our prayers. :cop:

So let me ask you a question, What happens if someone is drowning or some other call that may need to be run on a Code 3, and it just so happens that the supervisor is on another channel.

Read the memo again, all supervisors are responsible. If your supervisor is on channel two and you cannot switch over or dispatch doesn't ask them on channel two, look at CAD and determine the ID # for another supervisor and ask them. Come on this isn't rocket science, we are just getting back to the days of NO Response speeds over 25 mph above the speed limit. As the memo says GET THERE and solve the problem, the alternative only makes it worse.

Re: Question #2 , In IMHO this memo is long overdue.

Serving Monroe County since 1983.

strange reaction..
Really. Do you have any idea what L.E. traffic deaths costs both in terms of funds as well as the human toll ? We should applaud the Dept. for taking positive steps to control an obvious problem. You can't have officers running 100 mph to b.s. calls in busy traffic areas.

Yes I do...more than you will ever know.... you can take someone's life and/or liberty without permission, but you have to ask to turn on lights and sirens? I understand the motivation, but question the process.

at the end of the day she died thinking in her mind that another officer was in trouble. it could have been a heart attack, ambush, etc. believe me she was very much in love with her baby girl , but she did not think twice about doing what we police officers are suppose to do for each other. she did what any other officer would have done and that is listen to your radio and back each other up, because at the end of the day, no body else will come, we only have each other. i hurts and causes anger to read all the blogs of the citizens we take an oath to protect and serve who monday quarter back and talk crap about how stupid she was and that she caused her own destiny by driving so fast. but that is evil tring to control our minds. we all know she died being a hero and not a zero like they think. god have mercy on their souls.

at the end of the day she died thinking in her mind that another officer was in trouble. it could have been a heart attack, ambush, etc. believe me she was very much in love with her baby girl , but she did not think twice about doing what we police officers are suppose to do for each other. she did what any other officer would have done and that is listen to your radio and back each other up, because at the end of the day, no body else will come, we only have each other. i hurts and causes anger to read all the blogs of the citizens we take an oath to protect and serve who monday quarter back and talk crap about how stupid she was and that she caused her own destiny by driving so fast. but that is evil tring to control our minds. we all know she died being a hero and not a zero like they think. god have mercy on their souls.

Amen

Lets make this the last post on this subject and let her rest in peace.

strange reaction..
Really. Do you have any idea what L.E. traffic deaths costs both in terms of funds as well as the human toll ? We should applaud the Dept. for taking positive steps to control an obvious problem. You can't have officers running 100 mph to b.s. calls in busy traffic areas.

Yes I do...more than you will ever know.... you can take someone's life and/or liberty without permission, but you have to ask to turn on lights and sirens? I understand the motivation, but question the process.
Considering how MCSO officers drive and act I think it is perfectly understandable. Ya throw peanuts- ya get monkeys !!

From: Rick Ramsay
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:02 PM
Subject: Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

By Colonel Rick Ramsay



Due to the recent death of Deputy Melissa Powers, and due to a string of deaths in our agency due to traffic accidents, we have examined our current practices, and are directing that some changes take place in the way road patrol operates when responding to calls.



Since I began working here, we have had five Deputies killed in the line of duty. ALL of them were killed in Traffic Crashes. Three of the five accidents occurred when the officers were responding to a call and traveling at or near 100mph. In all three cases, this high speed response was completely un-called for. I do not say this lightly, or to be disrespectful to these fine officers, but this should be a wakeup call to everyone when it comes to how we respond to calls for service.



In 1998, Res. Deputy Dave Cormier was a passenger in a patrol vehicle when the unit he was riding in responded to a report of a stolen bicycle. The patrol car was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it collided with another vehicle, killing Deputy Cormier. In 2007, Deputy Robin Tanner was responding to an unattended death call at an extremely high rate of speed. Robin swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her, lost control of her vehicle and she was killed in the resulting accident. Deputy Melissa Powers was driving at an extremely high rate of speed to help locate her Sergeant, who was out of touch on his radio. Melissa swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her and she was killed in the resulting accident. At these high rates of speed, if even a small thing goes wrong, there is simply no time to react. Even an expert driver would not be able to handle a collision at such high speeds.



Across the nation officers are being killed, injured, and are killing and injuring others because they are driving too fast. In many instances, they are speeding to calls which do not require such a response. We talk about officer safety all of the time when it comes to armed suspects and other dangerous situations, but it is clear to me that the number one threat to a law enforcement officer is unsafe driving – particularly here in Monroe County.



We all know the officers who drive too fast and we all say to ourselves or each other, “someday something is going to happen.” Well, it is time for us to tackle this problem head-on. On the day after Deputy Powers funeral, a meeting was held at headquarters with all Commanders and Chiefs in attendance. I outlined what I see as the problems we are having, and what I want to see happen to help solve those problems. My number one concern is the safety and security of our officers, followed closely by the safety and security of the public. I am going to make every effort to see that everyone goes home at the end of their shift if I can possibly help it.



The responsibility for making sure this effort is successful and is consistently applied will be on our supervisors – primarily on our Road Patrol Sergeants. The main responsibility of a road patrol sergeant is and always has been to monitor and control his or her road patrol shift; there are some sergeants who do this very well. There are others who have not been adequately supervising and it is now time for them to step up to the plate and do their job.



From now on, I want to make it clear: it is a sergeant’s responsibility to direct the type of response a call requires. Before a deputy runs code to a call, that response must be approved by a sergeant. There are very few times such a response is called for, and even fewer where a high speed code response is required. This will ensure the sergeant knows what’s going on which is important because he or she may be called upon to justify the response.



The goal here is to limit code responses to calls. For example, there is absolutely no reason to run code to dumpster fires, brush fires , fire alarms, verbal disputes of any kind, trespassing, crashes (unless there are injuries), repetitive alarm calls, or most medical calls.



And remember, when you are responding to a routine call – and not running code – you must be driving at the speed limit. There is absolutely no reason to exceed the speed limit on a routine call. I get more complaints from the public about deputies speeding than about anything else. In addition to the deadly crashes I talked about, we have also had many vehicles badly damaged or destroyed due to high speed driving. This unsafe behavior is going to stop. If it doesn’t, someone will be held responsible for it.



Also, from now on, no more than two units will respond to any call, unless a sergeant authorizes more than two units. If a sergeant authorizes more than two units to respond to a call, he or she will specify what level of response and must be able to justify it based on the circumstances of the call. There is simply no reason to have more than two units going to most of our calls.



Remember, your safety outweighs everything else! We may see an overall slower response time as a result of these safety efforts. We may see some calls escalate because it took us a little longer to get there. But we have to get there in one piece to do any good.



We will be doing a better job of tracking our officers. Making sure we know an officer’s location is a major safety issue. Data Processing has ordered new air cards that will also act as GPS antennas. This ensures they will not be accidentally or purposefully disconnected. These new cards will also allow us to monitor vehicle speeds and locations.



I have also directed data processing to change the configuration of our in-car video systems to automatically activate at 65 mph. I am telling you this up front – consider this fair warning. We aren’t trying to trick anyone here, but we are going to make sure we do everything we can to keep our officers safe.



I’ve made this clear to Commanders, and now I’m making it clear here for everyone. Road Patrol Sergeants have now been given clear direction. They will be held accountable for this. And, if a particular sergeant doesn’t take appropriate action when directing officers to a call, I expect other sergeants on duty to step in. Road patrol officers, let me be clear: if you receive direction from any sergeant, even if it isn’t your shift sergeant, you are to follow that direction.



Some of you may feel this sounds harsh. But we are going to learn from the past and make every effort to avoid these deadly situations in the future. I look forward to any other thoughts or suggestions on how we can tackle these serious safety issues.



Colonel Rick Ramsay

All cops are assholes... :evil:

That's NOT what your mom says.

From: Rick Ramsay
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:02 PM
Subject: Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

By Colonel Rick Ramsay



Due to the recent death of Deputy Melissa Powers, and due to a string of deaths in our agency due to traffic accidents, we have examined our current practices, and are directing that some changes take place in the way road patrol operates when responding to calls.



Since I began working here, we have had five Deputies killed in the line of duty. ALL of them were killed in Traffic Crashes. Three of the five accidents occurred when the officers were responding to a call and traveling at or near 100mph. In all three cases, this high speed response was completely un-called for. I do not say this lightly, or to be disrespectful to these fine officers, but this should be a wakeup call to everyone when it comes to how we respond to calls for service.



In 1998, Res. Deputy Dave Cormier was a passenger in a patrol vehicle when the unit he was riding in responded to a report of a stolen bicycle. The patrol car was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it collided with another vehicle, killing Deputy Cormier. In 2007, Deputy Robin Tanner was responding to an unattended death call at an extremely high rate of speed. Robin swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her, lost control of her vehicle and she was killed in the resulting accident. Deputy Melissa Powers was driving at an extremely high rate of speed to help locate her Sergeant, who was out of touch on his radio. Melissa swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her and she was killed in the resulting accident. At these high rates of speed, if even a small thing goes wrong, there is simply no time to react. Even an expert driver would not be able to handle a collision at such high speeds.



Across the nation officers are being killed, injured, and are killing and injuring others because they are driving too fast. In many instances, they are speeding to calls which do not require such a response. We talk about officer safety all of the time when it comes to armed suspects and other dangerous situations, but it is clear to me that the number one threat to a law enforcement officer is unsafe driving – particularly here in Monroe County.



We all know the officers who drive too fast and we all say to ourselves or each other, “someday something is going to happen.” Well, it is time for us to tackle this problem head-on. On the day after Deputy Powers funeral, a meeting was held at headquarters with all Commanders and Chiefs in attendance. I outlined what I see as the problems we are having, and what I want to see happen to help solve those problems. My number one concern is the safety and security of our officers, followed closely by the safety and security of the public. I am going to make every effort to see that everyone goes home at the end of their shift if I can possibly help it.



The responsibility for making sure this effort is successful and is consistently applied will be on our supervisors – primarily on our Road Patrol Sergeants. The main responsibility of a road patrol sergeant is and always has been to monitor and control his or her road patrol shift; there are some sergeants who do this very well. There are others who have not been adequately supervising and it is now time for them to step up to the plate and do their job.



From now on, I want to make it clear: it is a sergeant’s responsibility to direct the type of response a call requires. Before a deputy runs code to a call, that response must be approved by a sergeant. There are very few times such a response is called for, and even fewer where a high speed code response is required. This will ensure the sergeant knows what’s going on which is important because he or she may be called upon to justify the response.



The goal here is to limit code responses to calls. For example, there is absolutely no reason to run code to dumpster fires, brush fires , fire alarms, verbal disputes of any kind, trespassing, crashes (unless there are injuries), repetitive alarm calls, or most medical calls.



And remember, when you are responding to a routine call – and not running code – you must be driving at the speed limit. There is absolutely no reason to exceed the speed limit on a routine call. I get more complaints from the public about deputies speeding than about anything else. In addition to the deadly crashes I talked about, we have also had many vehicles badly damaged or destroyed due to high speed driving. This unsafe behavior is going to stop. If it doesn’t, someone will be held responsible for it.



Also, from now on, no more than two units will respond to any call, unless a sergeant authorizes more than two units. If a sergeant authorizes more than two units to respond to a call, he or she will specify what level of response and must be able to justify it based on the circumstances of the call. There is simply no reason to have more than two units going to most of our calls.



Remember, your safety outweighs everything else! We may see an overall slower response time as a result of these safety efforts. We may see some calls escalate because it took us a little longer to get there. But we have to get there in one piece to do any good.



We will be doing a better job of tracking our officers. Making sure we know an officer’s location is a major safety issue. Data Processing has ordered new air cards that will also act as GPS antennas. This ensures they will not be accidentally or purposefully disconnected. These new cards will also allow us to monitor vehicle speeds and locations.



I have also directed data processing to change the configuration of our in-car video systems to automatically activate at 65 mph. I am telling you this up front – consider this fair warning. We aren’t trying to trick anyone here, but we are going to make sure we do everything we can to keep our officers safe.



I’ve made this clear to Commanders, and now I’m making it clear here for everyone. Road Patrol Sergeants have now been given clear direction. They will be held accountable for this. And, if a particular sergeant doesn’t take appropriate action when directing officers to a call, I expect other sergeants on duty to step in. Road patrol officers, let me be clear: if you receive direction from any sergeant, even if it isn’t your shift sergeant, you are to follow that direction.



Some of you may feel this sounds harsh. But we are going to learn from the past and make every effort to avoid these deadly situations in the future. I look forward to any other thoughts or suggestions on how we can tackle these serious safety issues.



Colonel Rick Ramsay

The bottom line is that for many many it has been tought from FTO to FTO the response is balls to the walls lights and siren for every call. Nobody see's anything wrong because it's been tought that it is normal response. No other agency does this except for the Keys. I say the Keys because a lot of the state officers see us doing it and do it too. It's just not worth the extreme danger going after a traffic violator or most emergency calls to drive balls to the walls..The directive seems harsh, but I'll tell ya it's the only thing thats slowed the crazy driving with some of the deputies I work with..

The bottom line is that for many many it has been tought from FTO to FTO the response is balls to the walls lights and siren for every call. Nobody see's anything wrong because it's been tought that it is normal response. No other agency does this except for the Keys. I say the Keys because a lot of the state officers see us doing it and do it too. It's just not worth the extreme danger going after a traffic violator or most emergency calls to drive balls to the walls..The directive seems harsh, but I'll tell ya it's the only thing thats slowed the crazy driving with some of the deputies I work with..


Don't speak for all of us please! I'm an FTO and don't teach my new Dep's to drive like this.... And the real problem is this agency make 1 to 2 year Dep's FTO's, you are not proficient enough in your first few years to teach someone else... Only this agency will let someone be swat, motors, narcotics etc after Their probation is up... Take away the take home policy to those who drive like shizzzzz.

The bottom line is that for many many it has been tought from FTO to FTO the response is balls to the walls lights and siren for every call. Nobody see's anything wrong because it's been tought that it is normal response. No other agency does this except for the Keys. I say the Keys because a lot of the state officers see us doing it and do it too. It's just not worth the extreme danger going after a traffic violator or most emergency calls to drive balls to the walls..The directive seems harsh, but I'll tell ya it's the only thing thats slowed the crazy driving with some of the deputies I work with..


Spell check moron.

Friday, February 3, 2012 Monroe County corrections deputy accused of propositioning an undercover officer posing as a prostitute in Broward County has been arrested and placed on unpaid suspension, according to Sheriff's Office records. The Detention Deputy was charged with second-degree misdemeanor, first offense-offer/agree to secure a lewd act on Nov. 2 after he reportedly approached an undercover member of the Hollywood Police Street Crimes Unit near U.S. 1 and Wiley Street, records state.

This Stock Island Monroe County Detention Center employee who is not a sworn deputy and does not carry a weapon, was suspended for 45 days without pay and must undergo sexual addiction counseling, spokeswoman Deputy Herrin said. He also received a letter of reprimand on the unlawful conduct charge and was suspended for an additional 24 hours for the latter charge -- essentially two days since jailers work in 12-hour shifts, Herrin said.

"He got the maximum punishment we have prior to termination," Sheriff Bob Peryam said. "We don't tolerate this behavior and we will never tolerate this behavior."

The Internal Affairs Division on Jan. 4 sustained one count of unlawful conduct and one count of misrepresentation of position and/or authority. Investigators found he misrepresented himself by telling the undercover officer that he was a "cop" when he was attempting to negotiate the price of oral sex. NOW THIS IS WHAT GETS ME------ok the detention deputy gets arrested for breaking the law and gets a big punishment from the sheriff as we all can read above and will get further punishment in court later, good for them , we dont need this type of public service employee but MCSO Sgt. Thomas Kiffney on June 22 2010 failed to: • Answer his police radio repeatedly; • Cleared a prior call at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, causing fellow officers to become concerned for his safety without letting dispatch know he was done with the call; • Return to regular radio Channel 1 after switching to Channel 3 after a bulletin for him was issued, disallowing dispatchers and other deputies from reaching him; • Report he was out of his car and at his gun shop; • Keep his cellphone with him when he left his car; •• Return to his car promptly; • Answer the phone at his gun shop; • Keep his police car's GPS plugged in; • Report trouble he was having with the MCSO GPS unit to the MCSO Information Technology department; • Consider that other MCSO officers would be concerned for his safety and risk their own safety to check on him; and • Protect Deputy Powers from wrongful death. AND OUR MCSO SHERIFF ONLY GIVES SGT KIFFNEY SIX DAYS OFF, WHICH HE WAS ALLOWED TO USE VACATION TIME SO HE WOULDNT LOOSE ANY PAY , HE GOT TO KEEP HIS STRIPES , IS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE WORKING IN THE SAME SECTOR THAT HIS GUN SHOP IS IN AND SUPERVISE DEPUTIES UNDER HIM. And yes he only got six days off ,,, that cat wasnt let out of the bag to the tax payers but if you did not know this , now you do. There is more to that incident then we have been led to know. IN A NUT SHELL , SEEMS LIKE A "COVER UP" RIP DEPUTY POWERS WE HAVE YOUR BACK :(

If you think you know the real story then tell it. Becuase the only thing you stated is what was put in the papers. You didn't even get the punishment right, it was not six days. Wow just another jerk who thinks they know everything. Almost everything you stated is not true, again stop reading the papers and listening to others. You want the real truth, talk to Sgt. Kiffney himself, the dispatchers, the other deputies working that night. Then adn only then will you know what really went on.

So sad................

@ "yearight" you have no clue yet buddy ,,,,, the sgt or your sgt needs not be a SGT.

**facts**: He has several sustained neglect to duty in his file and guess for what ,,,,,,,,,, oh yea you dont know, well let me tell you for what........ NOT ANSWERING HIS RADIO!!!!!!! THAT'S RIGHT , and he is still a Sgt!!!!! wow ...... (this is not from a news article it is from a public records request ,, you can get one too)

**my opinion**: who is covering his butt and theirs. The SGT is not who you really have been lead to think he is ... he has some real dark secrets ,,,, don't let that favor or that discounted gun you bought from him tarnish the better part of you. It is not time for YOU to know the whole truth yet.

** fact ** : I just want you to keep checking this blog and talking trash "yearight". Do your homework if you cant wait and are anger by my semi posts. So you can choose to wait or just dont read the blog. Believe me I have only posted what they want you to know.

fact: I will post the truth ... in time. Until then dont get so up tight with me, yearight lol

You tell me .... cover up , taking care of my boy , favor for a favor ??????
__________________________________________________ __________________
The Owner of Kiffney's inc gun shop "MCSO Sgt Kiffney" who was MIA when Deputy Powers sped to find him and died in a car accident on June 22, 2010. He was later found at his gun shop, on duty , after being MIA for over 45 minutes ... safe.
He has 3 to 4 sustained neglect to duties in his internal affairs file now, including Deputy Powers incident. Guess for what ......... Not answering his radio, not being where he was suppose to be. So what happpens on the night Powers died ..... he was not answering his radio, he was where he was not suppose to be .......... AGAIN ........................
He is still a SGT . I THINK THIS SHOWS WHY HE IS STILL A SWORN POLICE OFFICER

For Candidate : MCSO Rick Ramsay?Office : Running for Sheriff
**Board of elections report Date : (1/1/2012 - 3/31/2012)1/14/2012

KIFFNEY'S INC
105910 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
KEY LARGO, FL 33037
T-SHIRTS Monetary $ 1,075.00

2/17/2012 KIFFNEY'S, INC.
105910 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
KEY LARGO, FL 3303 Business
PRINTING &SALE In Kind RAMSAY T-SHIRTS $500.00

3/3/2012 KIFFNEY'S INC
105910 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
KEY LARGO, FL 33037
T-SHIRTS Monetary $ 537.50

3/27/2012 KIFFNEY'S INC
105910 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
KEY LARGO, FL 33037
T-SHIRTS Monetary $1,075.00

3/29/2012 KIFFNEYS, INC
105910 OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
KEY LARGO, FL 33037
T-SHIRTS Monetary $268.75


Now the other mess. here you will see the internal affairs investigator on the events surrounding Powers' death. Yes the IA investigator that conducted the investigation and never recorded nor impounded the dvr from Kiffney's shop. Which allowed the SGT to dispose of the dvr recorder and the Sgt re-record a video of a video ... HUMMMMMMMM

**11/23/2011 Internal Affairs investigator DONATO B ELOMINA***
KEY WEST, FL 33040 Individual LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER donation Check $250.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Administrators who decided that Sgt Kiffney should only be suspended a few days and keep his rank as Sgt. After I am sure the higher ups told them what to do.
HOW MANY MORE SUSTAINED NEGLECT TO DUTIES DOES SGT KIFFNEY NEED FOR THESE PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT THING ??????????? HELLO A POLICE OFFICER DIED HERE WHILE HE WAS AGAIN DOING WHAT HE HAS DONE IN THE PAST...... MAYBE THERE IS A PATTERN IN HIS BEHAVIOR HERE ,,, YOU THINK!!!!
11/12/2011 MCSO LOU CAPUTO
MARATHON, FL 33050 Individual LAWENFORCEMENTOFFICER
donation Check $500.00

11/8/2011 MCSO Lt NANCY ALVAREZ
KEY LARGO, FL 33037 Individual LAWENFORCEMENTOFFICER
donation $500.00

Dude, As a Homestead Police Officer who is on your side take a little advice. Everyone is sorry for your loss but you walk around angry all the time and you're like a timebomb waiting to explode. Your co-workers walk on eggshells around you. There was a lot of fault to go around with the crash, primarily with Deputy Kiffeney, but also with Melissa. We back you with the lawsuit bro, but listen, let it play out in the lawsuit and dont make this a public spectacle. You were in a lot of 34's with Missy and you wouldn't want the details of that crap spread here, so 07 bro and chill out. Let the lawyers earn their money.

@ HPD TOO LOL YOU ARE SO FUNNY

Please give it a rest! Don't put all this blame on Kifney, god rest her soul, but she drove like a bat out of hell all the time. Especially when she was 10-7. Stop the blame game already.

ass-u-me thats the problem "guest" , we wont rest and if you dont like it too bad. you would be doing the same if you knew it all but you dont so , too bad for you. you can just not read the blogs since they hurt your feelingS or your friend so so so much. poor baby LOL
at least he is still here for you and the rest of your buddies to kiss a**

hint _____you are barking up an empty tree

ass-u-me thats the problem "guest" , we wont rest and if you dont like it too bad. you would be doing the same if you knew it all but you dont so , too bad for you. you can just not read the blogs since they hurt your feelingS or your friend so so so much. poor baby LOL
at least he is still here for you and the rest of your buddies to kiss a**

hint _____you are barking up an empty tree


I know it all asrsholbaby. Get over it. You can't handle the truth!!!!! Move on....

From: Rick Ramsay
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:02 PM
Subject: Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

By Colonel Rick Ramsay



Due to the recent death of Deputy Melissa Powers, and due to a string of deaths in our agency due to traffic accidents, we have examined our current practices, and are directing that some changes take place in the way road patrol operates when responding to calls.
Any questions?


Since I began working here, we have had five Deputies killed in the line of duty. ALL of them were killed in Traffic Crashes. Three of the five accidents occurred when the officers were responding to a call and traveling at or near 100mph. In all three cases, this high speed response was completely un-called for. I do not say this lightly, or to be disrespectful to these fine officers, but this should be a wakeup call to everyone when it comes to how we respond to calls for service.



In 1998, Res. Deputy Dave Cormier was a passenger in a patrol vehicle when the unit he was riding in responded to a report of a stolen bicycle. The patrol car was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it collided with another vehicle, killing Deputy Cormier. In 2007, Deputy Robin Tanner was responding to an unattended death call at an extremely high rate of speed. Robin swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her, lost control of her vehicle and she was killed in the resulting accident. Deputy Melissa Powers was driving at an extremely high rate of speed to help locate her Sergeant, who was out of touch on his radio. Melissa swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her and she was killed in the resulting accident. At these high rates of speed, if even a small thing goes wrong, there is simply no time to react. Even an expert driver would not be able to handle a collision at such high speeds.



Across the nation officers are being killed, injured, and are killing and injuring others because they are driving too fast. In many instances, they are speeding to calls which do not require such a response. We talk about officer safety all of the time when it comes to armed suspects and other dangerous situations, but it is clear to me that the number one threat to a law enforcement officer is unsafe driving – particularly here in Monroe County.



We all know the officers who drive too fast and we all say to ourselves or each other, “someday something is going to happen.” Well, it is time for us to tackle this problem head-on. On the day after Deputy Powers funeral, a meeting was held at headquarters with all Commanders and Chiefs in attendance. I outlined what I see as the problems we are having, and what I want to see happen to help solve those problems. My number one concern is the safety and security of our officers, followed closely by the safety and security of the public. I am going to make every effort to see that everyone goes home at the end of their shift if I can possibly help it.



The responsibility for making sure this effort is successful and is consistently applied will be on our supervisors – primarily on our Road Patrol Sergeants. The main responsibility of a road patrol sergeant is and always has been to monitor and control his or her road patrol shift; there are some sergeants who do this very well. There are others who have not been adequately supervising and it is now time for them to step up to the plate and do their job.



From now on, I want to make it clear: it is a sergeant’s responsibility to direct the type of response a call requires. Before a deputy runs code to a call, that response must be approved by a sergeant. There are very few times such a response is called for, and even fewer where a high speed code response is required. This will ensure the sergeant knows what’s going on which is important because he or she may be called upon to justify the response.



The goal here is to limit code responses to calls. For example, there is absolutely no reason to run code to dumpster fires, brush fires , fire alarms, verbal disputes of any kind, trespassing, crashes (unless there are injuries), repetitive alarm calls, or most medical calls.



And remember, when you are responding to a routine call – and not running code – you must be driving at the speed limit. There is absolutely no reason to exceed the speed limit on a routine call. I get more complaints from the public about deputies speeding than about anything else. In addition to the deadly crashes I talked about, we have also had many vehicles badly damaged or destroyed due to high speed driving. This unsafe behavior is going to stop. If it doesn’t, someone will be held responsible for it.



Also, from now on, no more than two units will respond to any call, unless a sergeant authorizes more than two units. If a sergeant authorizes more than two units to respond to a call, he or she will specify what level of response and must be able to justify it based on the circumstances of the call. There is simply no reason to have more than two units going to most of our calls.



Remember, your safety outweighs everything else! We may see an overall slower response time as a result of these safety efforts. We may see some calls escalate because it took us a little longer to get there. But we have to get there in one piece to do any good.



We will be doing a better job of tracking our officers. Making sure we know an officer’s location is a major safety issue. Data Processing has ordered new air cards that will also act as GPS antennas. This ensures they will not be accidentally or purposefully disconnected. These new cards will also allow us to monitor vehicle speeds and locations.



I have also directed data processing to change the configuration of our in-car video systems to automatically activate at 65 mph. I am telling you this up front – consider this fair warning. We aren’t trying to trick anyone here, but we are going to make sure we do everything we can to keep our officers safe.



I’ve made this clear to Commanders, and now I’m making it clear here for everyone. Road Patrol Sergeants have now been given clear direction. They will be held accountable for this. And, if a particular sergeant doesn’t take appropriate action when directing officers to a call, I expect other sergeants on duty to step in. Road patrol officers, let me be clear: if you receive direction from any sergeant, even if it isn’t your shift sergeant, you are to follow that direction.



Some of you may feel this sounds harsh. But we are going to learn from the past and make every effort to avoid these deadly situations in the future. I look forward to any other thoughts or suggestions on how we can tackle these serious safety issues.



Colonel Rick Ramsay

[Unregistered]

From: Rick Ramsay
Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 2:02 PM
Subject: Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

Safety of our officers requires changes in our operational response

By Colonel Rick Ramsay



Due to the recent death of Deputy Melissa Powers, and due to a string of deaths in our agency due to traffic accidents, we have examined our current practices, and are directing that some changes take place in the way road patrol operates when responding to calls.



Since I began working here, we have had five Deputies killed in the line of duty. ALL of them were killed in Traffic Crashes. Three of the five accidents occurred when the officers were responding to a call and traveling at or near 100mph. In all three cases, this high speed response was completely un-called for. I do not say this lightly, or to be disrespectful to these fine officers, but this should be a wakeup call to everyone when it comes to how we respond to calls for service.



In 1998, Res. Deputy Dave Cormier was a passenger in a patrol vehicle when the unit he was riding in responded to a report of a stolen bicycle. The patrol car was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it collided with another vehicle, killing Deputy Cormier. In 2007, Deputy Robin Tanner was responding to an unattended death call at an extremely high rate of speed. Robin swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her, lost control of her vehicle and she was killed in the resulting accident. Deputy Melissa Powers was driving at an extremely high rate of speed to help locate her Sergeant, who was out of touch on his radio. Melissa swerved to avoid a vehicle in front of her and she was killed in the resulting accident. At these high rates of speed, if even a small thing goes wrong, there is simply no time to react. Even an expert driver would not be able to handle a collision at such high speeds.



Across the nation officers are being killed, injured, and are killing and injuring others because they are driving too fast. In many instances, they are speeding to calls which do not require such a response. We talk about officer safety all of the time when it comes to armed suspects and other dangerous situations, but it is clear to me that the number one threat to a law enforcement officer is unsafe driving – particularly here in Monroe County.



We all know the officers who drive too fast and we all say to ourselves or each other, “someday something is going to happen.” Well, it is time for us to tackle this problem head-on. On the day after Deputy Powers funeral, a meeting was held at headquarters with all Commanders and Chiefs in attendance. I outlined what I see as the problems we are having, and what I want to see happen to help solve those problems. My number one concern is the safety and security of our officers, followed closely by the safety and security of the public. I am going to make every effort to see that everyone goes home at the end of their shift if I can possibly help it.



The responsibility for making sure this effort is successful and is consistently applied will be on our supervisors – primarily on our Road Patrol Sergeants. The main responsibility of a road patrol sergeant is and always has been to monitor and control his or her road patrol shift; there are some sergeants who do this very well. There are others who have not been adequately supervising and it is now time for them to step up to the plate and do their job.



From now on, I want to make it clear: it is a sergeant’s responsibility to direct the type of response a call requires. Before a deputy runs code to a call, that response must be approved by a sergeant. There are very few times such a response is called for, and even fewer where a high speed code response is required. This will ensure the sergeant knows what’s going on which is important because he or she may be called upon to justify the response.



The goal here is to limit code responses to calls. For example, there is absolutely no reason to run code to dumpster fires, brush fires , fire alarms, verbal disputes of any kind, trespassing, crashes (unless there are injuries), repetitive alarm calls, or most medical calls.



And remember, when you are responding to a routine call – and not running code – you must be driving at the speed limit. There is absolutely no reason to exceed the speed limit on a routine call. I get more complaints from the public about deputies speeding than about anything else. In addition to the deadly crashes I talked about, we have also had many vehicles badly damaged or destroyed due to high speed driving. This unsafe behavior is going to stop. If it doesn’t, someone will be held responsible for it.



Also, from now on, no more than two units will respond to any call, unless a sergeant authorizes more than two units. If a sergeant authorizes more than two units to respond to a call, he or she will specify what level of response and must be able to justify it based on the circumstances of the call. There is simply no reason to have more than two units going to most of our calls.



Remember, your safety outweighs everything else! We may see an overall slower response time as a result of these safety efforts. We may see some calls escalate because it took us a little longer to get there. But we have to get there in one piece to do any good.



We will be doing a better job of tracking our officers. Making sure we know an officer’s location is a major safety issue. Data Processing has ordered new air cards that will also act as GPS antennas. This ensures they will not be accidentally or purposefully disconnected. These new cards will also allow us to monitor vehicle speeds and locations.



I have also directed data processing to change the configuration of our in-car video systems to automatically activate at 65 mph. I am telling you this up front – consider this fair warning. We aren’t trying to trick anyone here, but we are going to make sure we do everything we can to keep our officers safe.



I’ve made this clear to Commanders, and now I’m making it clear here for everyone. Road Patrol Sergeants have now been given clear direction. They will be held accountable for this. And, if a particular sergeant doesn’t take appropriate action when directing officers to a call, I expect other sergeants on duty to step in. Road patrol officers, let me be clear: if you receive direction from any sergeant, even if it isn’t your shift sergeant, you are to follow that direction.



Some of you may feel this sounds harsh. But we are going to learn from the past and make every effort to avoid these deadly situations in the future. I look forward to any other thoughts or suggestions on how we can tackle these serious safety issues.



Colonel Rick Ramsay

Spent a couple days on the Overseas this weekend. Some MCSO folks need to reread this. Only the author's rank has changed.

[doc justice]

Spent a couple days on the Overseas this weekend. Some MCSO folks need to reread this. Only the author's rank has changed.

Not only will they drive like fools they will also lie under oath. The then Colonel now Sheriff is aware and does nothing. That letter was probably little more that CYA.

[Unregistered]

Not only will they drive like fools they will also lie under oath. The then Colonel now Sheriff is aware and does nothing. That letter was probably little more that CYA.

Actually it was a cover several A$$es. So sad.

[doc justice]

Huh, CSA, new one, I like it.

[Unregistered]

Is everything ok with you doc? Seems that you are adamant about your strong statements. Hope everything works out.

[doc justice]

Is everything ok with you doc? Seems that you are adamant about your strong statements. Hope everything works out.

Everything is fine with me. I will either win or lose in court. Some law enforcement either will or will not act on my evidence, most likely not.

I can't control outcomes or other peoples actions. I can only control my own.

Never will I sit back and watch the Constitution I swore an oath to uphold and protect, be defecated on. Sorry if that bother you. My ethics and morals do require sacrifice on my part, but I much prefer that then the alternative. Wish more could say the same.

I am not against all LEOs. To the contrary I strongly support LEOs, when they also follow the law. There are several LEOs who follow my work closely and I talk with on a near weekly basis. I have zero problem with authority, just remember the authority comes from the law, and not the badge. If you are outside of the law you are outside of your authority.

I actually have friends in every department I plan to sue who basically agree with me. Most feed me inside info and try their best to help me under the radar, as they are afraid of what will happen to them, their families and their careers if they try to stop the corruption.

I speak with other officers who have been wrongly hurt by the corruption themselves. They plead with me to never stop, to never give up. They thank me for what I do, and pray for me. I do the same for them.

I truly thank every public servant who honorably and nobly gives of themselves. I pray for their safety and that of their family. It is those who violate rights that are pushing for either anarchy or a police state. They are the ones who agitate for such. Those are the ones who drive the wedges between law-abiding citizens and LEOs.

If you are one of the good ones, I am sorry if my words have offended you, or given you negative feelings of me or my mission. I am not always as artful with my language as I would like. Seems kind of par for the course here though.

However, if you truly believe in the rule of law, if you truly believe we are a nation of laws and not men, then I implore you to stand with me.

The future of our children and grandchildren greatly depend upon it.

Stay safe and God bless

[Unregistered]

Everything is fine with me. I will either win or lose in court. Some law enforcement either will or will not act on my evidence, most likely not.

I can't control outcomes or other peoples actions. I can only control my own.

Never will I sit back and watch the Constitution I swore an oath to uphold and protect, be defecated on. Sorry if that bother you. My ethics and morals do require sacrifice on my part, but I much prefer that then the alternative. Wish more could say the same.

I am not against all LEOs. To the contrary I strongly support LEOs, when they also follow the law. There are several LEOs who follow my work closely and I talk with on a near weekly basis. I have zero problem with authority, just remember the authority comes from the law, and not the badge. If you are outside of the law you are outside of your authority.

I actually have friends in every department I plan to sue who basically agree with me. Most feed me inside info and try their best to help me under the radar, as they are afraid of what will happen to them, their families and their careers if they try to stop the corruption.

I speak with other officers who have been wrongly hurt by the corruption themselves. They plead with me to never stop, to never give up. They thank me for what I do, and pray for me. I do the same for them.

I truly thank every public servant who honorably and nobly gives of themselves. I pray for their safety and that of their family. It is those who violate rights that are pushing for either anarchy or a police state. They are the ones who agitate for such. Those are the ones who drive the wedges between law-abiding citizens and LEOs.

If you are one of the good ones, I am sorry if my words have offended you, or given you negative feelings of me or my mission. I am not always as artful with my language as I would like. Seems kind of par for the course here though.

However, if you truly believe in the rule of law, if you truly believe we are a nation of laws and not men, then I implore you to stand with me.

The future of our children and grandchildren greatly depend upon it.

Stay safe and God bless
My friend, although some will surely lash out , you have nailed it!

[doc justice]

"My friend, although some will surely lash out , you have nailed it!"

Thank you sir and God bless. Im a masochist so they can lash out all they want. Jesus built me to suffer, I am not discouraged. Acts 16:37

I like what Sir Winston Churchill said:
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

[Unregistered]

That's NOT what your mom says.

Such mature and thoughtful posting.

[Unregistered]

Such mature and thoughtful posting.

It is early and I've not had a second cup, but what?

[Unregistered]

It is early and I've not had a second cup, but what?

I think they were trying to articulate their not being impressed with the caliber of the post, however inartfully. Just my guess. In the keys it's always five'o clock somewhere.