Category Archives: chief deputy

Time to Separate the Wheat from the Tares

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The phrase, “God helps those that help themselves”, is thrown around liberally without much thought put into the sentiment. In the last few days, I have been wrangling with this saying anything about this video. While I believe Chip is the only one who can potentially mitigate the damage done internally to the ECSO, he also disappoints me greatly. I know that he knows the story and still chose to make the following video:

What the actual fuck is all I could say. You know, sometimes people can’t get out of their own way. That is exactly what this video represents. Having said that, the only thing that can be done is to lay all the cards on the table. So let’s get to work separating the good from the bad, shall we?

Everyone, at some point, in life has to make a choice that defines them. This is the time for Chip. The biggest unkept secret in the ECSO is the citizenship status of Alejandra Duda. Some time ago, Sheriff Morgan was told about Ms. Duda being a citizen currently, but she came to the country illegally. Her parents used a relatives name and social security number to get her into school. Ms. Duda, married, divorced, bought property under the fraudulent social security number. She did so in a couple of states prior to becoming a citizen.

Deputy Ray Briggs did an investigation on this when it came up, years back. He took these finding including a video of Duda telling the tale of her illegal immigration to Sheriff Morgan. Briggs was told to bury it and after maintaining a copy of the investigation, Briggs did just that. This was the end of the issue, until other employees saw the Latina getting preferential treatment. The bigger office chair…..a new car.

Others have come to Chip to tell him of this situation. However, Chip claims that after talking to people, he was assured the feds simply merged the fraudulent social into the new legal social and all is good.

Now when I heard that, I busted out laughing. But I did ask people “in the know” who assured me this doesn’t work that way and it could be no further from the truth. ICE doesn’t merge illegal socials into legal ones. And the fact Chip is not looking any further should concern everyone.

He is now an accomplice and by releasing this video, puts himself in the position to be blown away. Enemies of his could easily detonate this bomb and there is no plausible deniability here. This woman has defrauded the United States. And Chip’s ignorance of the details, by his own choice, is not a legitimate defense. He knows this is wrong but he chooses to stick his head in the sand. This just confirms the Morgan legacy of lying and covering things up is going to continue.

Put this all on top of the rest of the things Chip has let slide.

No one was punished for the incomprehensible neglect of the Jadekiss case.

No one was punished for the destruction/tampering of evidence in the Manning Case.

Employees that are clearly sabotaging the agency and the community sit in comfortable chairs, drawing a salary. I know I’ve heard this will all take care of itself in January, but that is extremely naive to think that anyone will look at the what will be long past cases to review. But what Chip doesn’t understand is that the good people hanging on til January, see these other people who are NEVER held accountable. Hell, I’ll say it; if following the laws or rules is optional, why the hell is there a sheriff’s department?

As someone who sees both candidates for who they are, Escambia is screwed with either choice for sheriff. I am extremely underwhelmed by Chip.

Chip, as I have said MANY times, what is your stand? Let the criminal acts depicted in this video continue, in the hopes that one of your political enemies doesn’t take this particular case, you have flaunted in everyone’s faces, and run to ICE, DOJ or the FBI or are you going to do the right thing?

What’s it going to be?

Checks & Balances

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One of the most important founding elements of this country lies in the varying checks & balances. The Founding Fathers knew that it is likely that one entity or facet of government will overstep; therefore, another facet would have to oversee or sign off, as it were.

Strangely enough, the ECSO is not privy to any oversight on the bulk of their budget. The fundamental problem with that is the clear misappropriation of LET funds exposed over the years by this agency. Currently, they are still out of compliance with Florida Statute on that, because they are not following up with the receivers of state/county funds to make sure it was spent properly. That is one of the checks and balances to verify there is no misappropriation by the agencies in receipt of money spent by the county. It’s common practice to require follow up documentation to show where the money went. Most agencies have banned organizations from future funds if they refuse to comply with this follow up accounting. They are shut off from state/county money. Why is this necessary? Governmental accountability….plain and simple. Trust but verify, as Ronald Reagan said.

So we still have millions of dollars being unaccounted by the ECSO, then I find out through varying requests that there is so much more that the ECSO juggles that never sees oversight. With the LET records being dubious at best, and the deputy raises that were provided for by the county but never trickled down to the deputies over the past years (as exposed in the budget impasse of late) when will taxpayers and the county coffers demand accountability and hold the ECSO up to the fiduciary standard that the rest of the county is held to?

Consider this:

This agency can charge a fee for gathering public records if a request is made. Few requests will have any costs associated with the request. If a person is told there is an exorbitant fee for a record request that should garner attention. Unless the request is so labor intensive, or requests information not normally maintained, the majority of the public records requests are easily gathered. In today’s technology world records are available with a few keystrokes in most cases.

Recently, a question was raised about the Escambia County Sheriffs Office involving money. Specifically, where certain monies go, since there is no account that that the ECSO has to deposit into, such as a checking account. It is not something that shows up in the official budget. There must be existing records. Simple request, right? This public record should be answered in a matter of minutes. But, because the ECSO is the agency that has the record, it will no doubt be overcomplicated to jack up the “fees” associated with research, or they will simply state “no records exist”. These are the standard 2 answers when a public records request comes in for information, the agency does not want to disclose. Any request that would expose Morgan as the inept law enforcement official he is always is met with unprecedented push-back as well as any request that requires the ECSO to explain where they are hemorrhaging tax dollars will be met with resistance.

In this case, the money being properly unaccounted for is money related to off duty employment. The ECSO has a policy in place that defines what the procedure is for deputies working “off duty” employment. The policy has a minimum amount deputy will be paid. It also has what the deputy must do to be allowed to work “off duty” jobs. One requirement is that a deputy must pay a fee off two dollars an hour back to the ECSO. The ECSO keeps record of how many hours each deputy works each month.  The deputy is then sent a bill that is paid to the ECSO (cash only for a long time, but now they accept debit cards).

This is Accounting 101. Cash is paid to the ECSO and they could easily furnish records about transactions involving a bill and a payment. But how much money does the ECSO collect from the deputies that pay a fee for working off duty each month? Where does the money go after it is collected? Is it considered income for the ECSO? Is there a requirement to report this income to be taxed? Has it been reported? No trick questions there but important questions that require an answer from the ECSO.

Oh, and I have told repeatedly that the ECSO has no duty to answer questions–only provide public records. They “are not inclined to or have the responsibility to” answer questions, according to Chief Deputy Eric Haines. Oddly enough, every other facet of Escambia County government I have dealt with, including the state attorney’s office, is remarkably willing to answer any questions about process and procedure. It is just the ECSO that is not.

And as we know the ECSO has proven that they are not honest with money issues. It may seem as if off-duty money collected is not a substantial amount of money, but for example, Navy Federal Credit Union is a regular off duty job opportunity for the ECSO. Deputies working that job alone have paid over $1500 back to the ECSO. Now consider that Navy Federal is one of hundreds of locations that have deputies throughout the year. The amount of income collected from the deputies for off duty security employment is thousands of dollars each month. This should not be considered insignificant. There is a former Sheriff in prison for misappropriating taxpayer money. The amount of misappropriated funds in the other Sheriff’s case was far less than the funds in question here.

Shouldn’t the media get involved with this issue? We are talking about multiple millions of dollars. Just in the past week, a Grand Jury was not pleased or impressed with how Escambia County handles money issues or oversight of the money grossly mishandled in Century. The dollar amount in question with the ECSO is at least triple the amount of money being questioned in Century. Wouldn’t a grand jury be even more appalled to see the reckless lack of oversight of the ECSO? Is it not a concern of comptroller or county administrator that there is likely (based on the brief preview of the LET fund) mishandling of the amount of money involved here? Accountability about how funds are handled should be everyone’s priority. It is time to ask these questions as well as the questions, others have. If the media is not going to ask questions and hold officials accountable, the citizens must do it.

Look for updates concerning this topic. If anyone decides to make requests or has information about this, please feel free to share with everyone.      

How Many BJ’s for This?

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colleen burt

I was shocked that THIS crime scene tech was actually applauded for this award, while no other such awards have been recognized with the same fanfare. But I suppose it should not have been such a surprise being that LEO AFFAIRS posts have been deleted about the open talk of the “oral” gratification this woman provides at crime scenes and the fact her nipple rings can be identified in a line up, Eric the social media Nazi, probably has sampled her talents.  While the one LEO AFFAIRS post addresses her by name, Escambia, & Santa Rosa reference her.

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Escambia LEO Affairs post

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Santa Rosa LEO Affairs

While the number of BJ’s given for the attention by Chief Deputy Nonsense is in question, the real question is why Colleen did not get the opportunity to go to jail for leaving her gun in the women’s restroom? James Higdon was burned at the stake for that but yet there is NO documentation on Ms. Crime Scene Nipple Ring, why?

Attached is the IA on Higdon, if anyone has any info on “lady” referenced here, please let me know.

higdon investigation_Page_01higdon investigation_Page_02higdon investigation_Page_03higdon investigation_Page_04higdon investigation_Page_05higdon investigation_Page_06higdon investigation_Page_07higdon investigation_Page_08higdon investigation_Page_09higdon investigation_Page_10higdon investigation_Page_11higdon investigation_Page_12higdon investigation_Page_13higdon investigation_Page_14higdon permission_Page_1higdon permission_Page_2

ECSO Discipline: Different Strokes for Different Folks

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I got a copy of this sent to me and I know little about this.  I’m posting this for someone to contact me with info.

new doc 2018-04-27 11.03.13.jpg

While I know that Jeremy Smalls was disciplined for a similar action after a tirade by Chief Deputy Nonsense and legal counsel Gerry Champagne. While I do not know who “Jessica” is, I know that it was her who clarified the familial condition to the administration causing the disciplinary actions Smalls faced, including suspension for this same act (sans the fraud to cover it up).

So while I am not surprised, I am publishing this for clarity by those involved.  Y’all know how to reach me.

Don’t Be a Jerk! It’s Christmas.

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santa morganSo many things keep going on continually painting a picture of who the true Sheriff is. The man many of us have seen for years–pathological, irrational, sociopathic, vengeful, petty, and ridiculous to sum it up. His tyrannical tantrum in front of the Secret Service trying to carry his pearl handled pistol in to the Presidential rally, was unmentioned in the news, despite being news worthy.  He claimed to be the “fucking Sheriff of this fucking county” to which the Secret Service responded,  (I’m paraphrasing), “We don’t care who you are; you are not getting in to see the President with that gun”. Who does that? DUH!! Who thinks that would fly in this day and age?  This man is seriously disconnected from reality.

Much like this hissy fit is the crying wolf about pay compression to the Governor.  The most amazing thing is how viciously Eric Haines jumps to be nasty to Chairman Jeff Bergosh openly on social media. He sounds much like Underling speaking to his constituents. But the thing I love the most is that Haines talks a lot about the indiscretions of his subordinates that “break the chain of command”.  Being the ever diligent hypocrite, as a subordinate in ECSO which is equal with County Commission on the food chain of the county, he breaks the chain of command to attack anyone on behalf of the ECSO. He does not have the standing to make the assertions he does. The sheriff is the spokesman of the agency. It would be akin to having a little kid of one house screeching at the head of the household of his neighbor. Not only is it bad form, it has no authority. He just looks like a spoiled little kid, lashing out.

Besides his inappropriateness, his diatribe of “pay compression” is a fallacy.  If the average citizen had all the facts would be able to see right through. So in the spirit of keeping up the revolutionary act of putting the facts and truth out for the public to decide for themselves, I am going to release 2016’s W2’s numbers and a break down of what they mean.

 

The raw data with names:

2
3

6

5
6

2017-12-23 (12)

Sheriff Morgan: It’s OK for Deputies & Daughters Get Their Groove On

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traffickingMedium2 For a small community, Escambia County has more than its share of sex issues. Recently, 2 EMT’s (Doug & Leah Manning) were charged with sexual assault and child abuse for offering their teenage daughters to sleep with Escambia County Sheriff Deputies. Two men were videotaped with the 16 year old twin girls who were the kids of Leah Manning. The deputies were Walter Thomas & Mark Smith–both 40+ years old– and are only named specifically because of aforementioned video on a cell phone. The disturbing part of this situation is threefold; 1. How many other deputies sexually assaulted these girls who were not necessarily recorded? 2. How many other teenagers in these girls’ clique may be involved? 3. Why isn’t the Sheriff’s Department actually investigating this OR rather why isn’t a less corrupt agency investigating this? Do bad kids usually punish themselves?

893434_458398124233158_376189573_o Mark Smith

I have part of an answer. Despite the fact there could be additional sex offenders with badges slapping cuffs on with one hand and slapping asses with the other or more kids that were molested by the men in green, the Sheriff is playing CYA (Cover Your Ass). Truth be told, the “free love” lifestyle is rampant among the Escambia County Sheriff’s office. Sir David is believed to participate in “free love” as well as Rick Outzen, his puppet, who pulled a major political favor out of Morgan by having his girlfriend given a fictitious job upon Morgan’s election as Sheriff. David Craig, Major, Community Policing Coordinator, Communications Director (depending on the day) was also bestowed a job within the Sheriff’s office as a condition of Morgan’s election.

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(Damn, I never noticed but they could be brothers!) Surrounded by people indebted to the him, unwilling to live up to their assumed responsibility as well as deputies acting like gerbils crawling all over each other, Sir David doesn’t want his office to look bad.  Who would want all this to come out? Definitely not Outzen—his wife and kids don’t know what kind of kink he has in his step. Certainly not the people who are inservitude to Sir David.  Absolutely not the people who are screwing each other as well each others’ children. We could take it to the Chief Deputy who is a man of God, right?  Holier than though Haines seems inclined to watch Sodom & Gomorrah burn, while he standing by idly. He sees the sins and the sinners but chooses to do nothing to stand up for his supposed values and God. Praise the Lord and pass the popcorn. IMG_3335-1024x768 Should we turn to FDLE, who composed of ex-deputies with buddies involved? Should we look to federal intervention in a region where a criminal informant is given carte blanche to kill while everyone covers it up? Like that really matters in light of a Sheriff who pronounces a “death sentence” over anybody that comes forward. To clarify, “you will wish you were dead if you speak outside this office”. IMG_20150404_185524-1 Justice at work people. Who is next on the victim list? Maybe you? Maybe your children? Don’t let these people walk free in your community. If deputies are so sexually liberated to speak openly about their lifestyle in the workplace, it makes sense that they are prioritizing their pleasure over their responsibility. How many on duty deputies rotated in and out of the Manning house? Last count was 10-15. THIS IS NOT OK. There are reasons for ethical codes for peace officers. They are morally held to a standard that we should all live at. Yet they have the ability to commit the vilest of crimes without word one in the news. C’mon!  In the Billings’ case, every detail and piece of evidence was dumped into the public and pictures were released to get press. Where are those cameras now? Why isn’t someone hounding the Sheriff to keep the public apprised of the further investigation in sexual depravity and molestation in his own HOUSE?

Eric Haines: Three Commissioners Voted Funding for FULL ECSO Budget

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Over the last couple of weeks, despite the Escambia Citizens Watch rhetoric & short video rants by Sir David, employees (EMPLOYED by ECSO) claim that Chief Deputy Nonsense (Haines) has been heard telling people the “fix” is in. Differing sources have heard Haines touting that they have the necessary 3 votes to approve the budget for the ECSO. This has been since the BOCC voted down the millage increase.

I spoke to Commissioner Jeff Bergosh regarding this. His quote was this:

“We are working to solve the budget issue, and there is not any certain deal or fix of which I am aware that has been reached. We will solve this issue the night of the budget meeting, September 12th or at some point before that at a PUBLIC meeting. I have attempted to meet face to face with Sheriff Morgan and have requested a face to face meeting about the budget four times in writing and I have been told no or the request has been ignored”


BOTTOM LINE: Chief Deputy Nonsense (Haines) is either a blatant liar or he is admitting to corruption that he is personally a party to. The BOCC may want to address this with Chief Deputy Nonsense because the history of corruption in Escambia County may persuade the powers that be to sacrifice this someone over this prior to a scandal. Chief Deputy Nonsense willingly walked up to the alter dragging the county commission with him. While I would say that no better man deserves such an end, I would rather see Sir David walking into a 10×6 cell, but hey, this could be just a start.

Can’t wait to see what happens now.

Cognitive Dissonance & Fiscal Illiteracy

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I know, I know—Big Words.  Cognitive dissonance is confusion resulting from dichotomous & opposing views about one principle.  Sir David is the personification of cognitive dissonance.  His latest publicly embarrassing rant is about deputy pay raises. Morgan fumes to WEAR:

“It’s nonnegotiable,” Sheriff Morgan exclaimed. “We’ll settle this in front of Governor Scott. We’re not going to negotiate this. This is nonsense, I’m done. I have a board of county commissioners unfortunately that appears to believe that they’re smarter than we are…..It’s OK for an officer to catch a bullet from a thug, but county commission won’t give them a pay raise.”

While these statements have a great deal of truth to them, the BOCC is smarter than any and all the admin at the ECSO & the officers that retired in 2009 had more longevity with greater performance based success that reflect in the crime numbers.  They also had higher standards to pass on a day to day basis. According to sources at the academy, as many as 65% don’t pass the full curriculum.  Of that remaining 35%, a high percentage  (what is estimated to be half) of them find their first couple of months in FTO, proves to them  that a place in this agency is not for them. Now that could be because the people being recruited come from PCC (sounds like a punchline but it is, unfortunately, true) or because the standards have been so low to populate approximately 2.5 times the number of classes churning through the academy than any other point in the last 15 years.

To get back to the cognitive dissonance of Morgan’s latest tantrum on the news lies in the fact that while he accuses the BOCC of letting his deputies “take a bullet for a thug” rather than get a raise, he fails to disclose the increase in the budget at the beginning of this year that he BLEW on hiring an “UnderSheriff” to soak up funds to populate 1 job position for 2 of his followers, Chip Simmons & Eric Haines. Two salaries for 1 job that has been parceled out to 2 people. A colossal waste of funds.  Not to mention the money, he gave Andy Hobbs, David Ingram and Amber Southard that makes every raise in the ECSO look like chump change; his fiscal illiteracy provides the cognitive dissonance we see today.  Yet his strategy is to bitch about and shame the BOCC members when he, not them, wasted approximately $200K in these horrible decisions to stack the top of his agency rather than put the money towards the rebuilding of the agency he single-handedly dismantled by forcing out 62 deputies last year.

Now let’s talk about that number, 62. Of those 62 who left the agency last year, at least a third have entered into civil suits for discrimination, civil rights violations and sexual harassment against Morgan personally and professionally. That is a skyrocketing number of suits against any ONE Sheriff. Another meritorious distinction this non LEO sheriff claims.

To simplify this for some of the current admin at the ECSO and the Honorable Sheriff, you can’t bitch about how the BOCC regards your deputies’ pocket book when you already stole from them too. That is cognitive dissonance–berating someone for something they shouldn’t do when you did it as well but don’t think you should be berated or judged. Hypocritical is another term in this case that would apply.  The money in the budget he gave to Chip Simmons, Amber Southard, David Ingram & Andy Hobbs. They got the money that deputies deserved. Morgan mismanaged that money by rewarding his favorites in a grandiose fashion, leaving the rest in the cold.

That brings us to the fiscal illiteracy. The fiscal illiteracy refers to his failing to manage the agency in the way it should be, despite the fact the Honorable Sheriff claims he can. I don’t know, maybe Webster University’s graduate level business classes,  37+ years ago, didn’t prepare Morgan to actually use numbers as high as the Honorable Sheriff has to work with today. Maybe there are too many big numbers for him to understand in one budget. I don’t know.

Let’s look at the over all money issues historically Morgan has had:

*in the military, he allegedly was skimming government money via credit cards, resulting in his early retirement

*the mishandling of the budget regarding the jail that resulted in him losing the oversight of that jail

*the employee that embezzled $150K from the LET fund for years without anyone knowing and his CFO keeping his job even though he facilitated larceny

*the citizens’ complaints on how LET money is spent resulting in an investigation by the State Attorney.

There is a pattern of misappropriation.  It seems very clear to those of us who pay attention.

The conclusion, based on the past history of this Honorable Sheriff leads to the reasonable assessment that, either he is criminally responsible for misappropriation of taxpayer funds as well as mismanaging criminal justice principles and personnel necessary for a LEO agency in the 21st century,

OR

He has been given too much responsibility for his capability.  He cannot seem to handle doing the duties of his post, which is to maintain law and order while sustaining the county’s fiscal well being and safety.

You decide.

I almost forgot to give a shout out to Gerry Champagne for trolling and liking my FB page for Florida Open Gov. Initiative.

CORRECTION:

I mistakenly said that 65% failed the academy. That is incorrect. The cadets go through the academy fine; it is 65% failing out of FTO or discovering this job is not for them.  My Bad.

A REAL “ASK THE SHERIFF”

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I got this letter in response to a Facebook post:

Jimmie,

Recently, you posted on Facebook to list crimes committed by Morgan or the ECSO. There were a few responses and I applaud those who can speak out. Had there been an actual chance of people being able to exercise free speech you would have had many more responses. Sir David does not allow the speaking of wrong doing if it could cause his image to be tarnished. Had everyone been able to speak freely you would have been told stories that demonstrates people who destroy others for their own good. Stories of inexperience and inept leadership would have been described. You would have been told of people who will judge and destroy others but refuse to be judged for flaws they possess.

It is not even difficult to point out how unfair the ECSO leadership has been and continues to be. Now, one could believe that because Morgan has not been held responsible and is not mindful that he too must follow laws.  Another explanation, for such blatant disregard for law, is because of ignorance to knowing the law. I would guess that it is a combination of the two obvious reasons. Sir David is an ignorant and inexperienced sheriff that has not been held accountable for improper actions. He has created a “brand” that resembles the rise of the Backstreet Boys more than it shows a law enforcement leader taking charge of a community to protect the citizens. The crime in that is appalling. Sir David has wasted 100s of thousands of dollars branding his poor law enforcement performance and creating a belief that he actually knows what he is doing.  Those who support this effort are rewarded with undeserving promotions and pay increases. That is a fact that could never be argued. Anyone in the job, that truly understands law enforcement, would say that the ECSO has two worthless Majors that never accomplished mediocrity as deputies. Our PIO should feel fortunate that she isn’t paid based on the length of her skirts. If that were the case she would have to mortgage her home to pay the ECSO to work there. Sir David demonstrated that he does not care about the employees or the citizens by carving out the budget dollars he has for three people to pay back political or other favors.

Maj. Andrew Hobbs is making over $35 an hour and does not even supervise 10 people. In fact he is responsible for 6 employees. Two of the employees of Maj. Hobbs are sworn officers. Both of the officers under his supervision have more experience and accomplishments, as law enforcement officers, than Hobbs. The remaining employees are civilian employees with the assigned task of making Morgan appear to be a knowledgeable sheriff. That is a job that should come with a substantial pay increase. It must be a daunting endeavor to make Morgan appear to be competent with the lack of verifiable experience he claims to have. Couple that fact with his laughable antics in the numerous press conferences he has participated in and accomplished only looking like a poorly executed SNL skit. One would pause to consider how he found that many individuals to take on that job or why they would want that job.

Amber Southard receives a salary that is over $2600 for an 80 hour work period. This is appalling when you consider her job consists of mainly the production of propaganda to boost the image of an incompetent sheriff. She is provided an agency vehicle and fuel for the vehicle. She works a day schedule and, unless she has an abundance of drama in her private life, is never shot at, or spit on and is relatively safe during her work hours. Now, compare that to a sworn officer that will be paid just over $1300.00 for the same 80 hour work period. In no way does that seem to be a decision that any competent sheriff would make. In fact, it appears to be just what it is. Morgan provides for those who further his agenda void of consideration of the ethical obligation he has as a sheriff of our county.  

Sir David has several law suits against him for wrongful acts to employees. He has allowed and been involved in destroying others for fictitious reasons but allowed others to avoid accountability when proven wrong. Lt. Frank Forte is a great example of Morgan ignoring wrongdoing because of personal reasons. Lt. Forte was caught lying under oath in his official capacity. Morgan took no substantial action against a lieutenant when proved to be a liar under oath.

Lt. Forte made a complaint on Sgt. Philip Nix about a court appearance. Lt. Forte stated that Sgt. Nix was “blurting” out derogatory remarks about the ECSO writing illegal tickets during a traffic hearing. Sgt Nix appeared under subpoena and testified in the case. Lt. Forte stated that Sgt. Nix was making comments that were embarrassing to the agency. Col. Steve Hardy responded to the complaint by Lt. Forte. He made efforts to get transcripts of the court appearance but never located the transcripts. Lt. Forte then had an opportunity to testify in an Internal Investigation interview and say whatever he wanted about the conduct of Sgt. Nix. Lt Forte continued to lie and embellish the story about court. Lt. Forte made an attempt to completely tarnish the reputation of Sgt. Nix. After reading the statement of Lt. Forte that was given to Internal Affairs one would conclude Sgt. Nix was an out of control maniac in court.

Apparently, Sgt. Nix was aware of the unethical conduct of Morgan and his posse. Sgt. Nix had paid for a transcript of the court hearing. Sgt. Nix did not provide the information to the ECSO and allowed the situation to take its course. The professional court transcript proved that Lt. Frank Forte was a liar. None of the accusations made about Sgt. Nix were true and Sgt. Nix had conducted himself as a professional would. I use this example because Nix is one of the only people who is not afraid of the backlash of using his real name.

Morgan took no action on Lt. Forte. The fact Lt. Forte is a liar was ignored…..for now. There will be point in time that Lt. Forte will have to explain his reason for ignoring the obligation that an officer takes to always be truthful and honest.  Morgan will get the chance to explain all of the wrongs he has committed and many of those following his lead will enjoy that journey as well.  I hope that they understand a Grand Jury is not as tolerant of liars and cheats as the Morgan administration is and what they are due will be paid.

In another incident, with an employee at the ECSO, an investigation by internal affairs finds reason to sustain or sanction policy violations for obeying the law. Most of you will read that sentence twice. It is true. An employee became a target of the ECSO administration and the rules, policies and laws were twisted until it was reconciled in their twisted minds the employee could be fired. The violation consisted of cooperation with an attorney during a deposition. The attorney was party against the ECSO so that would never be tolerated. Again, a career destroyed.

This matter will also be settled through a lawsuit. Morgan will distribute more taxpayer dollars to pay for the wrong he committed. More waste because of a staff that lacks the courage to tell Sir David he is wrong. It could be they are too selfish to take a chance on ruining their gravy train to stand for what is right. Many of those in a position of power in the ECSO staff is concerned that their “yes man” mentality did not prepare them for the job they have with Morgan or they don’t want to be exposed for the indiscretions committed in the past.  Either reason creates a setting that forces them to vacate their principles always seeking Morgan’s approval first. There is no cost too high to pay for the approval of Morgan. If you follow the rules set by Sir David you will be rewarded with favors that have benefits some in his staff could never enjoy if based on their proven ability.

I would be remiss in my description of the ECSO if I were to leave Eric Haines out of this discussion.  There is no rational reason that this imposter made his way to Chief Deputy. He has pretended to be something he is not his entire career. I regard to his advancement at the ECSO it could not be argued that he was successful in padding his retirement. Had our retirement system required that an employee actually demonstrate law enforcement ability during his career he would be on food stamps at the time he retires.  Haines advanced his career pointing at the other person and pretending to be far more intelligent than he actually is. His bully personality is effective when you are in control of someone’s career. However, his actions have proven time and again that he has no conscious or consideration for any misery he causes. He appears to be the guy that is getting even with the world because he somehow feels life dealt him a losing hand. I can agree that he has numerous reasons to be pissed at life. Most people would consider themselves in hell if they were forced to be Haines. Haines does not have the right to continue to harm and destroy an entire agency and the employees who suffer from his foul display of a failed attempt to prove him a leader. He is not a leader and will never have the respect he is in search of because respect does not come from a title. Respect is earned slowly by those who make an observation of a person. They observe a person who is able to demonstrate needed ability to accomplish success in the area they are leading. Haines has never been successful at being a law enforcement offer and therefore will never gain any measurable amount of respect from true law enforcement officers.

All roads in this equation lead to Morgan. His fairy tales about law enforcement accomplishments and experience have proven to be laughable. It is easy to target him for silly “dress up like a big boy” uniforms and senseless remarks made in a desperate attempt to make it into the media cycle again. Then it comes to mind that this leadership has caused so much misery to those that encounter him with an opposing opinion. Worse there are lives that have been lost that effective leadership could have saved possibly. It is not that laughable when you actually take the time to evaluate who David Morgan really is in this situation. He is a failed sheriff that has hidden from the responsibility of that office. The citizens are suffering and they are unable to see the cause because the tax dollars they pay are being spent by Morgan to create an illusion all is well.

It is a shame that “Ask the Sheriff “isn’t a real thing. If it ever is I have questions. David, why did you leave the Air Force?  Did you really pay for that cross thingy? Do you see the harm you have caused? Do you care about the lives you have ruined or caused to be lost? Do you lie in bed at night regretting the horrible things you have done to people? Do you really trust those you have surrounding you? You caused them to cut and run when you offered a better deal. Imagine what will happen when you are not the best deal anymore.       .  

Sincerely,

No Longer a Victim  

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Voice from inside ECSO

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Again the Escambia County Sheriffs Office was recently in the news. Again, it is not there for the right reasons. Again an officer is in the spotlight for an act that was destructive—what boils down to a domestic violence incident. Again the administration tries to disassociate themselves from the deputy as fast as they can.

I am not going to discuss the officer or the issue that made the news because that isn’t what I’m here to address. The thing to address is the administration response and part within this story. It is a terrible situation and none of us know the specific details. We know that it is obvious the deputy was in a psychological place that none of us would ever want to find ourselves to be.  Emotional agony is difficult and all of us have had a time that has caused us to feel depressed and temporarily desperate. Not everyone makes the mistake that we know he made. Or could it be that some have just never been pushed past the point that they can control their actions?

Our agency has had many years of experience leave in the past 7 years. We have lost officers that possessed the ability to apply logic and common sense to everyday situations. It is often difficult to understand what is legal and illegal if compared to what is right and wrong. Just because a person does something that could be worded in a report as illegal doesn’t make it right to take law enforcement action. There are many times a person could be arrested because it could be articulated that a law was violated. There is more to making an arrest than that or there should be. An officer should evaluate the full scope of the situation. What are they actually seeing?  Then they have the discretion to decide if an arrest is warranted, possibly a warning issued, or maybe even just a moment of human understanding, where the deputy uses common sense or compassion to not make an arrest. Deputies should first learn to use that tool before slamming down the rule of law. Balancing law enforcement with the overall good is a balancing act.  We are given the discretion that allows for compassion and consideration that should be applied to a human being in a human situation. It keeps an officer from viewing individuals as simple numbers on a list. Understanding discretion means that an officer sees a person first and starts at that point to do the job that has been tasked.

Many of the officers I work with now believe the action they take is not ever a part of the equation. They simplify the matter by rationalizing that it was not any fault of their own that a person was arrested. It is the job of cops to arrest people when they violate the law. That is true to some extent. However, our first responsibility is to help people. If an arrest is being made so an officer has the numbers at the end of the month to impress our administration, then maybe not.  Maybe the administration should understand that some of our best work could never be gauged by statistics measuring how many arrests we make.

Taking the time to talk to a child that interrupts you having lunch, is not measured at the end of the month. Stopping to help a person that is stranded on the side of the road is a good thing. Taking an extra minute to walk around the homeowner’s house because they were scared of a noise is reasonable. Explaining why we do take people to jail is understandable if a person wants to know. All of these acts are expected of an officer, in my opinion. None of these acts get any credit when totaling up our monthly statistics. They are not factored into any officer evaluation.

I say all of that to make a point. I am not attacking the officers doing the job. I am not attacking the way they do the job. They are doing the job the way our administration expects them to do the job. It has been said many times that our leaders have not ever been real cops. Here is the proof. Any law enforcement leader that believes an officer’s worth is based on the total number of arrests made each month, is not a leader. In fact, it is more important to keep citizens from violating the law. It is much more difficult to turn a life around than it is to drive them to jail. The problem is it takes much more effort to help a person in a struggle with life than arrest them for a mistake that was made. Officers will have the chance to make more than enough arrests in their career. They should just understand that an arrest is made for a reason more than making statistics. That is where the lack of law enforcement in the ranks plays a factor. There is no encouragement to use personal judgment to evaluate the situation before making an arrest. The administration sees the world in black and white, but we all know that is not the case.

My point was recently made clear in a post that was made on Facebook. A comment was made concerning the deputy recently in the news. The poster stated that he felt the administration could have done more to stop the deputy from going too far. I do not know if that is true. It is very possible that the officer reached that point and it could not have been detected even with the best of administrations in place. Who can say? We have the administration we have and it is far from accomplished. It can be said that the issue, I believe, exists with the agency was displayed in the response from our very own Chief Eric Haines.

True to form Haines responds to the post asking several rhetorical questions that the poster could not possibly answer.

Here is his post from Facebook and Escambia Citizen’s Watch page:

Eric Haines: Tim Dorsey — the expert in law enforcement administration. Enlighten us Tim. What’s your background? What resources are offered to officers having problems? Is there random drug testing? Would it have caught this? Do you even know who this deputy is? How long they’ve worked there? What is their work history? What did they do at the ECSO? What do they pay Facebook LEO experts these days? You’re a piece of work. Please share your wisdom with law enforcement administrators everywhere as to how to ensure officers won’t make terrible life decisions.

 

I’d like to respond to Eric directly:

 

Eric,

I am a cop with more than a decade of experience than you. I have worked patrol, investigations, narcotics and a couple of office jobs at the ECSO. During my career, I have told parents that their children were dead and children that their parents were dead. I have witnessed suicides and murders. I have seen children that were raped. I have seen people who have died from gunshot wounds to the head, face, back, chest, stomach, and other places if you care for me to continue. I have seen people in car crashes that were killed. Sometimes I was lucky enough to get there and hold their hand before they died so they didn’t have to feel alone when they died. I wish I could have helped them all out from the mangled cars but it just wasn’t always possible. If I continue with my background, I’ll add I became a cop because I think cops are decent people and I like to help people. I really didn’t realize I wouldn’t get to help more than I have. I thought it would be much easier than it turned out to be actually.

Going in order of your questions, you ask about resources. I feel more than sure the poster could never answer this question. I said at the start I have been here a decade longer than you and I have no idea. I am aware of the place we go when required after a shooting or something that it is mandatory to visit. It was always my belief that we went there to reduce agency liability. I have been for my share of visits at that place and with the contract doctor. I believe that unless I was actively murdering a person at the time I was in his office, he would not notice if there were any serious mental concerns. Why should he? He is a busy guy and has dozens of court ordered pedophiles to see after me. I guess you couldn’t expect more than that from the lowest bidder.

Then you ask probably the most ignorant of your questions. Random drug testing?   That wouldn’t have caught anything in this situation.  The deputy does not have a drug issue.  Maybe you were just spouting off because you knew the poster wouldn’t respond because you were at an advantage in this exchange.

The next several question I will answer all at once. I have known him for over 25 years. He is a great guy. He was a respected officer and he had a ton of knowledge when it came to being a cop. He has proven himself as a cop on so many occasions I couldn’t count. He has done nothing in his life but be a cop. He is a man I am proud to know and proud to have worked with for many years. Find a single person to say half the things I just said about that man when describing you ………..and mean it without laughing.

I don’t believe there is any pay for being an “LEO expert” on Facebook. I do believe that it is possible to fake being one at the ECSO and get paid over $100k a year. You already know that because you have had that position for a bit now. You are the only Chief Deputy in history that screwed it up so bad that they hired a second one to come in and run things. I just don’t get why they kept you around.

The most telling of all of your post and how you have molested our agency is in you last line. The wisdom I would want to share is simple. Treat people like they matter. Don’t pretend you know when you don’t. Realize that it is people who are hired to fill those positions and not machines that can be programmed. Understand most that it is about choices. The choices you make on how to treat people included. That man didn’t make a “life choice”; he was emotionally weak at this point in his life. He was broken down mentally from many things I am sure. Issues that will never bother you in your life may have got to him. You will never be in that situation or feel what he feels. You believe that it is because you are so much better but that isn’t true. You will never have those feeling because you were never a cop. This is the wisdom I can pass on. Don’t ever be a good cop and you will never have to think of all the horrible things you seen being a good cop. Your mind will stay fresh and ready to judge others for something you never could do.

 

My point is that we have people without the good sense God gave a goat that are making evaluations of people and affecting lives through their scope of ignorance. Having LEO’s that live in a community is a must because they understand the community. Yet the ones we have don’t have the life experience to make the better choices and are not ever going to get the training from a simulator that prepares them for real life situations. When cops are slaves to arrest numbers, innocent people go to jail. When cops are under extreme pressure without the support of the brotherhood—the agency—there is no telling how that will manifest.  It’s a pressure cooker situation at that point and people get shocked because cops—human beings—snap.  It happens in all occupations but in this administration, at this time; it is more prominent than it has ever been. There is no sense of belonging within the agency that builds teams and support. Deputies are pitted against each other to keep them isolated and less likely to question poor leadership decisions. But this isolation from other officers may end up being the death of that cop. How can the leadership justify that?