Given to me by senior deputies who listened to an incident in Montclair this past weekend:

RESIDENTS OF PENSACOLA:

It is a difficult task to bring up topics during an election year and not be blamed with making political attacks. It is true this is the time of the year that this type of tactic will occur. It does not mean that serious issues should be avoided or ignored. All public officials have a job to do regardless of being an election year or not. This opinion is not about David Morgan. The issues brought to light here are about is the Sheriff doing what he is expected to do. It does not matter who the person is in the office but if the person in office is the right person for the job.

The country has witnessed some of the most terrifying events that could be imagined in recent months. Incidents we would never have believed could occur in our country are happening in places that resemble any given neighborhood that each of us lives our life. Police officers are being targeted and being murdered. These acts are being encouraged by groups known to exist for the purpose of hate. As a law enforcement officer of more than 20 years, I would have not been able to imagine our society ever reaching a point that this was allowed. Officers were always looked upon as the good that was there to keep balance from bad.  Now, officers are not only viewed as the enemy but also the prey.

Most all citizens will go through their day with a sense of security because they have never been a victim of a crime. There is an expectation that if they need an officer one is only a call away. How would the public feel if that were not true? What would the average day be like for a citizen if they believed that there may not be help available if needed? Think about how it would change your daily routine. What if you called for an officer and had one come to you that was not more capable than you were with solving an issue? Would you want to leave the safety of your home if that were the case? Would you allow your children to play outside knowing the safety you had as a child has vanished? I can only speculate what each person reading this is answering to each of the questions. I feel confident that most are realizing it would change their life drastically.

The truth is you are not as safe as you were 10, 15, or 20 years ago. Time causes change and not all change is positive. We do not always have control over what change occurs. We do have control on what we do to adapt to the change that happens. With law enforcement, the responsibility to adapt is crucial. The public depends on our officers being educated and trained to the changes that will be faced as change occurs. A sheriff of any county has the obligation to know what the needs of the community are and do all possible to accomplish reaching the goals of meeting those needs. The main objective of a law enforcement leader should be to protect the community to the best of their ability. That ability should be constantly evaluated and made to prove they are not in a position that exceeds their ability. The proof of ability is measured by looking at the performance of that leader.

I am now reaching the point that many will attempt to claim this is a political post. It is not a political post. In fact, I have no candidate for sheriff I am endorsing. I believe all of the candidates seeking office have a resume to support the belief they could be elected. I say that with one exception. David Morgan is not proving he is capable of continuing as the leader of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. He has not been tested with any true crisis that would prove he is capable. There have been some situations that received nation attention and given the appearance that he is capable. Much of this opinion was through quick sound bites that are designed to create entertainment by media sources. None of us have ever seen him taken to task on what he would do in a real life incident that required critical thinking at a pace not set by him. When given the luxury of time and the ability to schedule a media event he is very prepared. He is even entertaining. He is in no way prepared for the tough decisions that occur in real time that determine the outcome of a person living or losing their life. He has never been on “hot” calls that create the feeling that seconds feel like hours or that the wrong decision will cost you your life or the life of another. He may feel he has because of the strict policies that are in place that have given him the ultimate ability to second guess the decision of officers and pass judgement. The fact is and always will be he has less experience of doing the job of a cop than a guy that was hired to attend the Basic Recruit Academy. In fact, he would not even be able to clearly understand a conversation between two deputies having a conversation on a police channel. These facts are not what should concern the average citizen.

With the most recent tragedy, which occurred in Dallas, we witnessed an attack on law enforcement officers that devastated an entire city. It caused fear that none of could begin to understand. Imagine for a moment that the individuals you depend on for your safety are targeted and killed. If they are such easy targets how would you feel knowing the average person has even less of a chance of surviving such an attack? Those brave officers had been through hours of training, equipment to protect, and weapons to eliminate a threat. They were still killed. Imagine how easy it would have been to kill even more of those brave men and women if they had none of that training or equipment that ultimately gave them the upper hand to defeat the evil perpetrator in this senseless crime. If you can’t get a picture of that into you mind I’ll help you out.  Imagine the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Since the accepting of hate groups encouraging attacks on law enforcement we have had numerous attacks on officer across the country. Many have lost their life. Many have been victimized by liberal agendas. The result has been agencies seeking training and equipment to help defend the life of officers and the public. I can tell you right now that is not the case with the ECSO. We have had not one single hour of training to educate officers on crowd control or purchased equipment handle crowd control. In fact, we have not even changed from the training that we have had for the last 5-6 yrs. Why would David Morgan, with all of his self-proclaimed ability, not see we are no longer training for a scenario that is based on incidents from a decade ago?  I’ll answer that easily.  He isn’t a cop and never has been a cop. He made a choice to surround himself with people who knew how to brown nose better than they knew how to police.  The result is an agency that is exposed and vulnerable.

As I am writing this there is an event occurring in Montclair subdivision. The ECSO has known of this event being planned for several weeks. The response was to do nothing. Today there was someone that decided to take the event seriously because of threats to kill officers on Facebook. The response from the ECSO was to call in a handful of overtime deputies. With several weeks of knowledge and time to gather endless intel we put out a few officers for overtime. This is disgusting to even think about. David Morgan has become a danger to lives of the officers he commands by having such complacent thoughts concerning the safety of these officers. His staff is either to ignorant to know or to spineless to tell him. Either case proves our cops deserve better.

Now, this is not the story that the public will get when Morgan talks about his “operation” if a media event is scheduled. He will explain how weeks of planning went into the operation and how he has made sure we have the best equipment to make sure the best job is being done. Know now that if he makes that statement he is a liar.

He will produce a few items that we have for critical incidents. There are a few ballistic shields. A few helmets and maybe some gas guns. The vast majority of that equipment is only used by SWAT and the patrol officer will never have the benefit of having use of that equipment.  Any of you who know the system can make a public records request for any of the statements I have made and I assure you I am accurate with my description.

I seriously do not care who is elected but I do care that Morgan is gone. He does not have the right to play cops and robbers when his antics will cost the life of an officer to be lost. The one thing I have to say in all of this that is political is how much training and equipment could be purchased for $130,000.00 that could potentially save an officers life? I guess locking your car door is more important than an officer’s life to Morgan.

I am sure my opinion will be attacked and that is expected. I just hope there is a chance that some of you will help us. It is what we do to support our families and we shouldn’t have David Morgan and his ego cost our families by not coming home because of his silly political games.

Sincerely,

Senior Deputies worried about the future of Escambia County