Tag: corruption

Corruption = Liberty & Justice for ….the Favored

Recently, there has been article after article about the corruption of the law enforcement agencies in the area. The attention was, at first, on the employees that were wronged, which is reasonable because those individuals are the most obvious victims of the corruption. When an employee is wrongly terminated, the process demands the employee to, ultimately, seek a court action to remedy the wrong. A court action is all that most people ever see.  The events that happen up until the filing of a suit, all the behind the scenes, or “the real cause”, is seldom known.  The public has not seen the battles or the battle scars, that nexus of the issue, or what lead to the “law enforcement gods” to eviscerate the rights of, in this case, their employees.

In each one of these cases, that are known, information provided by public records is the only understanding available to the general public.  If all the stars and planets are aligned, articles are written, using those documents, can explain the meaning of the records exposed. These articles and documents typically support the idea of poor leadership existing in the law enforcement community in Escambia County.

It is a common theme to see Sir David and his loyal followers act more as tyrannical dictators than public servants. The layperson would observe that free speech, employment rights, and laws, in general, are only rights reserved for the favored ones outside of the agency. Sir David wouldn’t consider applying those laws to his or his cronies’ actions.  His leadership proves that it is best to do what he says and ignore the rules. Rules do not concern him and are used to attack him improperly because after all he is David Morgan.

In Escambia County, Sir David has been seen allowing two favored employees to violate state law as the staff attempts to ignore it. Colleen Burt and Jessica Hackathorn, both committed law violations and their incidents were compared to past incidents showing that unfavored ECSO employees were punished for the same type of acts. Fortunately, they have been exposed and now, everyone is waiting for the reports of what action will be taken, if any.  Based on the patterns of behavior demonstrated over and over, the ECSO staff will drag out a simple investigation, hoping for the everyone who is watching to become distracted and not notice when that overt action is taken to put the “fix” in, to resolve the matter most favorable to the agency—not the law or the community but the agency.  It would be prudent for the ones guilty of overriding policies, laws and ethical codes to remember that because of the past issues handled inappropriately, attention to them will increase as they have been identified as corrupt.  This is something most people subverting the law might be cognizant of, however, arrogance is the biggest enemy to any criminal. And these criminals think they are ABOVE the law.

Still, even with those cases (or best described as crimes), many of the other incidents involved normal everyday citizens that are not aware of how to expose law enforcement corruption. Some may even be intimidated by the perception of power those such as Sir David possess. The citizens forget, just as Sir David did, that they are source of elected power and it is with them the actual power exists. Sure, it is a tough battle but what has worth, that isn’t worth a fight? It is not difficult for Morgan to destroy individuals in a battle. With cowards, such as Haines, paying his debt to Morgan, for boosting him well beyond his actual capability of a law enforcement officer nothing is off the table. Morgan easily motivates those lacking integrity to do the dirty work. Even if the staff doesn’t participate directly, they have no issue with watching the henchmen destroy, or attempt to destroy good people. This may even be worse than participating. At least, Haines knows he must jump when Morgan says to jump. This forces him to put in some effort and could even cause him to perceive he is doing his job in some insane thought process. Those, who watch, are not willing to act but see no problem in ignoring anything that doesn’t affect them directly. Would it be regarded as acceptable for a cop to watch a person get robbed by a suspect but not get involved because of fear of being harmed? Of course not, but that is exactly what ECSO staff does.

Another issue has been exposed recently. The Brady List. This is a list that has clear guidelines concerning the conduct that would cause an officer to be placed on the list. By reading the list, with information provided by ECSO, there is no indication of what criteria these officers have met to be on the list, nor to determine what that process is. The only real common denominator is that all on the list are disliked by Morgan and/or Haines. After reading the case law concerning Brady several times, it is worth mentioning that there is not one mention of anything that allows Morgan or Haines the sole discretion to place whoever they wanted on the list.

ECSO can’t say that all people who commit a policy violation of any kind should be on the list. Many have committed violations that were not indicative of their trustworthiness as an officer of the law.  It would be impossible to say all employees that are terminated are on the list. There was an occasion that a colonel was terminated and not listed. Maybe because Haines was fearful of the repercussion because of a lawsuit pending. However, if it is legal to put others on the list, why would he be scared to put that employee on there too?

A recent demotion occurred to an employee–a lieutenant, was busted to deputy. Two full ranks in the chain of command. Why does Haines think that wasn’t reasonable for that person to be on the list? Remember Burt? She was found to have lied on her timesheet and received discipline for lying.  This employee is exactly an employee that qualifies for the list. She could testify in a criminal proceeding about evidence and has proven to have questionable credibility by lying on a timesheet. If she would lie about work hours, it would be reasonable to be concerned she might lie about important issues that could have adverse effect on someone’s future in court. Now Hackathorn also has an issue too. She could be called to give testimony concerning officers committing insurance fraud or in at least, in one case, complain about it. She, then, is given a free pass when she commits fraud with a clear intent of a planned theft of services from the insurance company.

The truth is Morgan and Haines should be on the list. They routinely act in a manner that causes their character to be questioned. They act as if ruining the careers of others is a hobby. No hesitation to ruin lives when it betters the position for them. David Morgan was given proof of Lt. Forte committing perjury and ignored the complaint. The fact an official complaint of perjury was filed should have landed Forte on the list. This is a typical example of Morgan and Haines playing favorites. With a certified court transcript in hand, to compare to a statement under oath to internal affairs by Forte clearly lying, he is found not to have committed any policy violation even. It is often said that anyone can have their own opinion but not their own facts. It is clear the Brady List provided by the ECSO has undermined a check and balance process to help make certain law enforcement officers can be held to a standard that cultivates trust. Morgan and Haines made the choice to use it as a tool to punish those identified as enemies, further pushing public trust away from the good cops in our community.

Takeaway from this article:

Wrong is always wrong; right is always right. If one person is persecuted by  someone using a law or policy as a weapon, any person may be persecuted the same way. Corruption is equal opportunity with no one being safe.

banksy

Thankfulness & Appreciation Series- Part 2

Sometimes the posts just write themselves. Thank God for that. Thank God for the Free Speech that would otherwise not be afforded to me in any other country. Free Speech Sir David doesn’t want to hear but that just delineates the need for such. If someone locally, won’t say it, I will. If not me then who? If not now, then when?

There were 2 different articles in the Mullet Wrapper this weekend that basically hit on the same points. The first is by my fave writer, Emma Kennedy, “Reopened death row, juvenile justice cases strain system” & the second, by my other fave writer at the Mullet Wrapper, Kevin Robinson, “Escambia County leads state in charging juveniles as adults”. 

To summarize the two issues, in 2012, the Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama, that mandatory sentences of life without parole for children under the age of 18 are unconstitutional. The weight of this decision is financially straining Bill Eddins’s office because………

First thing that comes to mind is that office has been pushing juveniles into adult sentences at a far higher rate than the rest of the state, which is pointed out in the second article, by Robinson. Scott McCoy of the Southern Poverty Law Center, (SPLC) points out that these kids are being pushed into the adult system only to get probation. If the crimes are not severe enough to actually result in jail time, why shouldn’t they stay in the juvenile justice system which would allow them the chance to not be labeled within the adult system? This seems to be a case of not liking that option because it isn’t seen as punitive enough (in NW FL), for Mr. Eddins or at least his perception of what his constituents wants?

Over the last few weeks, I have become more acquainted with what passes for “a case” by the State Attorney’s office. Ron Clark Ball, John Powell, Pat Gonzalez, Gary Sumner were just a few who have been escorted in front of cameras and called criminals but when the evidence is laid to bear…..our court system (and by extension the judiciary that allows them to play “law”) were the through-backs on the short bus in law school.

What are you thinking, Bill Eddins, when you allow a personal vendetta of one of the legal elite firms to rope you into a RICO case, where there is perjured testimony, charges galore that end up being dropped because they are just that charges…not actual crimes committed. The bill on that case will cost the taxpayers millions. What about the letting whomever, assist the Assistant State Attorneys in the grand jury room, when Fla Statutes say they must have a J.D. after their name? Greg Marcille surely knows that. What about letting a Sheriff shake GRAND JURORS hands telling them, “I’ve done my job; now it’s time for you to do yours”? This is a directive to people personally to indict. How many people have been deprived a fair trial for that. Screwing with Grand Juries , YEAR AFTER YEAR, seems to me that will cost the taxpayers BILLIONS WITH A “B”.

This is a case where people who are in charge shouldn’t be. Their decisions result in inequities on the people they were sworn to represent and protect. I am talking about CRIMES OF MORALITY THAT LET THE REAL CRIMINALS OUT WHILE PUTTING THE INNOCENT IN JAIL.

Please, as always, don’t just take my word for this. Go to Flcourts.gov, or FDLE.gov. The statistics of what is actually going on. The problem is these men, Eddins, Morgan are stewards of the county and they don’t play fair. Consequently, in the appellate stage, other courts look at their non-sense and kicks back the badly handled cases. That is an error that is coming to fruition while these men are still in office. Typically, this sort of thing hits the following administration or comes back to haunt the subsequent terms of politicians; however, the glut for power has kept them in office long enough to see the spoils of their injustices.

It is a no-brainer that if you have to pay for a job to be done and then redone because of it was inadequate, it costs more money. Doing the job twice due to shortcuts like not having the properly composed grand jury, pushing kids into an adult system for no reason other than perceived political capital, letting other officials subject court cases to retrial for inappropriate contact, all these things COST THE TAXPAYERS MONEY & on top of it, having to doing out punitive damages for ruining people’s lives COSTS EVEN MORE.

According to the NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service),

Corruption can arise in virtually any area of local government activity, and will leave distinct traces according to the area -law enforcement, land-use regulation, purchasing, or tax assessment. It is possible to put together a diagnostic check list that will indicate possible corruption in a particular area. 

When corruption in government is suspected, there is a checklist of things people should look for. Some of those are:

  1. Have there been any cases tried in recent history of corruption? Statistically, there are going to be people involved in the moving parts of government trying to make money by cutting corners. Lack of this implies there are things not being caught which indicates incompetence or there are things overlooked indicating bigger corruption. Either way, the fact is something has to change for the county to retain its liquidity.
  2. Is there a high turnover in agency personnel? This indicates a systemic internal problem that cost taxpayers money and allows for corruption to flourish in the internal dissension.
  3. Are public positions filled when there is no need for the job, as hiring a
  4. swimming instructor for a park with no pool? This indicates the fulfilling of political favors for off the book gains ie corruption.
  5. Are those arrested for narcotics and gambling mostly street-level people
  6. rather than higher ups? This indicates incompetence in not investigating about the street-level soldiers in a more organized criminal enterprise.
  7. Is there an effective independent investigative agency to hear complaints of official misconduct? This is a check and balance approach to keep everybody honest.

The NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) goes on to say:

“Some people who participate in corruption make no attempt to hide their activities, either believing that what they are doing is perfectly acceptable or expecting that no one will be watching. In most cases, however, participants will attempt to cover their tracks, both by making payoffs secretly and by attempting to provide a legitimate cover for their decisions. Where this is true, uncovering corruption problems can be difficult. Existing nvestigative bodies, such as the police and the prosecutors’ offices, are the obvious starting point because they can use surveillance techniques, subpoena powers, and the like, and can grant immunity to uncover evidence of specific crimes. Elected officials and agency heads who have daily contact with first-line supervisors or middle-level management are likely to have a fairly good idea of where the soft spots are, although they may be protected from below from any knowledge of specific corrupt acts or practices. Those who deal with local government from the outside – lawyers representing developers, contractors seeking building permits, salesmen seeking orders, or companies seeking contracts -will have certain knowledge of specific acts of corruption. Some will have little interest in exposing the acts that they profit from while others will be eager to see an immediate end to corruption (although they may be reluctant to aid in a suppression effort that entails personal risk). Newspaper, wire service, and television reporters may have more knowledge of corrupt acts than is revealed in their news reports, but may be reluctant to reveal it for fear of cutting themselves off from sources of other news. Outside of specifically chartered investigative bodies, the least reluctant sources of information about acts of corruption are official records.


” The desire to be respected by the public, so that being a politician or civil servant can be considered an honorable career, and election, appointment, or employment in government can be considered evidence of high personal standards of conduct. (They display:)• Recognition that corruption has a high social as well as monetary cost, and that even though the public may not seem to care in situations where corruption exists, and may continue to vote··in administrations that are either dirty or too stupid to be believed, the social cost is still being paid. When corruption and the costs of corruption finally become unacceptable, the result is likely to be personal as well as civic peril.• The awareness that there are standards of ethical conduct that can be agreed on, and principles of ethical action that can be applied, so that an employee or official can have confidence that he/she is acting ethically and need not be at the mercy of a superior’s whim or an investigative reporter’s slow news day. The most important ingredient of a (government leadership) management environment that is hostile to corruption is a strong and principled leadership. Without that, formalized guidelines for ethical behavior will be of little use. The next ingredient is credibility, which rests not only on sending clear messages that reinforce one another but also on keeping it all open and public”

Bottom line: Is this present in Escambia County? The articles in the PNJ tell the story….NO!

Ronald Clark Ball

ron clark ball falcon at DuckDuckGo.clipular

Mr. Ball’s incarceration marks the point of no return in the crusade to de-throne corruption in Escambia County. Mr. Ball, being an author, a man of prestige & a globally renown lecturer in the understanding of the cyber threat as it relates to National Security, has become the latest name to the list of victims of abuse of power throughout the Escambia County government. Mr. Ball is not the typical victim, because he is not of a lesser demographic; he’s not a minority, nor a socio-economic nobody that is usually the profile of people marginalized by the Escambia corruption machine. People like Pat Gonzalez, or Michelle Clarke are denigrated by the “honorable” elite of the county due to their backgrounds or prior bad acts. People like Philip Nix, Bill Chavers, Gene Valentino, Anita Hemphill, Laura Montoya or the honorable other citizens who are outspoken in the abuses of the county,  are said to be suffering from a technical term by Sheriff Morgan known as “sour grapes”.  They have been wronged by the county and are labeled as trying to retaliate for their dismissals. That may have basis, if the list of people, who are suffering– allegedly — from “sour grape syndrome” didn’t hit double digits with the exact same complaints, including slander, defamation, civil rights violations, & discrimination.

No Mr. Ball does not suffer from any of the labels previously used by the GOB to discount people. He cannot be seen as I am by Sheriff Morgan, as a lone nut, who spews lies, “a political terrorist”. Mr. Ball has been silenced for a long time but that silence is broken. He cannot be dismissed as the rest of have.

Mr. Ball drafted a pro se motion to dismiss in June that is skillfully written and could be used by any of the above victims against varying agents of the Escambia corruption machine.  While his assertions may sound outlandish, I say to you that the actions against him are just that outlandish and bringing them to light is the right thing to do.

As I have said many times, the abuses of Escambia GOB are vast enough to be in violation of RICO (Racketeer Influenced & Corrupt Organization Law). This entails 2 or more felonies committed to further an ongoing criminal enterprise. The justice system in Escambia County is, itself, the criminal enterprise. The felonies are embezzlement, perjury, fraud and the list goes on and on.  Morgan arrests people, Eddins & his minions as well as various judiciary perpetuate the wrongful arrest through the court system to the tune of illegal seizures, defamation, and political gain.  The real violation is of the honest services clause.  According to 2017 Fall edition of  American Criminal Law Review, in an article by Alexander Sanyshyn, the honest services criteria is thus:

 Elements of the Honest-Services Doctrine

To be convicted under § 1346, an individual must (i) defraud the victim of honest services (ii) by accepting a bribe or kickback. n446

Defraud of Honest Services

Generally, a scheme to defraud of honest services takes place in a fiduciary or employer-employee relationship. n447 Such a fiduciary relationship is often present when one manages money for another’s benefit. n448 It may also be present when a voluntary trade association n449 or charitable and nonprofit organization is involved. n450 The employer-employee relationships that may give rise to an honest-services claim range from a shareholder-management relationship n451 to a government employee-private citizen relationship. n452 However, the duties owed by a public official and a private individual differ. n453

 [*1725]  The fraud need not be directly accomplished by the defendant–the defendant need only to have caused fraud to be committed. n454 However, the defendant must be aware of, or participate in, the fraud committed by the third party. n455

 

This lays out the basis for many public corruption cases. The use of public power for private gain is the biggest risk associated with people in power.  The various prongs of corruption, quid pro quo corruption, undue influence in inequality corruption, misuse and abuse of power are all used to further the criminal enterprise that operates as the criminal justice & legal system in Escambia County. There is no justice to had in the system in Pensacola. No one is above the law and while that hasn’t been apparent to most people except those churned out by the system in my hometown, Mr. Ball’s case added to the 7 people in the Billings Case, specifically prove a pattern of behavior that spans over many years & many cases. The totality of injustice is astronomical in Escambia County.

Ron Clark Ball is going to the catalyst case that shines a light on the stuff Willie Junior was killed covering up. Get your popcorn, kids. The show is beginning.

I told Morgan that when he saw me coming, that hell was coming with me. He should be feeling the heat, because I am at his door.

 

 

The First Domino Falls

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To my great shock, the BOCC denied the increased millage which Sir David tried to shove down their throats. The most amazing thing is how verbally they expressed their contempt for the Sheriff’s tactics. Each of them, except for Underling, spoke to the press push that Morgan tried to use to get his way.  Underhill was the lone dissident vote, not surprisingly.

The issue here is not the raises for deputies; the issue is why Morgan hasn’t made it a priority. In April alone, Morgan gave away $35K to Underhill’s pet projects.  Assuming the starting salary of $35K, Morgan could have used the money he gave away to fund the Sheriff’s portion of 2 SRO’s–not to mention $5K to Pensacola Opera, $20K to PACE Center for Girls, $20K for Panhandle Charitable Open. That’s another $45K that could go to 2 1/2 more SRO’s salaries. While no one is saying these charities aren’t worthy (the opera is questionable), Morgan is spending money on all these things INSTEAD OF SRO’S.

The most ironic part is the article I found that Sir David wrote:

The pre-elected Morgan seems much more honorable and reasonable than the drastic contrast of the 3 term sheriff. It is funny when I was talking to people about what was going on in the county, I used the word “corruption” and I was told, “No, I wouldn’t say corruption; it is just the ‘good ole boy system'”.  By not using the word, it was like it was somewhat better than what it is. It is power that corrupts and we see this demonstrated in front of us with this article from several years ago and the issues of today. The budget has always been a point of contention for the Sheriff’s office and BOCC. But the tactics of this Sheriff are sophomoric and not in good faith. Good faith isn’t a concept 3-term Morgan knows at all.

 

Cognitive Dissonance & Fiscal Illiteracy

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.

Can’t Paint a Zebra & Call It a Horse

When I was little, I heard the phrase, “you can’t paint a zebra & call it a horse, because the stripes will eventually show through.” I don’t know if that is the phrase commonly used but the moral of the cliche is the same. “You can put lipstick on a pig and call it Monique, but it’s still a pig.” I would like to offer up  my own new form of this cliche. “You can put medals on a con man’s jacket and collar. Hell you can give him a Sheriff’s star, but he’s still a con man.”
thu-aug-11-2016-13-20-37-gmt-0500-4
Example:
Sheriff David Morgan (aka Sir David for his phony knighthood), apparently,deleted his Facebook profile. Now he was an advocate of all social media prior to November 8th. So if that is true….why do you think that is? He put on this sociable pretense–leading up to the election. Now he doesn’t need that. His arrogance has trumped his need for attention. He now does not need the connection to the people. His true stripes are showing. The people of the community have been dismissed from his self-centered world.
This is also evident by the reaction of the deputies. When Morgan was re-elected, I was horrified at the corrupt voting system, because I honestly don’t think that was a solid, straight up election.  There was something hinky with the early mail in votes…but I digress. Understanding the people under Sir David and listening to their input, comments is far more important in evaluating the “success” of Sir David and relevant to the understanding of the morale inside the agency and thus the performance on the street.
These are just a few anonymous comments made about Sir David from his deputies:
With there being so many different violations (criminal,civil,conduct unbecoming etc.) that can cost deputies their jobs, why in a profession where “high character” is important and deputies are held to a higher standard would we employee deputies that refuse to recognize their own child/children as their own or be a father to to them? If someone is that sorry and of low character how can we as an agency believe they’re capable of making the kinds of decisions we are in trusted to make on a day to day basis?
It all depends if Chief Haines believes it violates HIS morale conduct code or not. Then it depends on whether he likes you or not or if he perceives someone as unworthy. Here is the perfect example. It is alleged that Deputy XYZ was insubordinate. Chief Haines believes a bunch of BS told about this Deputy so instead of it being handled on shift level he insists it must be investigated by IA. The investigation determines there are conflicting sides to the story and the supervisor based the insubordination on assumptions. The charges are unfounded. But that isn’t good enough for the Admin. The case goes back to IA to check it out again and this time around someone mentions Deputy XYZ has ….I don’t know….recently moved and Oh No….he has neglected to change his address with the office. BINGO…there it is. Deputy XYZ is found guilty.

That is how this Admin works. If they want to get you they will. They just keep on and on and on until they find something.
So hang in there. When they find out there is a Deputy who isn’t taking care of his child they will get him. It might not be a violation at all but if Haines thinks it is this deputy will be put through pure hell and will feel he has no other choice but to leave.

 Speaking to “undeserved raises” recently:
The sheriff has never cared about the deputies or their pay. He made a promise when he ran the first time to up the deputies pay by several thousand dollars, didn’t happen! We’ve received a few token raises, far less than any other sheriff. He’s taken good care of his staff and their salaries. Morgan is a bullshitter and a politician who can’t bring himself to speak the truth and when pushed you can bet his response will be, “I’m the sheriff and I do what I want to”. I predict this pattern of promotions will continue and his reorganization will resemble something from a Georgia roadmap. Merry Christmas to all my brothers and sisters, it’s going to be a long four years.
(In response to another comment claiming the raises are sound)
You made Major, are you now trying for Commander? Come on man, neither you or David deserved the promotion. You have zero patrol experience and zero supervisor experience. David has 2 years as a Sergeant and I dont need to repeat all the lacking experience. This place is a joke and nothing will change here. There isn’t any integrity and loyalty only 6exists for the select few who place campaign signs and troll Facebook for 1st Amendment violations.

To anyone wishing to work at an agency that is professional, honest and trustworthy, this ISN’T the place. You will be buried in the back with the trash and fish bones. Want a promotion with a 30% pay raise, put up campaign signs, troll the internet and back stab fellow deputies. Great job AH and DI, you now contributed to the lowest morale level the department has ever seen.

He has excellent skills at letting a former garage supervisor cover up theft and misuse of county property. Maybe if we were the bad guys that would be a useable skill. Otherwise he fits right into the Morgan way of doing things.
 Why even put a promotional process in place if you’re just going to crush the hopes and morale of those who come to work and try hard by doing something like this? How is someone supposed to respect the rank of anyone above them if it’s just handed to them without merit? Sheriff you can step up and admit you erred and gain back trust. If this festers watch this place come to a screeching halt. It won’t be due to some reorganizational issue but directly tie to morale and two less than stellar sergeants being given something they don’t deserve
Why would you expect anything different from Morgan? Look at some of the past promotions he’s made and it shouldn’t surprise you one bit. Please don’t think Simmons is going to be any better, he’s a clone right now. Time to sit down and let things run their course. Obviously hard work means nothing.
These comments are anonymous because there is punitive actions against anyone with an opinion contrary to Sir David. Just ask Buddy Nesmith or hell, Eric Haines, the demoted Chief Deputy who doesn’t even see his own demotion. (This would be the 2nd demoted Chief Deputy in Sir David’s cabinet, by the way.)
So I might be crazy, but it appears that there are an inordinate amount of deputies who feel slighted by Sir David’s lastest choices in raises.  But that’s not the only disappointment or breach of trust/service, Sir David’s committed. Yet still we sit here with Sheriff Shithead at the helm…..anybody else see a problem?????
 hot-police-meme

Confessions of a Lawman

*This post was written by a deputy at the ECSO.

There is a problem in Escambia County. It is a problem that starts with the ECSO and its administration. The problem is not a typical workplace issue. The problem that faces the ECSO is one of greater proportion. It has become a plague that is reflected in the community. Staff members would want you to believe the problem is caused by disgruntled employees with agendas or grievances or because of the low level pay scale. They would say there are generational or societal differences causing friction within the administration. Point of fact, there could be cases that demonstrate any one of those scenarios. Any business with as many employees as the ECSO will have some cases of bad employees. It just is not possible to have a MAJORITY of employees images.duckduckgo.jpgthat are unhappy or that fall into these categories.  A fish rots from the head down. The most likely cause of the anathema in the ECSO is that the leadership has failed.

David Morgan may have had good intentions when he decided to run for the office he now holds. He likely believed that his ideas would improve our community. His vision was based in the understanding that he had from the point of view he could have as a civilian.  I say civilian because he never had any LEO certification, training or experience enforcing the law. He has shifted that stance from outside civilian to now assert experience via uncorroborated military service. Please never make the mistake of believing he had any law enforcement experience based on the jobs he performed in the Air Force. One could not claim to be a chef because they can microwave a frozen burrito to perfection.

Becoming a law enforcement officer takes much dedication and commitment. It takes the ability to apply yourself to a change the way you view everything you ever learned. You understand that the authority that is given to you is a huge responsibility. You must learn to use the power that comes with being an effective law enforcement officer so the best outcome is reached even in the most difficult of circumstances. Morgan never had the opportunity to discover the path that leads an officer to the good even if there is only evil lurking along that path. The ability to make good choices isn’t taught in a classroom. It is impossible to read about the correct way to reached desired goals. Accomplishments are gained through experience and exposure to the real-life situations that are encountered each day as a law enforcement officer. Often the best lessons are taught through making a mistake.

Early into Morgan’s “career” as a law enforcement officer he was thrust into a very rare type of case for any officer. A murder with multiple victims. Morgan found himself in the spotlight. The cameras and lights in his face. All attention given to his every word. His one liners taken as candid talk from a law enforcement professional. Very sexy to hear the story but could not be further from the truth.  Morgan got the opportunity to narrate a story contrived without all the facts in record time with a record number of suspects. Any seasoned officer with experience with homicide investigations will tell you that the case was too complex to unfold in this fashion under the scrutiny of the press and the community given all the factors involved. It was implausible at best to wrap the case up that quickly and self-serving and malicious at worst. But everyone liked him. The media loved his persona and bought the shoddy result without so much as a second glance. Morgan’s MO is to define a narrative from the onset then when facts come in, they are bent to fit the narrative. That’s what rookies do. The facts are supposed to structure the narrative. But Morgan is a storyteller. He tells a story, such as the humdinger or the “ritual” witch killing. The story led the investigation in both cases.  The only things investigated were those things that went along with the story. There is no justice in that and by the way, how is that police work?

Morgan was given a taste of fame and importance. He began to believe he was the person that the media made him out to be. This is where the story takes a sad twist. Morgan started to act as his presence bestowed favor to the ECSO. Morgan believed he was such a capable individual he could understand a job in only a few months that takes veteran officers decades to fully understand. He believed he was beyond any person that has ever walked through the doors of the ECSO. Morgan sealed his destiny when he allowed his ego to guide his actions.

Take a moment to ask yourself a few questions. List all the accomplishments that are a positive result of Morgan and his leadership since being elected into office. I would guarantee that the first thought that came to your mind was either a campaign effort to lock your doors or that Escambia County was in the top spot for crime in Florida. Neither should be on your list. Telling citizens to lock the car door is not law enforcement it is common sense. Escambia County did not get to the top spot in crime because our doors were unlocked. Our county is at the top because we have robberies, murders, burglaries, and so many other violent crimes in our community.

Give one example of what David Morgan has done to decrease crime in this county. You could not say he has the manpower up. Our county has less experience on the street now than ever in the history of the agency.  Our officers are working with less training and less guidance than should be allowed. There is not a doubt that Eric Haines would argue that the agency has more training than ever before and give you a total number of hours each officer spends a year in training. Understand that artificially inflating hours of training does not mean that the training is useful or beneficial to our community. It can be information to rely on when you are making a pitch to create the illusion that you have been useful in the leadership of the ECSO.  It sounds amazing when you are on a radio show several times a week for convincing the public this agency-our agency–is above all others. I question why there needs to be constant reminders of why I should feel safe and not just feel safe.

The truth is our agency has developed into a public relations machine to further the iconic David Morgan and his celebrity status. We hire news reporters and public relation assistants. We have numerous radio and television programs. We have a studio that is dedicated to the production of scripted news reports and propaganda created by the Morgan machine. Why? Criminals will not be deterred by the “top cop” being popular. A criminal is reluctant to commit crimes when a law enforcement agency is strong on the enforcement of laws. If Morgan had performed as a law enforcement officer he would not have to be told that. He would know from experience that strong enforcement equals reduced crime. I guess that makes the point that Morgan was not ever a cop so he needs to be told.

 

This is why crime is so high in the county. Morgan has turned our agency into a public relations apparatus. A sheriff should not be a huckster.

How Morgan & the PNJ Will Be Downfall of the Billings Convictions

Criminal Justice expert Dr. Edward J. Bronson recently analyzed the pre-trial publicity in the Billings Murder case. It was a fascinating look at just the local newspaper coverage. The reason he was called to look at this has to do with the fact that it has become an inarguable fact that press coverage prior to trial impacts jury verdicts. There have been 44 empirical studies with 5500+ people by dozens of social scientists over the last three decades.

The biggest shocker of Dr. Bronson’s analysis was that the Billings Murder case–overall–is the 27th highest publicized case EVER. This case rivals OJ, the Lindbergh baby, Bundy, Zodiac, Son of Sam and Jon Benet Ramsey just for starters. The average high publicity case has around 100 articles written about the case, pretrial. The PNJ & InWeekly did 250 articles on this case. Each of these articles were biased against the defendants, particularly Pat Gonzalez Jr. Not one of these articles were by anyone close to Gonzalez Jr or who advocated his character in any way, despite his contributions to the community, although the Sertoma club “Man of the Year” award was mentioned in passing as was high martial arts career. Not one of these articles offers any other theory of the crime or any leads outside the narrative the Sheriff concocted.

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled to delay a trial by 9 mos because of 1 news comment by an attorney on a Sunday morning at 6 AM. The judge determined the attorney had the potential to have tainted the jury pool with this one appearance. In comparison, Sheriff Morgan held press conferences up to twice a day locally; he spoke on Dateline NBC, Nancy Grace, Oprah Winfrey and Larry King to name a few. He said things like, “extremely gruesome scene”, “hateful, senseless crime” “bad seed” (speaking of Gonzalez Jr.), “stupid thugs” and referred to the Billings as “very good Christian people”.  Adding on to the fact, Morgan greeted the Grand Jury panelists prior to the indictments of Gonzalez Sr and Jr. He shook each person’s hand and said things like, “I’ve done my job; now it’s time for you to do yours”. This seems like a directive from the highest law enforcement officer in the community.

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The PNJ articles were extremely damaging as they are the only point of printed news in the area. 174 times the death penalty was mentioned in relation to this crime—prior to any trial commencing.  This is extremely damning because the implication is that these people deserve death, before the facts of the case or the defenses were laid out.

Dr. Bronson noted that he had never seen more inflammatory comments within the PNJ by the reporters and in letters to the editor prior to trial. There was no possible way a reasonable person could consider that an unbiased jury could be had in this community. Judge Geeker doesn’t think this is an issue but ultimately this will go to the US Supreme Court, who has no ties to Escambia County corruption.

As for the media circus that propelled Morgan’s career and ultimately kept him in office, here’s the take away: David Morgan whored himself out to every news outlet possible. He was the source of most people’s knowledge of this case. As the community and world has seen with every instance in Morgan’s tenure where he smiles pretty for the camera, he seldom is the most accurate point of information. He stretches the truth and even lies to make himself seem important. Why would it be any different with this case? Good news for all the defendants, because if Pat Gonzalez gets a new trial, the flood gates of motions and lawsuits will dominate what was the old news of this case….with Morgan as the punchline.

not a sheriff

Dr. Edward Bronson Expert Testimony exhibit2-expert test.

Just Saying….

So after Mike Thomas was convicted of being a sex offender, the 4 or the 5 deputies that testified as to Thomas’s character overall prior this incident have now become the subject of Internal Affairs investigations for different, very random things since their testimony.

The targeted 4 deputies, according to sources, testified that Thomas was a good cop to their knowledge prior to these charges. The 5th deputy was less definitive about any attributes in Thomas’s past. Apparently, his indifference or lack of positive character testimony neither helped nor hurt the case and left him himself free from retaliation by the vindictive ECSO.

Now this could be coincidental but why hold off 4 simultaneous investigations until the couple of days after the case was over? Surely, if there were questions as to these peoples’ character it might be relevant to their testimony or could these 4 people with 4 different situations become suddenly culpable of these 4 acts within one week’s time? The odds must be astronomical.

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On the same note, a  2 key character witnesses in the most high profile case in Pensacola history got just as lucky. Lonnie Douglas Smith & Tony Eisa testified in Gonzalez Jr’s trial the last week of October, 2010 that Gonzalez Jr. approached them about participating in the robbery. They testified that Gonzalez Jr. was shady and a liar. His character was, in their testimony, that of a person capable of this crime—without a doubt.

Bill Eddins allowed these two men to testify in the trial that took place beginning on 10/25/2010.  Strangely enough, Tony Eisa plead guilty to filing a false police report on 10/12/2010 in Santa Rosa County. SANTAROSA CLERK.clipular

ADJUDICATED GUILTY OF FALSE REPORT TO LAW AUTHORITY 10/12/2010

Damn good character witness.

Lonnie Smith is even better story. After being arrested 2/24/2010, Smith was arrested for heroin trafficking, oxy possession, crack and cocaine possession.

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Now despite the fact there was significant diversity in drugs and the weight of the heroin, after almost 8 months, Eddins decided not to prosecute the upstanding Smith, just in time for him to testify against Gonzalez Jr. Funny, how that works…

Escambia Clerk of the Circuit Court.clipular (27)

Double-back Justice

In a not-so surprising move, Greg Marcille issued a press release Friday that after investigating Morgan’s LET Fund mockery, the SAO found “no criminal violations” found. However in a letter attached to the press release, there is indication that the protocol requiring agencies to account for the money they receive, specifically that it meets the standard to justify the statutory mandates of this particular fund, has not been followed. This is funny because there is precedent that such special trust monies spent without the proper follow-up by the agencies, such as this case, were made to pay back the money. The state has not been lenient on this in the past, but seems to be ok with throwing away $1m without recovery nor punishment for not fulfilling the elected officials obligations to the community that they serve. I say throwing away because, if that money isn’t going to help train officers, buy equipment or provide for safe neighborhoods (ie the gala held by the Pensacola Opera), then another facet of the county budget must use those funds, which are taxpayers’ money to fulfill that void–or not as the case may be, leaving the community in the ranks of the highest crime within the state.

But looking past that insane judgment lapse, I’d like to take you through Friday before this press release came out.

Text message from deputy @2:45pm:

statewide grand jury with Morgan being biggest offender of LET violation. Governors office involved…… SAO told Haines today that wrong doing was found. Gov office is expected to order statewide audit of all funds. Eric looks like he died when I seen him.

I then messaged James Scaminaci of CJ’s Street Report to ask him if he could call the SAO to verify this info. In the past, I have been given the run around by the SAO; I figured he had more pull than I did. This was @3:17pm.

He replied @3:20pm:

I heard from a source today that something big was coming but did not link it to sao. Though he asked me about sao.

James called SAO and left message for Marcille @3:25pm. His message to me :

Marcille just left for a meeting about this very subject of grand jury investigating morgan. Spoke to his secty

Source forwarded me via email @3:32pm, the folllowing press releaseESO findings - conjuringjustice@gmail.com - Gmail.clipular

Confused, I texted the deputy who contacted me and asked him if he was sure about what he told me.

Absolutely! Haines is still barricaded in his office. Not good news.  Morgan is out of town. Just told he was talking to an attorney in Orlando on an issue the Sheriff’s Assn wasn’t covering.

Taking into account the totality of the events and the fact the ECSO admin was not relieved when the press release was issued, nor did they make some grandstand to say  they were in the clear, I believe the SAO may have something else up their sleeve.

Stay tuned….Morgan and the BOCC are not out of the woods yet.