Smarting sheriff tracks down critic

[zipplewrath]

While we have the senate arguing about potential abuse of the patriot act, we have this local Barney using restricted government information databases to track down the address of a lady who wrote a letter to the editor. It's potentially a violation of the law.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-asecbeary06040605apr06,1,595658.story?coll=orl-news-headlines

Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary has a vast array of computers designed to track down terrorists and criminals -- or a Winter Park mother of four.

Upset at being described as too fat for basic police work, Beary ordered his staff to use restricted records to find the woman who also criticized his agency's use of stun guns in a letter to the editor.

He then fired off a letter scolding Alice Gawronski, a 35-year-old registered Republican.

....

Members of Beary's staff confirmed Tuesday that they used Florida driving records to obtain Gawronski's address, but say doing so was within the sheriff's official duties.

[Worst Username Ever]

1. Regardless of her politcal affiliation,

she should be able to criticize the police force at will without fear of retribution. I generally side with cops on most allegations of abuse, etc, but this guy seems like he was out of line tracking her down.

[Demit]

2. What a great story. I hope she does sue him, the oversensitive idiot.

I like her quote:

"After 9-11, they instituted the Patriot Act . . . and I was all for it, because if you don't commit a crime you have nothing to worry about," she said. "But, now, I see there are situations where access to information can be a problem. Everybody is human, and if the information is out there, it could be used for the wrong reasons."

Ah, the education of the populace, one by one.

[benfranklin1776]

8. Yes regrettably it takes one's own ox to be gored to see the danger to all

Nonetheless her case provides a valuable lesson in the dangers of vesting unfettered unaccountable authority in the hands of any one branch of government or one agency of that branch. Unchecked unfettered authority will invariably lead to abuses such as this, or worse. It shows the indisputable need for strict oversight and judicial review of any executive branch agency action. In this case I hope she fully pursues all available legal remedies not only for herself but for all others who may be the victim of such abuse of official power if they dare choose to exercise their first amendment rights. Rather than answer her letter to the newspaper with a letter of his own, as was his right, Sheriff "Roscoe P Coltrane" decided he would use official resources to track her down and send her an intimidating letter. The message he was trying to send could not have been clearer, "We are watching and we know who you are and can find you so watch what you say." This rube should hire Ari Fleischer as his PR person, they are repressive birds of a feather.

[alarimer]

34. "If you don't commit a crime, you have nothing to worry

about"???

I hate that attitude. Laws like these are subject to abuse. I guess she is learning that.

[UpInArms]

3. I wonder if

Alice Gawronski, a 35-year-old registered Republican

will begin to question her loyalty to the party of intrusion and control?

[CrispyQ]

4. She certainly has a good point about fat cops & tasers.

snip...

On Tuesday, Gawronski said she wrote to the newspaper after her concerns about the possible abuse of Tasers peaked when an Orlando police officer zapped a suspect handcuffed to a hospital bed to obtain a urine specimen.

"The urine sample kind of put me over the edge, and I decided to write," she said.

In her letter to the editor, she referred to a televised news conference on June 3 when Beary allowed himself to be zapped with a Taser to demonstrate their safety.

Seeing Beary incapacitated by a single electrical shock of 50,000 volts and "in an obvious state of duress" convinced her the stun guns should not be used, she wrote.

Gawronski continued in her letter, writing that the sheriff appeared so overweight and out of shape that she doubted he could arrest anyone without a stun gun. She suggested that if deputies were more fit, they might not need to resort to stun guns.

Beary characterized her criticism as slander.
====

Don't cops have to pass a physcial fitness test before they are accepted? And it's never an issue again?

[FSogol]

5. Cops have to pass a physical, but Sheriff is an elected position [NT]

[Nevernose]

40. Also depends on area and local unions

Locally, for instance, we have quite a few probation officers who are in essence given desk jobs because they got to fat to perform basic police duties. One of them (not a thyroid patient, just a chronic overeater -- he told me) actually enters and exits the building via one of those electric cart thingees like they have at the grocery store, because he can longer walk to the parking lot. He has his own printer in his office because he become so obese that he can no longer walk the NINE feet to the communal printer from his chair (yes, it was measured as part of his disability claim).

While he did indeed pass the fairly intense police physical upon being hired, due to union rules, they cannot fire someone for being UNABLE TO DO THEIR JOB who was hired before 1994 or so.

Now, I'm a fat guy, so I can sympathize with him -- it must be hard to live with an addiction that severe -- but I'm a fat guy with a job that doesn't require much physical ability beyond walking around a classroom and occasionally climbing onto a chair or over a desk.

[CarefullyLiberal]

10. Stun guns or misuse of personal information

I realize the point of the this thread is about the Florida Sheriff who misused his access to a database of drivers license information. I agree, it was a misuse and he should answer for his action.

However...

I disagree with Ms. Beary's assumption that if the police were in better shape they wouldn't need Tasers/Stun Guns.

To expect a police officer to take down a criminal who is high on god knows what with his or her bare hands is not reasonable. Also, not all police officers are the size of Hulk Hogan, some them are little guys and girls by the way. Taking away non-lethal weapons like the Tazer will be putting their lives in danger. They need more non-lethal weapons at their disposal, not less.

Personally, I don't want my police officers taking any risks. If they can't take a criminal down with a Tazer then they should use a gun. To me, a Tazer is a more reasonable defense weapon and should be used more, not less.

If you want to know what our law enforcement officers are up against, just watch COPS some Saturday evening.

Fergus

[Demit]

15. Well, the police sure are using them more, just like you want--

On five year old girls, and handcuffed people, and oh! my favorite! The suspect handcuffed to the hospital bed who refused to give a urine sample.

Some police are misusing tasers the way some police used to misuse nightsticks. They should be educated in the misapplication of deadly force.

[CarefullyLiberal]

17. There is always someone that is out of control

There is always going to be someone that will misuse their power and I agree with you, education is key.

I'm not familiar with with the examples you give other than the hospital bed guy. Do you have links to support your claim that a five year old girl was Tazered by an American law enforcement officer?

Fergus

[zipplewrath]

21. Tell me when it's more than "someone"

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-asectaserkids25032505mar25,0,3525324.story?coll=sfla-news-florida

And make sure to read down at the bottom of this one

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-ustase034202007apr03,0,5056739.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines

[CarefullyLiberal]

24. Hey, thanks for the links!

Thanks for those links, zipplewrath. I learned something, thanks.

One problem though, I don't see anywhere in your links where a five year old girl was Tazered or hit with a stun gun by a law enforcement officer.

Peace,

Fergus

[Demit]

33. By now others have pointed out the child was 6, not 5; my mistake.

I was thinking of this story:

ST. PETERSBURG - A 5-year-old girl was arrested, cuffed and put in back of a police cruiser after an outburst at school where she threw books and boxes, kicked a teacher in the shins, smashed a candy dish, hit an assistant principal in the stomach and drew on the walls.

The students were counting jelly beans as part of a math exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary School when the little girl began acting silly. That's when her teacher took away her jelly beans, outraging the child.

Minutes later, the 40-pound girl was in the back of a police cruiser, under arrest for battery. Her hands were bound with plastic ties, her ankles in handcuffs.

"I don't want to go to jail," she said moments after her arrest Monday....
 St. Petersburg Times, http://www.sptimes.com


But while googling to back up my "claims", I also found two more incidents not noted in the Newsday article:

LAX cops taser 78-year-old
A 78-year-old Lancaster man walked into the LAX police station last Saturday to retrieve his impounded car. But the registration had expired, so he couldn't get the car. He became angry and moved toward officers, who say they warned him before shooting the man with the Taser darts. He was taken to the hospital and apparently went home OK, but the airport won't give reporters his name so they can reach him...
Posted December 10, 2004
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/002845.html

and

68-Year-Old Woman Says Officer Shocked Her Twice In Chest
POSTED: June 16, 2004

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A police officer used his Taser gun on a 68-year-old grandmother in her home Tuesday night, KMBC's Donna Pitman reported.

Louise Jones said it happened after she pulled up to her house near 50th and Euclid and saw a police car. She honked, and an officer got out of the vehicle.

"He said he could give me a citation ticket for honking my horn. I said it was an accident. It's not like I laid on the horn; I honked, right in front of my house," Jones said. Jones said the officer went to a call at another home, then returned to her house to give her a ticket for honking. "He grabbed me and I jerked away from him, and he said, 'You assaulted me,'" Jones recalled.

Police said Jones wouldn't cooperate and hit the officer. That's when the officer pulled his Taser gun and shocked her, Pitman reported. Jones said the officer shocked her twice in the chest with the weapon. "I hollered and screamed because I thought it was a gun," she said. ...
TheKansasCityChannel.com.


Cops have a tough job, no doubt. I'm a big fan. But not of the ones who use the power that cops have in knee-jerk ways like this.

[CarefullyLiberal]

35. Don't worry, it was a small typo

Does the fact that the kid was 6 not 5 change the issue? It doesn't for me. Tazering a little kid seems like a lot of force to me.

After reading your post I called one of my policeman brothers, the one I like, and explained to him this thread or at least the thread within a thread I started and his response was pretty much what I've heard him say many times.

"Ferg, you weren't there."

He went on to say about the six year old girl, "We don't know how wild she was, we don't know who the investigating officer was, we don't know if she was on drugs or had AIDS." There is a lot we don't know about the three cases you cite and he thinks it's unfair to judge a situation on a couple of sentences or a newspaper article.

Regarding the old man that got Tazered, my wife's grandfather died when he was 104 and served in the Marine Corps in WWI and WWII. I have no doubt that he could have whipped my behind without too much effort. To assume that because the guy in LA is 78 and no threat is bad judgment and could get the arresting officer killed or hurt.

Law enforcement officers know that a situation can get out of control very very fast and they sometimes have to take measures which later on can be interpreted as over zealous but at the time seemed like the right thing to do.

BTW, I've enjoyed your other posts, DemItAllAnyway. They are always well thought out, interesting and always constructive. Thanks.

Peace,

Fergus

[Demit]

37. well, thank you kindly! And welcome to DU.

Where, while snarkiness is not unknown, neither is cordial discussion :)

[Sterling]

43. To assume that because the guy in LA is 78 and no threat is bad judgment

So is assuming the cops are in the right in each one of these clearly outrageous acts of stupidity on the part of the officers. It's fine you come from a family of cops but try not to live in a fantasy land because of it.

Most of us have had enough experience with cops to empathize with the victims of these acts.

[AnneD]

22. just google taser use on kids....

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherld/10161183.htm?1c
It was a 6 yr old actually.
I think that because it doesn't kill, it is presumed safe (it is not) and they have been using it inappropriatly. I have heard of cases of multiple taser stuns on a person in custody because the wouldn't cooperate...honestly, from what I know about the body, you cannot have frequent shock in a short period of time WITHOUT having adverse consequences. I think the product was rushed to the market without adequate testing.
Oh, and the portrait of the sheriff.....yes, definantly has power issues (and probably 'penal' issues too). I'd be going to the city council and mayor (or whom ever he has to answer to). I'd be a poster child for the opposition in the next election.

[CarefullyLiberal]

28. AnneD, it the story you were looking for?

Sorry, your link was dead so I tried to find it myself. I did find it but for some reason it won't work in the preview window as I write this.

6 year old gets tazered

Please, please don't attribute my support for law enforcement offices using Tazers or stun guns as support for the misuse and abuse of Tazers.

All the examples that I've seen in this thread appear to be terrible and I in no way condone misuse of power. But having two brothers, one cousin and a sister-in-law as cops I can tell you that they need all the help they can get out there and I for one am going to support them.

Peace,

Fergus

[zipplewrath]

29. The problem is it's a dumb job

I've known alot of cops, and they have the dumbest job in the world. They are part meter maid, part social worker, part assistant principal, part soldier of fortune. It's stupid. We set them up to get hurt and then are surprised when they over react. Domestic violence is one of the more dangerous situations they go into, and one for which they are LEAST trained. That's dumb. The traffic stop is 99% about tax collection, and it is one of the more deadly things they do. That's dumb.

And we pass dumb laws and expect them to enforce them. THAT'S dumb. We need to do our law enforcement a big favor and stop asking them to enforce dumb laws with no training in extremely dangerous situations for little money and alot of tax collecting. But somehow I don't think we'd get alot of support from the police unions if we tried.

[Sterling]

44. It is a dumb job and attracts a lot of dumb people.

NT If only they could all be Serpico.

[CAcyclist]

46. Tasers do kill

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/tasers/deaths.shtml

[Media_Lies_Daily]

50. That "someone" that's out of control is at the very top of what's rotten..

...about this country. Police think they have the freedom to do anything they want these days thanks to the Patriot Act and other legislation designed to be used against terrorists.

Children and the elderly should NEVER be the targets of a taser. Period.

People that are already restrained should never be the target of a taser. Period.

[Nostradammit]

19. None Lethal Weapons???!!!

Oh really? Read the newspapers much?

How about semi-lethal weapons? But only when they are chained to a gurney, I suppose.

Maybe you should throw caution to the wind and be less carefully liberal.

[TalkingDog]

31. Yep, we all know COPS is THE gold standard of uneditorialized reality TV.

Why, they don't even edit it for dramatic effect or anything.

Of the 30 minutes shown, the rest of the 8 hour shift is spent ummm....running after bad guys? Oh, no wait, ummmm.....breaking up domestic disturbances?...Oh...wait, wait....got it...at the donut shop and filling out paper work...that's right.

/sarcasm off

[CarefullyLiberal]

42. You didn't say "/sarcasm on"

TalkingDog,

Clearly I'm not as intelligent as you are, I don't understand your post. :>

Of course Cops is an extremely edited TV show, I don't dispute that. My point, which I should have made more obvious is that there are some crazy MF'ers out there and the police are the ones that have to deal with them day in and day out. Any tool or weapon they need I think they should have.

I'm not buying a dozen of your doughnut flamebait even if it is covered in chocolate.

Peace,

Fergus

[TalkingDog]

45. LOL! Well, too late to edit it in now....

Ummm...not being snippy with you in particular. I just really detest that show. The whole thing is so incredibly exploitive. Urg.

[CarefullyLiberal]

53. You're a good sport

TalkingDog, No question that Cops is a freak show.

I was just trying to point out that the police have to deal with some very unsavory sorts. People that can't be reasoned with or tricked or talked into surrendering sometimes have to dealt with violently. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is.

Take care,

Fergus

[DulceDecorum]

56. People who work in human services

such as those who take care of the mentally retarded or the mentally ill, are exposed to violence etc etc
BUT
they are NOT permitted to harm their clients.
As a matter of fact, in many states,
any direct care worker who lays hands on a mentally challenged person
FOR WHATEVER REASON
is written up and investigated for abuse.
Even if you were only trying to stop them from running into traffic.
Hence the lack of people willing to work in this field
-- EVEN people from Mexico, India and China.

The agencies assigning personnel to clients pays little if any attention to size or gender of either the client or the worker.
Therefore it is not uncommon to see instances where a 120 pound older woman is assigned to a 6 foot 220 pound teenager prone to psychotic breaks.

If an entire state can manage to keep its mentally challenged and behaviorally challenging population within the community at large WITHOUT the use of tasers, then why do big strong grown men who are permitted to use force, need to electrocute elderly people and children?

If any direct care worker did ANYTHING approaching what the cops are doing,
UNDER THE SAME EXACT CIRCUMSTANCES
they would find themselves behind bars.

[CarefullyLiberal]

57. I think you answered your own question.

Your statement that if a direct care worker were to use a Tazer on a patient the act would land the worker in jail is interesting.

In the first part of your post you mention that the mental health field cannot find workers to work. Perhaps it's because they aren't allowed to defend themselves?

Again, you answered your own question.

Regards,

Fergus

[Media_Lies_Daily]

49. And you're not going to get very far indiscriminatly supporting....

...police use of tasers which have now been cited as the cause of death in over one hundred cases nationwide.

Non-lethal? Yeah, right.

[CarefullyLiberal]

52. Too bad you didn't take some time...

If you had read my previous posts you would have learned that I am hardly "indiscriminatly supporting" the police.

Your post is nothing but fly-by commentary.

[Bake]

55. Maybe they should use them for routine traffic stops

Like the next time YOU'RE speeding.

Carefully liberal, my ass.

Bake

[colonel odis]

6. the story says he's 5'10" and 290 lbs. perhaps he should

put down the donuts.

[zipplewrath]

7. This is unfairly old but....

He's the guy in white on the left.


Here's his official painting.

[Kelvin Mace]

9. "Official painting"

Why does Buefert T. Justice have an "official painting"?

[FredScuttle]

38. nice touch w/ Patton in the background

Old Blood n' Guts would have slapped the taste out of that fat fuck's mouth for being such a fascist oinker.

[colonel odis]

13. i wouldn't think he'd be so ..... thin skinned. (ba-dump bump!)

[Cooley Hurd]

14. Tell me you photoshopped Patton's portrait behind him...

If this is what he asked for when commissioning his portrait, then it answers all questions about him...:puke:

[zipplewrath]

30. Look at the URL

It's a semi-offical URL of the artist. Unless HE photoshopped it, I must presume it was an accurate reflection of the guys office.

[yellowcanine]

18. It's not slander if a reasonable person would say it is true..... and from

where I sit - she is correct - he is too fat to do police work. Besides that, I really don't think a jury would think calling somebody "fat" constitutes slander. If she would have called him a fat, lying weasel, he might have a point.

[freedom_to_read]

59. furthermore

shouldn't it be "libel" and not "slander," since it's written and not spoken. And shouldn't he be going after the newspaper for publishing it, not the woman for writing it?

[BiggJawn]

51. His County should suspend him.

We had a town marshal around these parts who got into a wrestling match with a intoxicated teen, and keeled over with heart failure after he got the kid cuffed.
The charged the kid with murder, but the defense was able to argue that the Cop's shitty state of health was the main factor in his demise, not anyhting the kid did.

IOW, don't go around thinking you can rope, throw, and tie anyone you get into it with when you get out-of-breath reaching for the box of Krispy-Kremes.

I'm 6' 4" and 290. That guy must look like a beach ball.

[Kelvin Mace]

11. Also,

I find it interesting that someone who makes his living in law enforcement doesn't know the difference between "slander" (spoken defamation) and "libel" (written defamation).

[malachi]

12. Florida. Rapidily gaining on Texas as the state with most fucked up,

crazy morons in control of the local PD and gov't.

[benfranklin1776]

23. Not surprising as they both share a common lowest denominator

A Bush as governor when the decline accelerated precipitously.

[malachi]

25. Benny's 300th this year. Yearlong celebration in Philadelphia.

[benfranklin1776]

47. Yes the ale will flow and a good time will be had by all!

Even though stories like this show the danger to liberty from petty tyrants and tin horn despotic functionaries like this malevolent Barney Fife remains as omnipresent now as it was during his day.

[Judi Lynn]

48. Pardon, would you make that "MORANS," please?

[Cocoa]

16. those pig noises you made really hurt my feelings

looking like a pig as I do.

[Cooley Hurd]

20. HAHAHAHA!!!

This is Papa Bear. Put out an APB for a male suspect, driving a... car of some sort, heading in the direction of, uh, you know, that place that sells chili. Suspect is hatless. Repeat, hatless.

[steve2470]

26. This idiot used to be my sheriff

I hope the lady sues his butt off.

[MsMagnificent]

27. It's only a matter of time

before those who are now screeching the Reprobate talking points, spurred on by the likes of Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Scarborough etc., are personally effected by these terrible laws which are championed on the behalf of the White House.

The Dittoheads today loudly parrot these talking points, but they are statistically as liable to be on the (bad) receiving end of these laws and programs as any other citizen.

THEN there will be a whole WORLD of 'splaining' to do!

Forgive me for this not-very-nice thought, but I just cannot help it:
I can't wait!

[donheld]

32. Seems he should have used those resources to find

[Zhade]

36. That's fucking insane!

Ah, Police State Amerikkka. Gotta love it.

[struggle4progress]

39. "Gawronski's letter .. expressing concerns about Taser stun guns ...

... spokesman .. said using a database to respond to a resident's concern is .. within .. official duties ... Beary said he was a victim of slander.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/11325789.htm

[Bemis]

41. 2 weeks to write a letter????

In the article it states..."Beary wrote his original letter nearly two weeks after Gawronski's letter to the editor appeared in the Sentinel on March 10."

Did it take the entire Sheriff's Department 2 weeks to find her address in the data base or for him to write the letter?

Did she include in her letter that he was slow?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

54. Beary was also being investigated

for, get this, nepotism for routing drug education funds to family members who had their own little anti-drug puppet-show company.

the guy is like right out of the republican stereotype handbook.

[Naipes]

58. Why didn't he send his letter to the newspaper?

Why did he track this lady down? How scary is that? It's crazy. She should sue, but she won't because she's a "law and order" Republican. I wonder if the Sheriff is a Republican?

Also, (as everyone here probably already knows) the problem with her, "if you don't commit a crime you have nothing to worry about" statement, is that it presupposes only the guilty will be accused. I guess she might want to rethink her logic after this incident.