VOLUSIA EXPOSED

These emails went un-answered - which really surprised us - since we were invited by these officials to pose any questions / concerns we had.

Okay - so we decided to resend our emails - this time we opted to carbon copy these emails to the CJSTC Commissioners. We highly suspect that CJSTC STAFF are keeping the commissioners in the dark - treating them like mushrooms - keeping them in the dark and feeding them shit!.

Our initial un-answered emails were sent to CJSTC staff members. These staff members are employees of FDLE and should not be confused with CJSTC Commissioners. CJSTC Commissioners are law enforcement professionals that are appointed by the Florida Governor to review officer misconduct cases that are submitted to them by CJSTC staff. Bascially, think of the CJSTC staff as the prosecuting attorney, and the CJSTC commission as the judges.

Our questions / concerns centered around two alleged incidents of officer misconduct coming out of the Holly Hill police department.

Officers Gary Ward and Stephan Matthews were both arrested on domestic violence charges during separate 2013 incidents.

Both officers were terminated from their employment with HHPD - however, .

Domestic Violence Is A CJSTC Moral Character Violation.

defines what moral character violations are regarding law enforcement and correctional officers.

Domestic Violence qualifies as a moral character violation. ()

Florida Administrative Code 11B-27 (FAC 11B-27) AND mandates that an employing law enforcement agency MUST conduct an internal investigation, should they suspect a moral character violation. Further, should the investigation sustain a moral character violation, it MUST be reported to CJSTC. It's important to note that mere employing agency policy violations are not reportable to CJSTC. ONLY moral character violations MUST be reported. This will be further explained within this article.

VolusiaExposed.Com recently posted . Documents within this article clearly support that both Holly Hill PD and CJSTC / FDLE staff admit that no internal investigation was conducted in response to Ofc. Ward's arrest for domestic violence. Why not?

Per FAC 11B-27 - CJSTC has no authority to take action against a subject officer WITHOUT a sustained investigation by the employing agency. CJSTC has NO authority to conduct their own investigation. This can be verified within CJSTC - , regarding the .

FDLE Response To VolusiaExposed's Request For Evidence That Moral Character Violations Against Probationary Officers Need Not Be Investigated

Absent a sustained investigative finding, we here at VolusiaExposed.Com will presume Ofc. Ward to be innocent of the alleged misconduct. However, we suspect, that since the CJSTC sent Ward a , that most, if not all, law enforcement agencies will assume that a HHPD internal investigation sustained a moral character violation against him. In our opinion, this was unfair to Ofc. Ward, as he was denied his right to due process.

According to CJSTC / FDLE records, HHPD also did NOT . In our opinion, HHPD's failure to conduct these internal investigations were violations of .

It is interesting that CJSTC opted NOT to take action against Ofc. Matthews' law enforcement certification - . Was this due to HHPD's failure to conduct the mandated internal investigation?

CJSTC staff apparently attempts to justify why no agency investigations were conducted regarding Officer Ward or Officer Matthews alleged misconduct. . However, both officers were fully CJSTC certified law enforcement officers - their probationary employment status should have never negated the statutory mandate to conduct the internal agency investigations.

However, in fairness to CJSTC staff, , requesting them to clarify their position.

On July 11, 2014 - VolusiaExposed received the following . (See Above Scroll Box)

We (VolusiaExposed) have reviewed the mandates of in detail - and we CAN NOT find an investigative waiver for probationary police officers suspected of a moral character violation - as is indicated in - can you?

VolusiaExposed highly suspects that many Florida law enforcement agencies are failing to report moral character violations, and FDLE / CJSTC is refusing to exercise their authority to ensure compliance with these mandatory reporting mandates.

Government Coercion.
The FDLE / CJSTC Doesn't Like Questions.

The end result of our emails to both CJSTC staff and the CJSTC commissioners produced only the July 11th response to our questions and concerns.

However, interestingly, we (VolusiaExposed.Com) did receive a , the Florida Statewide prosecutor. (See below attached scroll box)

It appears that Mr. Cox is accusing us (VolusiaExposed) of attempting to "coerce" FDLE staff. Isn't coercion of a government official a crime? Is merely asking questions of your government officials, now seen as an act of coercion?

In reality, VolusiaExposed questions whether we are the victims of government coercion?

Ironically, it would appear that we (VolusiaExposed) have more faith in the CJSTC Commissoners then does Mr. Cox.

We believe that our CJSTC Commissioners can and will comply with the - while reviewing our concerns. Apparently, Mr. Cox does not have the same level of faith in his clients' abilities.

Then again, it would also appear that we (VolusiaExposed) have more faith in our country's form of government, then does Mr. Cox. --------->

School House Rock - 1970's

We (VolusiaExposed) believe we have the right to contact our government officials seeking redress - apparently Mr. Cox does not share that belief. Apparently, Mr. Cox is more comfortable with the mushroom scenario for the commissioners, his clients!

However, we find it interesting that CJSTC support staff lists all of the CJSTC Commissioners' email addresses and contact information on their public access website. (see bottom of article)

Moral Character Violations Being Classified As Mere Agency Policy Violation,
In Order To Circumvent The CJSTC Process.

With sadness, we (VolusiaExposed) must report our opinion that many, if not most law enforcement agencies in Florida, engage in a practice of "hiding" moral character violations from the public review.

These law enforcement agencies accomplish this fraud with the assistance of FDLE / CJSTC. In our opinion, FDLE / CJSTC are these law enforcement agencies' co-conspirators in violating the mandates of Florida law and the U.S. Constitution (due process).

The CJSTC ONLY requires that the employing law enforcement agency report to them (CJSTC), sustained moral character violations (as defined in FAC 11b-27.0011).

In order to circumvent the moral character reporting requirement, law enforcement agencies will merely relegate the officer misconduct as a violation of the employing agency's policies. Agency policy violations are not required to be reported to the CJSTC.

A Prime Example Of The CJSTC Process Being Circumvented.
The Deputy Greg Nunziato Incident.

In 2012, a Flagler Circuit Court judge ruled that some evidence in a criminal drug case was inadmissible due to Deputy Nunziato altering a judicial search warrant.

The judge's ruling was a significant blow to the state. About a month later, state prosecutors dropped the case against the defendant.

VolusiaExposed posted .

While we, VolusiaExposed, join the criminal defendant's attorney in questioning why Deputy Nunziato was not criminal charged for altering the search warrant, we also question why the Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) did not sustain a moral character violation against Nunziato.

According to - the FCSO did not conduct the mandated internal investigation, and only sustained a violation of FCSO policy against Nunziato. CJSTC took no action against Deputy Nunziato - not even issuing a , like they (CJSTC) did regarding HHPD Officer Gary Ward. (HHPD also did not conduct an internal investigation regarding Ofc. Ward's alleged moral character violation - however, even absent this mandated investigation, the CJSTC took action against Ofc. Ward)

While Deputy Nunziato received little to no repercussions from the court, state attorney, CJSTC, and the FCSO regarding his alteration of a search warrant - VolusiaExposed has added him to . (Nunziato admitted to altering the search warrant)

WFTV Exposes Problematic Officers Within The Sanford Airport Police Department
Is CJSTC's Failure Of Ensuring That Moral Character Violations Be Investigated And Reported - Placing Public Safety At Risk?
9 Investigates:
Are troubled ex-cops guarding the Sanford airport?
Click Below Image To Review WFTV Video Report