VOLUSIA EXPOSED

"Violence and racism are bad.
Whenever they occur they are to be condemned and we should not turn a blind eye to them." - Cate Blanchett

According to a recent and the attached internal Edgewater PD report - two Edgewater police officers resigned while being investigated for sending racial texts on their cellphones.

These racial texts are very disturbing - containing a perceivable interpretation that the officers were joking about their desires of the shooting and killing minority children.

We (VolusiaExposed.Com) find ourselves in agreement with Cynthia Slater, president of the Daytona Beach branch of the NAACP, when she said that the mayor and police chief reacted appropriately by “acting swiftly” and demanding the resignation of two “racist” police officers (see DBNJ article).

While we applaud the DBNJ coverage - in the spirit of - VolusiaExposed.Com wishes to "expose" the "rest of the story".

THE REST OF THE STORY
Defining Police Misconduct

In Florida, there are basically two forms of official police misconduct. The first is a simple agency policy violation - and the second, and more severe act of misconduct is a moral character violation (more explanation on this later within this article).

According to both and CJSTC 78 forms - they were ONLY found to be in violation of Edgewater PD policies.

The WTF Moment

According to a FDLE / CJSTC considers both officers' (Snyder & Wetherell) misconduct as mere agency policy violations - not rising to the level of any violations of Florida's law enforcement officers' moral character standards. Sadly, VolusiaExposed must agree with FDLE's conclusions - sending racial jokes - detailing the shooting and killing of minority children is apparently within Florida's moral character standards for police officers.

However, if these Edgewater officers would have been charged with DUI or stealing cable television - those acts of misconduct are defined moral character violations - which could have led to the revocation of their law enforcement certifications.

But with only sustained agency policy violations in the Edgewater matter - the has little - to maybe no authority - in taking any action against the officers' law enforcement certifications.

As per the only moral character (and not mere agency policy) violations are to be forwarded to the CJSTC / FDLE .

OR SCROLL DOWN TO READ THIS REPORT WITHIN THIS ARTICLE

Their Employment With Edgewater PD Is Over
But Do They Still Have Law Enforcement Careers In Front Of Them?

The CJSTC is to law enforcement as the Florida Bar is to attorneys. While a lawyer can be fired from a law firm for violating the firm's policies - if the offending attorney has not violated Bar standards - that attorney can be practicing law at another law firm that very same day. The same goes for the two former Edgewater officers - absent a suspension or revocation of their law enforcement certificates - these former EPD officers can be easily hired by other police departments.

Actually, rehiring questionable officers is kinda common practice within law enforcement. In fact some agencies even rehire those that they themselves have fired. Below are two quick examples.

Click Here
Volusia County's Brady Cop List

Click Here
Brevard County's Brady Cop List

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. ~ Oscar Wilde

MORAL CHARACTER STANDARDS - POST FERGUSON, BALTIMORE AND LOS ANGELES

Florida's Police Officer's Moral Character Standards are defined in both and in . These legal citations are notable within the officers' CJSTC 78 & 61 forms (see below).

The came into existence on March 3, 1845 - with the - the same year man landed on the moon. Given Florida's rather tumultuous history regarding race relations - someone, at sometime within FDLE must have asked the question - why isn't the usage of racial slurs - especially those carrying threats - by police officers not a defined moral character violation?

It's actually hard to believe that given the almost fifty (50) years existence of the FDLE AND post Ferguson, MO., Baltimore, MD., and Los Angeles, CA., that the agency (CJSTC / FDLE) entrusted to insure the credibility and professionalism of Florida's law enforcement officers does NOT have a moral character standard that addresses the type of misconduct committed by Officer Wetherell and Sgt. Snyder.

We (VolusiaExposed.Com) share the same hope that - the hope that FDLE / CJSTC will soon be addressing this type of misconduct as a moral character violation.

Hopefully, Edgewater city officials have not totally persuaded the NAACP into believing that neither officer will ever wear a badge again. The NAACP can - and should - be very influential in insuring that FDLE properly and FULLY addresses this situation.

THE FALLACY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Many, if not most citizens hold the belief that their law enforcement agencies properly self govern themselves - rooting out the officers that cross both legal and ethical lines. In most cases - nothing could be further from the truth. It's our OPINION that in many, if not the majority of law enforcement agencies, that the most corrupt officers in that agency can be located serving in the internal affairs division.

Expanding on our OPINION - we allege for the most part - agencies' IA divisions primarily focus on covering up misconduct and corruption - rather than investigating it. They (IA Divisions) are much more interested in discrediting the complainant's account - than they are at investigating the alleged misconduct of the subject officer(s). They (IA Divisions) are far more interested in intimidating fellow officers not to tattletell on the actual misconduct of fellow officers - least they (the tattle-tellers) have an IA investigation opened on them - placing their careers - and maybe even their freedom at risk.

And on the rare ocassions when incidents of misconduct can NOT be white washed from the public's view - the IA division does it's best to give the best "spin" possible - in order to shift the blame and liability from the subject officer and the subject agency. FLORIDA BREEDS CORRUPTION

To fully appreciate how government corruption works and thrives in Florida - one must first understand that the entire Florida criminal justice and court systems are absolutely infested with the pestilence of corruption. The systems can NOT correct each other - because both are so heavily infected.

In support of our argument - we suggest that you take the time to read some of our other articles (see below) regarding corruption within Florida's criminal justice and court systems. These articles - and the articles that they incorporate - should provide you with a better understanding of how corrupt the Florida Justice System has become.

TRUE CORRECTIVE ACTION CAN ONLY COME FOR THE OUTSIDE

Due to the high level of corruption in Florida's courts and law enforcement agencies - true correction must come from the outside and not internally. The media is one outside facillitator - and only together with such organizations as the NAACP - the ACLU - and the FBI - does the citizenry of Florida stand a chance of having an honorable justice system.

And there your have it - the rest of the story - well at least some if it .... Stand by to stand by - there is surely more to come of this..........