VOLUSIA EXPOSED

According recent documents (see attached files) secured from both the State Attorney's Office and the Port Orange Police Department (POPD) - two ranking Port Orange police officers have departed POPD employment under the spectre of police corruption. ----->

Lt. Joseph Swetz

As covered within two separate internal affairs investigations, and Lt. Joseph Swetz's termination letter - Port Orange PD sustained several acts of police misconduct against him, to include, but not limited to, the improper use of a law enforcement database, and interfering with an official investigation (see attached files).

Sgt. Steven Braddock

Per an email to this publication from Port Orange Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi - POPD has an active internal affairs investigation against former POPD Sgt. Steven Braddock. Further, according to a "Brady notification" from the State Attorney's Office - Braddock is under criminal investigation connected to an allegation of forgery, that is not connected to his law enforcement duties (see attached files).

Last month (December 2018) Braddock retired from the POPD. Upon the POPD filing Braddock's separation notification (see attached CJSTC 61 form) with the Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission (CJSTC / FDLE) - POPD noted that Braddock retired while under investigation for a suspected moral character violation.

Sustained moral character violations against law enforcement officers COULD lead to disciplinary action being taken by the CJSTC - including revocation of the subject officer's law enforcement certification.

Eliminating Gypsy Cops

This mandatory requirement that law enforcement agencies investigate AND report sustained to the CJSTC regardless if they resign or retire during the investigative process, insures that rogue police officers can not bounce from agency to agency avoiding being held accountable for their misconduct and preying on an uninformed public.

Some police agencies fail in their responsibility to investigate and report suspected moral character violations to the CJSTC, should the subject officer resign or retire during the investigative process. In many of these cases, the subject officer will simply resign from one department and secure employment with another unsuspecting department - creating what is commonly referred to as a "gypsy cop". (Click here - read page 3-4 of a May 2010 CJSTC Professional Compliance Bulletin)

In our OPINION, the attached investigative reports present a good case study in how law enforcement officers can, and will abuse their authority, in order to forward their own personal agendas. Further, these internal reports - along with supportive documents (CJSTC 61, etc) are also - in OUR OPINION, an example of one law enforcement agency properly addressing some serious allegations of police misconduct.

During our review of this matter - we can report that POPD officials were very transparent, and open in addressing all of our questions and concerns. It is our further opinion, that POPD strives and meets their responsibilities to identify, investigate and report suspected and sustained acts of misconduct by their law enforcement officers. We hope, they keep it up and remain an example for other departments to follow.

Cross Case Contamination

One of the biggest ramifications of police corruption is cross case contamination. Once the subject officer's corruption has been identified - it brings into question the subject officer's ethics regarding all the cases he or she has attachments to. Thus the necessity of the . This cross case contamination factor usually opens a legal Pandora's Box, that once open, is difficult to close.

If you want to know more about the particulars of Sgt. Braddock's and Lt. Swetz's alleged misconduct - please see all six of the attached supportive files that have been incorporated within this article.

Additions To Our Brady Cops List

Because of the sustained findings in the Swetz investigations, and the - this publication has added both officers to our list of .

And there you have it.....

We look forward to your comments on this situation.
Drop us a line to let us know what you think.

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