Pubdate: Tue, 13 Mar 2012
Source: Tampa Bay Times (FL)
Copyright: 2012 Tampa Bay Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419

SHERIFF MUST ROOT OUT RULE BREAKERS

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has sent 15 cases to internal 
affairs in recent weeks from the narcotics unit. That suggests 
Gualtieri will hold responsible parties accountable when they are 
accused of breaking department rules and violating constitutional 
rights. But the breadth of apparent misconduct suggests there is more 
to find, and it is troubling that Gualtieri didn't uncover the 
wrongdoing. Defense lawyers and the media revealed it. The sheriff 
should launch a thorough review to determine if the culture of 
cutting legal corners that pervaded the narcotics unit is more widespread.

The allegations before internal affairs, including destroying 
evidence and illegal trespass, stem largely from an operation that 
searched for marijuana grow houses. Detectives posted a camera 
outside a hydroponics store in Largo and investigated the store's 
customers, many of whom were merely growing organic plants and 
vegetables. Gualtieri said he ordered the camera taken down. But some 
illicit grow houses had been found, and as the criminal cases against 
the alleged growers are prosecuted defense attorneys are uncovering a 
pattern of unethical if not illegal acts surrounding the operation - 
all of which seem to be news to Gualtieri.

For instance, three Pinellas narcotics deputies bypassed the 
requirement for a subpoena to access electric company billing 
records. Instead they relied on the willing assistance of a Progress 
Energy employee. Growing marijuana indoors hydroponically typically 
uses an inordinate amount of electricity. Detectives looked for 
anomalous bills for hydroponic store customers, then obtained a 
subpoena from the State Attorney's Office after the fact as a way to 
cover their tracks.

Additional allegations include detectives illegally trespassing on 
suspects' property to peek inside houses. Detectives may have lied to 
get search warrants by claiming they could smell marijuana growing 
outside a home's perimeter or 15 or 20 feet away - something that 
experts say is unlikely. One detective even dressed as a Progress 
Energy worker to trick a suspect into opening the front door so he 
could see or smell if marijuana was being grown inside. Nothing was found.

When Gualtieri learned of these activities he reassigned and demoted 
some detectives and a supervisor, made referrals to internal affairs 
and ordered mandatory legal training. Gualtieri is commendably 
denouncing the improper tactics. As a lawyer, he knows that criminal 
cases are now at risk. If detectives lied to obtain a search warrant, 
it would doom the prosecution by excluding any evidence found during 
the search.

Gualtieri, who was chief deputy before being appointed as sheriff 
four months ago when Jim Coats retired, should have been more aware 
of the culture of misconduct within the narcotics unit. How well he 
continues to respond to these abuses tests the sheriff's fitness for 
the job as he asks voters this year to elect him to a full term.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D