When D.A. Rosen gave his people extra perks after the county made cuts, all hell broke loose. The B.o.S. were outraged, the Sheriff was happily there to offer to assist in investigating the actions of the District Attorney. The “inappropriate” perks were made a big deal of, but DA Rosen felt that his people didn’t deserve the cut they received. Ultimately he was investigated by the Attorney General and found to be within the law and within his rights to act.
Jump over to the Sheriff’s Office. There has been some strife because a cherished perk the lieutenants were entitled to was removed — their “take home” cars and the gas that goes into them. These were, to my understanding, not only a “perk” but possibly a “perk” being provided under the veil of “necessary equipment” due to the lieutenants being on a perpetual “on call” status. This means that this “perk” was also tax free. If my information is correct, during the last negotiations, this perk was removed as a cost saving measure and now the lieutenants can earn actual overtime pay in lieu of their tax-free county ride. The Captains, not being covered by the DSA, have retained their take home cars and free gasoline.
I have wondered many times over the years just how many lieutenants and captains have actually left their warm bed to go to a call out in the middle of the night to necessitate those cars. But I digress…
Fast forward to the fact that it was recently noted by some that at least one special lieutenant has suddenly regained his take home car. It seems this happened right around the time this special lieutenant made a special appearance at the SBLC candidate debate night where he bashed the DSA and CPOA in favor of the sheriff. I guess he was really irate over losing his car in nego… oh… never mind.
Let’s improve that story of this “secret” and “inappropriate” perk this lieutenant has suddenly acquired. It appears he is in violation of the policy that take home cars should not be taken out of county and I have been unable to find any reason (like him actually being on call for something) to necessitate a waiver of that policy.
Like that? Let’s go one better — sources have told me this lieutenant recently drove his county ride into the rear end of the vehicle in front of him while texting, while out of county. How many violations of policy do we have now?
1. lieutenant with an “inappropriate” perk
2. lieutenant with a county ride out of county
3. lieutenant texting while driving – illegal and against policy
4. lieutenant who has been the cause of an accident.
People have been left in the hole for 6 mos. or more on administrative leave waiting to be fire for less than that.
Take the rumor to another level, and I admit, I only have a sole source for this information, and they were not present, nor were they part of or in any way involved in the incident, so I am taking it with a grain of salt as it has come through a longer grapevine that I am usually willing to trust…. the rumor is that another deputy and a trainee were sent out, with the trainee driving a fresh unmarked, following his superior officer out of county to — pick up the shameful lieutenant and give him a ride home so he could take his own car into the office in the morning and face the music for his actions? No, no, no…Silly Rabbit — to provide that man with a fresh county ride so the lieutenant could get himself home and back to work with as little inconvenience as possible.
Really, Rosen was giving his top people a perk after he felt they were treated unfairly by the county. People who were actually on call 24/7. People who actually busted their asses working, not just doing favors to make Rosen look good when the public was looking. The Sheriff appears to be using county tax dollars and violating all kinds of policy to reward those who step up in her favor and do her bidding and nothing more.
Where’s the investigation into her actions?
Have a great weekend everyone.
Casey Thomas' World 
Hey SubZero you opened your mouth and Laurie Smith’s voice came out. I can just hear her trying to spin the opposition against her as the cause of future problems in the department. Believe it or not, it is possible to have an election in a Sheriff’s department without recriminations and paybacks. It happens in other departments all the time and it used to be that way in this one. Once the election is done it can all be forgotten and the work of the department can go on. Those of you who are sharing your stories or standing up for what is right should not be terrorized or shamed into stopping especially by SubZero If I remember from the last election, SubZero was the mouthpiece for the Sheriff in the comments section of the Mercury articles. He is just a shill.
BTW when Sung and Rodriguez arrive at the scene to supervise, who is there to supervise them? Neither of them could investigate a panty raid in a sorority house.
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Dear Casey Thomas followers,
I would certainly hope that you realize not only the disrespect but the division this blog is causing our department to be accustomed to. Are you guys too incompetent to know and realize after Sheriff Laurie Smith wins the upcoming election we will all need to remain working together?
As far as “perks” is concerned. I personally know of numerous circumstances this year and last year where Capt Rodriguez and Capt Sung responded to calls to ensure the line level staff did investigations accurately. That is fact.
It is a shame to see men that I know he called out and accused of doing unethical things because of personal vendettas they have with deputies that don’t got their way or transferred to certain places. Lt Durr was involved in a accident and instead of people being concerned with his health they swarm this blog with useless speculation that doesn’t help any of us. I hope this comment doesn’t cause a wave of attempts to find out who wrote it. Our department has a hierarchy for a reason. Just like the military we have orders from above and need to follow those orders accordingly.
Thank you Mr. Thomas for posting this.
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Welcome back SubZero. I hope all is well. I agree this blog is causing a divide within our department but it is not the cause for the disrespect you mention. The divide is inevitable once the failed policies and unfair enforcement of our rules becomes known to the Deputies that bear the brunt of the Sheriff’s failed policies and the unfair distribution of punishment. The disrespect is actually the fault of the Sheriff. If you think about all the information that has been exposed on this blog it all has it’s origin from one place, the Sheriff. If there’s anyone or anyplace to point the finger it’s at her and her admin she’s surrounded herself with.
As for your other comment re: the accident I hope you got approval to throw the Lt under the bus. If it was him (I don’t know one way or the other and quite frankly don’t care) then yes, I hope he’s ok and no one was injured. As for what (if any) punishment or consequence the Lt involved in the accident will face that’s up to people higher up the “hierarchy”. Lets just hope these people are as accountable for their actions as the men and women of our military (using your analogy).
Nice touch btw re: the aforementioned Captains arriving on scene in order to keep the line level “shmucks” from screwing up the investigations. Not quite sure if this is “Fact” or fiction, but it put a smile on my face.
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The disrespect was rampant before I ever said a word anywhere. People have just reached their breaking point and are done with the ineffective whisper campaigns that were done in the hopes that the administration would grasp the level of unrest that has been growing for years now. I am not breeding anything, it’s simply your own actions coming back to roost. Yes, we do all need to work together *if* she wins. We also need to work together if she doesn’t. Are you implying that administrators will be unable to work with people who disagreed with them if she wins again? If you’re concerned about people being able to work together, why don’t we talk about the other “victim” (yes, I heard about a certain Captain who will remain unnamed by me at this time, who stood up and said that the deputies owed poor Captain Rodriquez an apology because he was the “victim” of the letter he wrote) who wrote a letter with childish insults directed at people who tested to promote? What kind of work environment do you think that kind of disrespect creates? Or was that really just a “personnel matter” that you thought would never see the light of day. Do you really think that kind of contempt doesn’t show through to the deputies when the administration deals with them? I assure you, it does.
As for Cptns. Sung and Rodriquez going to “ensure the line level staff did investigations accurately”; seriously? Is the level of distrust so deep that they have to have a CAPTAIN subvert the efforts of a lieutenant and a sergeant to ensure the bottom level gets the job done right? You mean “accurately” like when a Captain made the decision to delay an investigation into a young girl’s death because the school requested him too? Why are you hiring these deputies and promoting them if you have such little faith in them in regards to a simple “investigation”? I would assume that these captains would be there for major cases so deputies have some structure to work under so they don’t go to the same address 4 or 5 times in a national recognized investigation to ask the same questions so they look busy. If you know what I mean. Maybe we can discuss that practice at some point in the future.
I’m sorry you feel this has to do with “personal vendettas.” This isn’t personal. The fact of the matter is that there are hundreds of men and women who put on their uniforms every day and come to work for the DSA and CPOA and do an outstanding job. They have no personal vendettas, they simply want to be respected as people and treated fairly by those above them, not as a means to end and not as a source of entertainment through being demeaned. It’s not a lot to ask.
As for the accident in question, thank you for providing the name for everyone, I assumed that since the office sent him a replacement vehicle, that certainly the administration’s poor judgement didn’t extend to allowing anyone severely injured or suffering from a head injury to drive away from that accident in yet another county vehicle, therefore he must have been fine. Would I be giving the administration too much credit in that assumption? BTW, I didn’t hear you mention the condition of the person whom your lieutenant hit. Were they okay? Did you ask? Did someone at least give them a ride home?
The need to make yourselves the “victims” in all of this shows a disturbing lack of understanding about what is going on in the Sheriff’s office. The administration has absolutely no control once the fear factor is no longer working in their favor and they don’t know what to do, which is why you’re here talking to us. This is truly the time to turn things around, but given the insight you’ve offered up here, I won’t hold my breath. I don’t believe they know how to turn things around, and that would be under the assumption they know that it’s necessary, which it appears they don’t.
Lastly, to address your “just like the military” we have orders drama. You do realize that just like the military if one is given an unlawful order, one should stand up and refuse to follow it, regardless of the repercussions. But I guess when office ethics are shady, that’s a difficult call to make for anyone.
You’re concerned about a “wave of attempts” to find out who you are because of your comments. Ironic, since it’s my understanding one of the Sheriff’s pets has been assigned to find out who I am. I guess when that is the way one behaves, that is what they expect in return. I don’t care who you are. I only care about the situation in the office and that I do as much as I can to help bring about a better, more affective, more efficient work place where people are allowed to do their jobs to protect the community.
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Is this the same Lt. who use to stand in front of the Pink Poodle (Not so long ago) while working “DEEP” under cover…I don’t think they taught that “Trade Craft” in Quantico…Man, he was good…NOT !!!
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WTF??? So now we have another administrator who’s caught violating all sorts of rules and nothing happens? Didn’t a Deputy get something like 3 weeks off for driving his patrol car North of the county line in order to check on his girlfriend who was involved in an accident? If I remember he was pulled through the IA wringer and told what a bad person he was and poor decisions he made and then got sent to the desk after he was punished by IA. I believe the same Lt. who initiated the punishment for that Deputy was the same one featured in that You Tube video. Isn’t that sorta hypocritical? Now here’s another example of the select few getting special treatment. Of course nothing will happen cuz this Lt. who was involved in the crash is one of the Sheriff’s select few. If she doesn’t think that Alden Smith is a suspect then she definitely won’t see this as a violation either.
On a separate note. If the FTO/trainee aspect is true that FTO should have their pin pulled immediately! What sort of example is that FTO setting? It sounds like the FTO is on track to getting promoted soon to an administrators position with those kinds of ethics.
As for the trainee, I’m sorry you had to witness such poor decision making by your FTO and disgusted you had to see the double standard that is our department. Welcome to Laurie Smith’s Sheriffs Office!! I wonder if the administration even thinks about the sticky situation they’ve put you and our department in. They’ve given you a golden pass with this little issue. I mean how could they fire you and say you don’t have what it takes to be a Deputy when they have shown such stupid decision making on their own and forced you to be a part of it. Hopefully you know the difference between right and wrong. I have heard rumors about who the FTO is and if true can figure out who the trainee is, but I wouldn’t want to put your name out there. You were just following your superior officers orders.
As for the special Lt’s identity it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. Contact either Lance Scemeca or a member of the DSA that was at that SBLC meeting and I’m sure they could tell you. I have my suspicions, but don’t want to drop names till I confirm it.
I almost forgot to address the whole perk issue. What a joke that they get a take home car. The above blog is right when he says that no Lt or Captain has responded out in the middle of the night. This is just another example of how they think they are better than us.
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Hey CT why don’t we put names behind the LT who crashed their car out of county???
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I thought it was policy for a traffic deputy or a deputy with traffic experience to come out to the scene and write a parallel report for county council in case of a lawsuit when a county vehicle is involved in a traffic accident.
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Is this a real question or a joke? I can’t tell. It’s been close to 15 years since I wrote an accident report but i’m pretty sure there are no training traffic units and none that would respond with another county car driven by a trainee. Even if this was what happened, where’s the traffic report? Wouldn’t someone from the west side know about this? Anyone out there know if this was the case?
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Don’thaveacowman, never mentioned a word about a traffic training unit, “traffic deputy or a deputy with traffic experience”, but a competent FTO should be able to write a traffic accident report even if it has been15 years.
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It’s my understanding that is correct. However, it’s also my understanding that no parallel report was taken, they were just playing “Hertz” and delivering a new rental car.
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