March 2003

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Table of Contents

• Sheriff's Report

• General Information

• Operations

• Commendations/Awards

• Support Services

• What’s Happening

• Internet Funnies

Sheriff receives "Difference Maker" award in Tallahassee

Sheriff’s Report

This month I want to give you some information about Smallpox, and the Smallpox vaccination which will soon be offered to law enforcement and related personnel in Monroe County under Phase II of the Government's vaccination program.

President Bush has initiated the national preparedness program to protect Americans against smallpox as a biological weapon. In order to prepare first responders for the possibility of exposure to smallpox, the vaccination is being offered in Monroe County to law enforcement officers, corrections officers and office staff who choose to participate. We should all consider this offer carefully, educating ourselves about all the possibilities before deciding to get the vaccination. There are a few things you should know up front:

• The vaccination is voluntary. You do not have to get it if you don't want to.
• If you've had the vaccination within the last ten years, you should still be protected.
• If you had the vaccination more than ten years ago, and did not have an adverse reaction to it then, you won't have an adverse reaction the second time.
• According to the Monroe County Office of Employee Benefits, because the vaccination is voluntary, adverse reactions to it will not be covered under the workman's compensation program for Monroe County employees. **Please note that the State of Florida, in an opinion from the Division of Worker's Compensation, Office of Legal Services, says that case law indicates such adverse reactions WOULD be compensable under Workman's Compensation for State Employees.
• In Monroe County, adverse reactions would be covered under your normal health insurance and by normal sick time.
• The vaccination is available to employees, but not to their family members.

I'm not making a recommendation one way or the other, but I will tell you that I will be getting the vaccination. Once we begin offering the vaccinations, which should be soon, you will most likely have 60 to 90 days to make the decision before losing the option of being vaccinated until the vaccine becomes available to the general public, some time in the future.

Click on the link below to find information which should help you decide whether to get vaccinated or not. All of the information  is taken directly from the Center's for Disease Control's Web site. At the end of the article are phone numbers you can call with specific questions you might have that are not addressed in the information provided.

For more information, and for a list of Adobe Acrobat documents addressing various aspects of the disease itself, and the vaccination, click here. If you are reading a paper copy of the Rap Sheet, contact Deputy Becky Herrin for printed copies of this information.

Smallpox Vaccination Update, March 27th 2003:

On March 27th, Sheriff Roth received the following information via email. :

General Information

Staff develops procedures for threat level elevation

The Colonel's staff has drafted a general list of procedures for the various divisions of the Sheriff's Office if the current national threat level should ever move from High (orange) to Severe (red). Click here to review the procedures in PDF format.

It is time to start getting your applications in to Jacksonville for the 2003 Florida Law Enforcement Games. This year the games are being held in Martin, Saint Lucie and Indian River Counties. Information booklets and applications have already been mailed out to previous participants in the games. You can get information and applications on line at www.lawgames.org.

This year the Sheriff has decided to continue his substantial support of the games but has changed some of the rules for participation. I will be sending out a full e-mail this week covering these rules in more detail. Here are the basic rules for this year's games:

Relay for Life Challenge!

The Sheriff's Relay for Life Team is raising money for the local community to aid individuals and their families facing issues of Cancer.

There is a $10 challenge on the table. The MCSO  Relay Team is requesting that employees donate $10 to the team during a one-time payroll deduction that will occur the last pay date in April (the 25th). The Sheriff was the first to sign up for this challenge. An anonymous donor will match the money contributed by employees up to a maximum of $500.00.

Please send an email to Amy Heavilin, aheavilin@keysso.net, as authorization for your tax-deductible contribution, and thanks for supporting the Sheriff's Relay for Life Team.

Special Olympics Torch Run

Bureau of Operations

Well, I am writing to you as we are just being notified that we are to raise our security level to orange. This means many more security checks and a higher sense of awareness during all facets of our duty. Lets all pull together and watch out for each other. During this time of war or at least impending war, we need each other for love and support

First I would like to wish a farewell to Doug Penley. Doug asked for a transfer closer to home in Sector 1 and we hope this move works out well for him and Maureen. She has also transferred her Reserve billet south. We will miss them both.

Congratulations to our very newest Sergeant Jake Brady. What can I say about Jake that everyone doesn’t already know-IT’S ABOUT TIME-WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Jake will have his hands full but I am sure he will instill the energy and teamwork necessary for a squad in Marathon to support the Sheriff’s Office community policing concept here. It is not an easy task to partner with the community while at the same time never forgetting we still have to continue our efforts to catch bad guys and put them in jail. And we certainly have been doing just that here. The men and women in Marathon and Sector 5 are always focused on doing their jobs in an exemplary manner and I am proud to say I work with the best.

This Friday, at the Officer of the Year ceremony, five Marathon Deputies received awards for their duty above and beyond the call. Sergeant Sam Cassel, Deputies Greg Korzen, Joel Slough and Sonya Morgan received the Distinguished Service Medal for their actions evacuating over one hundred residents at the Holiday Inn in Marathon during a fire. These officers acted as a team and with a well formulated plan. Their actions were commensurate with the values and objectives of the Sheriff’s Office.

Sergeant Jake Brady and Deputies Joel Slough and Sonya Morgan found themselves at an apartment fire about a week later and they entered the building at the risk of their own lives to extricate an unconscious woman who lie helplessly on the floor. They were awarded the Sheriff’s Medal at the same Officer of the Year ceremony. By the way, the Sheriff said that Joel’s name is Joel Slow-our mistake Sheriff-we must be spelling it wrong.

All you Sergeants out there missed your chance. If you would have been checking the positions openings in Outlook last Monday you would have seen a posting for an opening for Deputy Sheriff Lieutenant Sector 1, Cudjoe. I was so intrigued by it I called Lieutenant George Simpson to ask him why he was leaving. It seems that he called HR and told them to post his opening (meaning his current opening for a deputy in Cudjoe and when he told them to “post my opening”-THEY DID!

Sergeants Sam Cassel and Susan Greenwood are in Southern Police Institute, SPI "Command Officers Development Course" at the time of this writing and we wish them the very best in their ten weeks of study. It is well worth the effort and you will gain so much insight during your stay there.

We have been very busy with increased awareness from a physical security aspect. Watch orders and very vigilant pro-active patrol has been the watchword and we are seeing to that responsibility without losing focus on our community projects or our pro-active law enforcement duties.

I offered TRAP overtime to Deputies focusing on traffic enforcement during the 9 days of “Bike Week”. The officers who worked those days were very pro-active and made a strong impression on the motoring public. Crashes were almost non-existent during that period and I want to thank the deputies who helped us maintain that level of safety.

In the short month of February we arrested 3 DUI’s, wrote 490 tickets and 296 warnings, made 15 felony arrests, 64 misdemeanor arrests and served 20 warrants. All of this in addition to 1118 building checks, 305 night eye contacts, as well as all of our zone improvements, directed patrols and elevated security watch orders.

Well I guess that does it for now. Be safe and work hard.

AND REMEMBER…………..Training, dedication, and hard work pay off in the future. Laziness and complacency pays off...NOW.

Sector One Report

By Sgt. J.B. Flatter

Members of the Sheriff's Office in Sector One participated in a clean up March 15th on Stock Island. Specifically, Deputies Matt Dowling and Natalie Mashburn, along with Crime Watch Coordinator Deputy Emil LaVache were present and helped with the event.

On the left, garbage trucks line up to take away the tons of debris collected during the clean up. on the right, Emil - we didn't know operating heavy equipment was one of your many talents!

Special Operations Report

MCSO SWAT and KWPD SRT train together in firearms

The Sheriff's Office SWAT team and the KWPD SRT team traveled to Miami to a firing range for their regular firearms training in March. It was a long trip, but a necessary one because local firing ranges will not allow the types of training required by the specialized teams.

Awards and Commendations

Congratulations Employees of the Year!

Sheriff Rick Roth with the Sheriff's Office Employees
of the Year for 2002. Left to right, Reserve Deputy John Housman,
Deputy (now Inspector with Internal Affairs) Geni Hernandez,
Corrections Deputy Mark Haynes, Cadet Lt. Yessenia Crespo, Risk Manager/Executive Assistant Tamara Snider and Sheriff Roth.

For information about the award winners, click here.

Letters of Thanks and Commendations

• Major Jack Heidman wrote to Sheriff Roth, thanking him for the Monroe County Jail Facilities Tour he and his group was given March 14th, 2003. He said, in part, "The facility was immaculate in cleanliness, neatness and obviously professionally run....we all were impressed with your staff supervisor, Lt. Tammy Clark. her professionalism, knowledge and attitude are to be commended."
• Upper Keys resident David Barrow wrote to Sheriff Roth to commend Deputy Kirk Salvatori for his professional conduct while writing Barrow a speeding ticket in the upper Keys. He says, in part, "I want to commend the young Deputy who stopped me and reminded me of the dangers in speeding...Deputy Kirk (Salvatori) was totally professional in his conduct, very polite and efficient....My first moving violation in almost 60 years of driving. Keep up the good work!"
• Hugo J. Barrera, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Division, Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, wrote to Sheriff Rick Roth commending members of the Sheriff's Office for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of Gene Hodler. Hodler was convicted of placing a pipe bomb under the car of his ex-girlfriend, causing a major explosion and severe injuries to her legs and left hand. The members mentioned in the letter are: Det. Sgt. Mike Langston, Det. Sgt. Bobby Randolph, Homicide Det. Jon Ellsworth, Detectives Rick Martin, Kevin Mimosa, Ron Sylvester, Lionel Vargas, Deputy Harold Boyden and Administrative Assistant Deborah Simpson. The letter says, in part, "(the members) demonstrated a high degree of professionalism and were extremely cooperative during this investigation, providing extensive work throughout this yearlong case. Were it not for their cooperative efforts, it is doubtful this violent criminal would have been brought to justice."
• Glen Passage, from the Royal Palm R.V. Park on Big Pine Key wrote to Sheriff Roth thanking him for a tour he and his group took of the Monroe County Detention Center in February. He says, in part, "All three officers that acted as our guides, (Captain) Rick Remley, Sgt. Todd Silvers and Deputy Emil LaVache were very knowledgeable, informative and courteous. All that attended were very impressed with how well your facility is run and maintained."
• R. Gil Kerlikowske, Chief of Police for the City of Seattle, wrote to Sheriff Rick Roth to thank the Monroe County Sheriff's Office for assistance in investigating a murder from that jurisdiction. He says, "Please pass on our sincere appreciation to Deputy Willy Guerra, Detective James Norman and Sergeant Patricia Dally. Without their knowledge and initiative in locating the suspect this case (the murder of Mia Zapata in 1993) would not have had the successful conclusion it did."
• A woman who lives in Tallahassee wrote to Sheriff Roth to commend Crime Scene Investigator Gary McCullough for his work on a case involving suicide. She said, in part, "The person who committed suicide was the father of my son...as you can imagine this was a difficult thing to go through and I was concerned about the well being of my son. Officer McCullough was very sympathetic and accommodating to our needs. One example of this was that he took time with my brother, a resident of Key West, to assist in the cleanup of the crime scene....Words cannot express the gratitude that I feel knowing that such an exemplary officer is on your police force."

Support Services

Cash for Recruitment

HIPPA protects your medical information

By Human Resources Director Donna Moore

Welcome to the following new employees!

Goodbye and Good luck to the following retirees!

Click here for a list of birthdays for January - March 2003

What’s Happening

 A letter from Dale Hunter:

Internet Funnies

Police Department Answering Machine:

Hello, you have reached the ____________ Police Department Voice Mail. Pay close attention as we have to update the choices often as new and unusual circumstances arrive. Please select one of the following options:

• To whine about us not doing anything to solve a problem you created for yourself, press 1.
• To postulate whether someone has to die before we'll do something about a problem, press 2.
• To report an officer for bad manners when in reality the officer is trying to keep your neighborhood safe, press 3.
• If you would like us to raise your children, press 4.
• If you would like us to take control of your life due to your alcoholic or chemical dependency, press 5.
• If you would like us to instantly restore order to a situation that took years to deteriorate, press 6.
• To provide a list of police officers you personally know so we will not take enforcement action against you, press 7.
• To sue us, tell us you'll have our badge and pay our salary, or proclaim our career is over, press 8.
• To hear this menu again, wrap aluminum foil around your head and turn around three times.