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Zimmerman/Martin case: Exclusive interview with former Sanford police chief and captain
Police One ^ | August 2, 2013 | Professor Karen L. Bune

Posted on 08/02/2013 3:22:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The death of Trayvon Martin was an avoidable tragedy, and some of the things that happened following the incident are also avoidable if we heed to the lessons learned by two of Sanford’s top cops.

Born and raised in Sanford (Fla.), former Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee was in his position 11 months when the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman occurred.

Leveraging his three decades of law enforcement experience, Chief Lee was at the helm of a department with budget woes. Two months before the Zimmerman/Martin incident occurred, Lee had hired another law enforcement veteran with 30 years of experience, Captain Robert O’Connor, to help navigate the agency through troubled financial waters.

With their 60 years of combined law enforcement experience, Lee and O’Connor were well versed in major case management and investigations, but few cases in recent memory had the same level of attention and emotion as the Zimmerman/Martin incident.

These two law enforcement officers were at the center of the storm, but until now have been largely silent on their lessons learned. Here, they candidly speak about the case.

Initial Actions

Following the incident, O’Connor was placed in charge of the Zimmerman investigation. Three canvasses of the neighborhood were done the night of the shooting. A video re-enactment was done, and George Zimmerman was cooperative.

The department held a meeting with the residents in the gated, townhome community that was home to a cross section of ethnicities including whites, blacks and Hispanics.

“We answered as many questions as we could for homeowners. We were honest with them,” O’Connor said.

After 48 hours of investigation, the local State’s Attorney was given a run-down of the findings. Lee and O’Connor were told by the State’s Attorney’s Office that there was no criminal case, and there was no way to prosecute. It appeared to be a clear case of self-defense.

Lee and O’Connor, however, continued the investigation.

“Our focus was the truth about what happened. There wasn’t anything to refute or invalidate Zimmerman’s claim to self-defense. Race didn’t have anything to do with the investigation,” Lee said.

O’Connor added, “In my mind, it was never racial. It was a misunderstanding that went horribly wrong.”

Public Information

Following the incident, there was already plenty of publicity about the case in the local news media.

When the dissemination of sensational information began in national media outlets, the department’s Public Information Officer (PIO) was on leave for a family medical situation.

City Hall didn’t have its own PIO and utilized the police department’s PIO when needed. Consequently, a PIO was appointed to handle the media issues but was not prepared for the major challenges that arose in the case.

“We didn’t have something in place to combat that. This wasn’t anything one person could handle,” Lee said. “It just got worse every day.”

By this point, it had become a national story, with both information and misinformation about how the encounter occurred and how Trayvon died.

“The biggest travesty by the media was showing Trayvon when he was 12-13 years old,” O’Connor said. “He was a six foot, 160-pound, 17-year-old young man. Those images of young Trayvon Martin did more to incite this case than anything they would have done, and they did it masterfully.”

Politicians — both near and far — entered into the situation. The police department was widely criticized for not arresting Zimmerman. The most frequently asked question by City Manager Norton N. Bonaparte Jr. was, “Can we arrest him now?”

“We had investigative team meetings going on regularly that included the State’s Attorney’s Office,” Lee said.

The police department felt it was inappropriate to release the 911 tape. Lee explained the entire process at several different meetings, but the mayor overrode Lee and ordered the release of the tape.

“I was personally appalled when the decision was made by City Hall to give out the 911 call. This thing grew legs so quickly,” O’Connor said.

For a two-week period, the police department had no information from Trayvon Martin’s phone. The battery had died and the phone was locked. They were thwarted in gaining access to the locked cell phone in a timely manner because Trayvon Martin’s family became uncooperative once attorney Benjamin Crump and his team got involved. As a result, police had to work with T-Mobile to obtain a subpoena with which they could retrieve the cell phone information.

“I had no confidence that it would ever be prosecuted as a manslaughter case without additional information. I wasn’t comfortable with not having that information, but the pressure on the police department to arrest and charge George Zimmerman was incredible,” O’Connor said.

A very weak probable cause case for manslaughter was sent to the State’s Attorney’s Office, and Chief Bill Lee continued to receive strong political pressure.

After meeting with the prosecutor again, it was recommended that Zimmerman not be arrested because there was no probable cause to do so under Florida statute.

“We agreed with him,” O’Connor said.

After 15 days the investigation was pulled from the Sanford Police Department. The Governor of Florida assigned the case to Angela Corey, the State’s Attorney in the 4th Judicial District in Jacksonville, Florida.

Chief Lee was relieved of his duties and was informed the community no longer had trust in him.

“The whole thing has been pretty ugly. I’m at peace with it on most days. I was happy I could walk away with my integrity,” Lee said.

Lessons Learned

For police departments elsewhere, there are lessons to be learned. The public information process is vitally important. It is imperative to have a well-trained, educated PIO in place and one that is immediately prepared to deal with the worst and have a plan for the unexpected.

It is also necessary to have an equally-qualified backup PIO at all times.

“Any racially-charged or potentially racially-charged case has a hundred land mines in it,” O’Connor said.

“If your community has a history of racially-charged issues, begin dialogue with your community now,” he said. “Have a lasting, trusting relationship with your minority community. Establish a community liaison with the minority community and deal with them openly and honestly as well as prepare the department and community for an event of this nature and hope it doesn’t happen.”

But the most important lesson O’Connor took from the saga is a simple one. “Interpersonal communication is the biggest lesson I came away with. People need to talk,” he said.

“It’s surprising how quickly people turn on you,” Chief Lee added. Lee also noted police agencies need to understand they are rolling the dice if they are running on a shoestring budget.

“The least little thing can make it pop. Public safety is not something you shortchange,” Lee said.

Lee stressed the importance of having a global view of the police organization and recommends not taking relationships in the community for granted. An integral piece of advice is not to compromise individual integrity — no matter how hard the situation becomes.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: angelacorey; bencrump; blackkk; blackrage; florida; georgezimmerman; lawenforcement; police; rickscott; trayvon; trayvonmartin; zimmerman
Comments?
1 posted on 08/02/2013 3:22:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Needs to be heard, make it viral.


2 posted on 08/02/2013 3:28:45 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sounds like an honest Chief of Police. It is sad that he was essentially fired because he did not have an experienced Public Affairs Officer to deal with the politics and the press.


3 posted on 08/02/2013 3:31:47 PM PDT by Sola Veritas (Trying to speak truth - not always with the best grammar or spelling)
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To: RikaStrom

ping for home


4 posted on 08/02/2013 3:32:51 PM PDT by RikaStrom ("To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." ~Voltaire)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER

Agree but the big THREE will never do an exclusive interview on the evening news. It would make them look bad, and kill their agenda and propaganda, and thats a no-no.

Gov. Scott is the worm in all of this tbh.


5 posted on 08/02/2013 3:34:29 PM PDT by snarkytart
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Its simple - the race baiters got involved and made GZ the boogy man in this case. I think some still believe TM was a 12-13 year old kid. Isn’t it odd that his parents didn’t want his cell phone messages revealed? Not really - they stood to make big bucks from this case- and have. They are still out there duping the public. May God have mercy on their hateful souls.


6 posted on 08/02/2013 3:35:41 PM PDT by Catsrus
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To: Sola Veritas

I do not think a PIO would have helped. Once the forces of an unholy trinity of race hustlers, zealot prosecutors and weak knee politicians merge, it can only be stopped by money to buy a good defense. Recall Duke Rape case.


7 posted on 08/02/2013 3:41:19 PM PDT by 11th Commandment (http://www.thirty-thousand.org/)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Spineless politicians, both local and State, need to be kicked in the butt hard and repetitively.


8 posted on 08/02/2013 3:41:21 PM PDT by dontBSme
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To: SWAMPSNIPER; 2ndDivisionVet
Agree 100%...

This whole case was such a nightmare of mis/disinformation, and although I'm sorry Trayvon's life was lost, there are quite a few other people's lives that were ruined by Trayvon's behavior (as I understand it - Trayvon could have run for home instead of circling back to administer "whuuuup-aaaaaaas").

Lack of judgement abounds here, but however blame is laid, it should not fall on the the Sanford police, and Zimmerman was acquitted under the law. Nevertheless, they will suffer as much as the Martin family and friends, although I doubt the Martins would see it that way.

9 posted on 08/02/2013 3:50:14 PM PDT by 88keys
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To: 88keys

The Martins are in full exploit mode, far beyond rationality or reason.


10 posted on 08/02/2013 3:52:25 PM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matter of Opinion)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Bob O’Connor was once my boss. He is a straight-up man who is the last one I would call “racist”

Sickens me to see what happened to him and Chief Lee...all because of Black Racism. Two good careers ended by Black Racist Hate


11 posted on 08/02/2013 3:56:44 PM PDT by SeminoleCounty (Difference between George Zimmerman and Al Sharpton is that Sharpton woulda let honky family burn)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER
SWAMPSNIPER~:" The Martins are in full exploit mode, far beyond rationality or reason. "

And still are in full exploit
Bill Lee - just another political coup by the administration , this time by the "JUST-US Dept."
brought to you by :

"Trayvon™ "


but there is no commercial interest ... Bwahahahahaha!
12 posted on 08/02/2013 4:06:28 PM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt (“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” - Ronald Reagan)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It is great to hear this directly from those involved.

Nothing new to me, except the Chief’s claims about inadequate police budgets. I am not buying.

If the police budget issue is true, who caused it to be inadequate (City Manager?, Mayor?, Council?, communities who wanted the resources spent elsewhere?)

More funding might have improved post-incident PR, but SPD seemed to spare no resources on the investigation, and the Scheme Team would have outplayed anything any PD could muster.

Could higher police spending have averted the shooting itself? (That is what matters, not post-death pr). Retreat at the Lakes had no agreement for Sanford PD patroling. SPD response time to GZ’s NEN call was good by most standards. Unless the PD met every incoming delinquent at the City limits, an expensive community policing regimen and relationship-building with minorities would have had no effect on visiting, unsupervised, TM.

Federal mortgage policies destroyed RATL and adjacent neighborhoods, leading to high vacancy rates and declining homeownership, then HUD unleashed a Section 8 crime wave. GZ’s role as elected captain of a neighborhood watch program was a response to that. GZ picked up on the vibe of a young man with a knack for getting caught. The MDSPD seemed to nab TM frequently, but sought to profit by hiding minority student crimes rather than taking appropriate action. Too much government intervention and spending led to TM’s demise, not too little.


13 posted on 08/02/2013 4:47:17 PM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
A department also needs a game plan for when the city's management and policy leaders start intruding in the proper functioning of the department. When you have a city manager running around saying “have you arrested him yet”, you need to give him a “butt out” order. If he doesn't, you're outta there, and you're not going to remain silent about your reasons. The alternative is they turn the investigation over to an uninvolved law enforcement agency, not a politically ambitious prosecutor.

Crupp had his PR effort in full swing by day three, the department's inability to counter that was a tragedy. Maybe there's a need for an “anti-biggotry fund” that comes to the aid of law enforcement agencies with PR help in circumstances like this. Or “anti-miscarriage of justice union”.

14 posted on 08/03/2013 12:11:05 PM PDT by ArmstedFragg (hoaxy dopey changey)
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