What is going on at the CCSO?

I don't know! What is going on? What happened where? Investigate himself for alleged involvement in what?

Was there a point you were trying to make or did you just want to ask a bunch of stupid questions that no one can answer because there is no subject attached?

I'll give you guys one thing. You are consistent. I'll bet as kids you were all part of the crew that hit people from behind then ran like heck and hid. So far not one of you has had the common decency to identify yourself.

If Beseler is doing such a great job of irritating you and your cohorts he probably deserves a close look for getting my vote.  

Mike Heemer

I think  Beseler is doing a good job. I haven't seen anyone post the fact that the crime rate in Clay has dropped according to the latest FDLE reports. I guess that fact wouldn't fit into the "political garbage" posted on here recently. Seems to me that whatever Beseler does he just can't please everyone and someone will always find something to complain about. Haven't actually seen any of the other candidates say anything, except political promises to get them elected, that would make me change my vote.

Yes that is why we let criminals investigate themself. It cuts down on the cost to have to prosecute and house them in the jails. If you wouldn't let a criminal investigate himself then why should they let a Sheriff investigate himself.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040908/met_266541339.shtml

Sorry, I forgot to include the newspaper article about the drug investigation involving the deputy.

My point is that the newspaper story sort of indicates that may be some inappropriate conduct within the ranks of the S.O., which put the SAO at a disadvantage to prosecute the deputy.

I am still asking why the SAO can not prosecute?

Can the S.O. investigate itself when the possible problem rests at the top? It took a grand jury to do this last time under the same State Atty.

I would welcome the entire story be available, but because it is now an "internal investigation" time for a revelation is delayed by state law. Good move if someone needs time to prepare.

Did not mean to confuse anyone.

Angela;

I don't agree with your statements but at least you put the subject of 'FastOne's rant in your response.

I saw nothing in the report to indicate that there was any evidence at all that there was a crime committed. There may be some that comes to light later, but for now I don't see any.

Lots of innuendo and speculation but nothing of any substance.

Sam;

You are correct about not being able to please everyone. And some you can't please at all.

Mike Heemer

When you are a former State Attorney Investigator (Sheriff) and they make this statement in an article, "Prosecutors questioned the Sheriff's Office investigation". I would consider that cause for concern. Some problems in the ranks and it seems higher ranks and did the Sheriff know or not? Did he obstruct the investigation or not?

I'll go back to work now. This does look like what I've seen in Clay County.

Sam,

Which/What crime rate is down?  Where can you get FDLE reports? I can't imagine that violent crime is down--ask any one who lives anywhere near Wells Road.  However, I want to see hard facts--do they divide crimes by category?

http://www.news4jax.com/news/15802846/detail.html

This is the link to the news4jax article. Plus I believe the TU had the same report. While several cities around Clay faced increased crime rates, Clay dropped!

Sam I think if we go to the records it will show the crime increase in the County.

First the Sheriff's Office has Part 1 and Part 2 type crime stats that they track.

One being violent crime and are as listed for Clay County.

In 2007 total violent crimes 5,532 and increase from 2006 of 2.1%

Murder   6

Forcible Rape   54

Robbery     117

Aggravated Assault   740

Burglary    1,041

Larceny   3,249

Motor Vehicle Theft    326

Total Clearance Rate   40.1% for 2007 and 40.8% 2006 but still shows almost 60% are going unsolved.

The only numbers that reflect lower numbers were murder was 7 in 06 and 6 in 07. The other one being Forcible Rape was 65 in 06 and 54 in 07.

These numbers reflect violent crimes. Non-violent crimes are stats that come out of the Sheriff's Office to my knowledge those have not been reported to the public for 07. I'm sure when they are they will show and increase as well.

Stats from FDLE for Clay County

Before you beat up on CCSO compare its clearance rate with other counties of similar population like St. Johns County. The CCSO does a pretty darn good job at solving crime.

Preventing crime can be difficult because citizens have to do their part by properly securing their property by locking their doors and windows. A lot of burglaries have no signs of forced entry because someone forgot to secure the doors or windows before leaving for the day. Cars are left unlocked over night and thieves have thier way in the dark rifling through them taking lap tops I-pods, etc.

Clay County Sheriff’s Office

2007 Annual Report Property Crimes

Burglary 920

Larceny 2953

Motor Vehicle Theft 288

42.7% cleared

2006 Annual Report Property Crimes

Burglary 877

Larceny 2895

Motor Vehicle Theft 259

42.2% cleared

 St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office

2007 Annual Report Property Crimes

Burglary 1164

Larceny 2491

Motor Vehicle Theft 251

22.2% cleared

St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office

2006 Annual Report Property Crimes

Burglary 822

Larceny 2073

Motor Vehicle Theft 205

12.3% cleared

Source: Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Annual 2006-2007 Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/FSAC/UCR/index.asp

The police are a reactionary type of force usually called only when a crime has been commited. There is only so much they can do to prevent many types of crimes because they are not mind readers, and they can't be everywhere, all the time.

It is up to the public to be aware of whats happening around them and by getting involved. For example, neighborhhod crime watches, reporting suspisious activity, and being responsible by securing their property effectively.

TRUTHHURTS

This comment has nothing to do with the current horse being beat to death - crime stats.  Instead - welcome to the blogs Sam, and I really like the avatar.

Now to crime stats.  After a little research on my own, I was surprised to find that crime stats in general are actually in decline nationwide.  With all of the hoopla over increasing crime it came as a surprise to see that per 100K people, violent crimes are down.  It's just that the number of people is increasing.  (More people) X (crime rate) = more actual crimes.  Our society was much more violent back in the 70's & 80's - all those cocaine cowboys I guess.

This is from memory, so if I'm off a little I apologize:  Lowest murder rate in the US - Austin, TX - 2.5+/- per 100K;  highest murder rate in US - Detroit, MI - 48.0 +/-.  That blows my mind.  You are 24 times more likely to be murdered in Detroit than in Austin.  Jacksonville murder rate per 100K - 12.  It's bad, but we got a long way to go to catch up with Detroit.  Hope we never get there.

 What happened? Did the post get pulled? I’m sure with all the Beseler haters out there they would at least this one time say they made a mistake, also it seems we have some people on this site that can get any information out of any government agency but for some reason couldn’t wouldn’t on this one.
What am I talking about could it be the two biggest misuse of county taxpayer funds in the history of Clay County?  OOP’s there was no misuse of taxpayer money. In one case it was the Sheriff using County funds efficiently and in the other case it was a private group paying for traffic control.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their part.

How did we get to the point of discussing crime stats from the original subject at hand which is did the Sheriff interfere with a criminal investigation by alerting a possible drug dealing deputy to the investigation? Additionally, was there a political reason for doing so?How many criminals got "inside advanced warning" so the subject could elude prosecution which is what occurred in this case.It seems these things have a life of their own, just look at the way other threads have turned into golf cart discussions. All seem to be subjects of interest but should be contained in the correct venue.I will be happy to discuss crime stats with anyone given that is the topic at hand. Anyone wanting to do so simply name the blog appropriately.  

Apparently nobody was interested in the subject so they took the blog someplace else. That happens a lot when the subject isn't particularly important.

Mike Heemer

I thought you made some excellent points. Sam decided by your blog that he needed to defend the Sheriff and posted about his crime stats and the good job he is doing.

Sometimes blogs are like conversations and they flow in an exchange back and forth. You just have to understand the nature of the blogs.

I think you make an excellent point. This investigation was tainted by someone releasing inside information and alerted the person under investigation. This indicates corruption. It could indicate a bigger problem because you don't know how many times this has happened.

I think this happened in Green Cove Springs where they had an undercover investigation ongoing to catch adults on the internet conversing with underage children. An officer alerted one of the people who was being investigated because they knew them in some capacity. This then caused the investigation to be discovered and stopped. I don't remember the names but I do remember the situation.

This was bad because that allowed a child predator from potentially being caught and prosecuted. It is also a criminial act for people to release that information. As far as this matter I don't know if we will ever know the truth unless there is a grand jury.

I was the one that discussed golf carts in another blog. Then a different blogger started their own blog as you mentioned. However, some have indicated that because I discussed golf carts in one blog it caused another blogger to bring up an issue they felt strongly about in their own blog. I think that blogger is very capable of making their own decisions. Sometimes you just have to understand the nature of the blogs.