(June 6 ,2023) FL, Consider these numbers: 5,894,518 arrests made between the years 2013-2021 (avg 736,814 arrest/year) with 3,966,760 arrests for low level offenses. That’s equivalent to 27 arrest/1k residents in the State of Florida.
Studies found that 54% of defendants are in fact victims of official misconduct and 34% of cases involved police officer misconduct. Studies also concluded that of the 2400 individual Exoneration Cases, 80% were for violent felonies and 93 of the innocent defendants were sentence to death and later cleared before they were executed.
Further investigations into Florida’s Police Departments revealed that a “Black” person was 2.5x more likely to be killed by a law enforcement officer than a white person.
Armed with this information, in April 2021 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed what he deemed as the “strongest anti-rioting pro-law enforcement measure in the country.” A federal judge later ruled the law unconstitutional, "If this court does not enjoin the statute's enforcement, the lawless actions of a few rogue individuals could effectively criminalize the protected speech of hundreds, if not thousands, of law-abiding Floridians," Judge Walker wrote. "It unfortunately takes only a handful of bad actors to transform a peaceful protest into a violent public disturbance," the judge added.
Police violence against American citizens is growing rapidly and Gov. Ron DeSantis says The Combating Public Disorder Law although ruled unconstitutional, “is the best law enforcement bill ever”. Citizens are waiting patiently for a constitutionally sound Police Reform Bill. If Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, many American citizens will become unemployed, furloughed, and laid-off, including Floridians.
Will their right to protest job layoffs and government shutdowns be abridged? Will Floridians have the right to peacefully protest police brutality and false arrests? Will the dog whistle blown under the guise of The Combating Public Disorder Act be forgotten by our beloved law enforcement members in Florida.
We can’t un-rang the bell, the damage is already done, because many in law enforcement heard the call to act on behalf of the Governor, not the citizens. Although The Combating Public Disorder Law is no longer law of the land, the sentiment is still there among Police Officers. No other Bills are worthy of mention in the Police Reform arena.
How will law enforcement handle hungry, disfranchised youth this summer? In the year 2020-2021 there were 19,086 juveniles arrested in the State of Florida; 46% were black, 37% white and 16% were Latino.
Surprisingly, the number of Black juveniles that were transferred to adult court was a whomping disproportionate 61%. Those statistics alone is cause for a community to be outraged, then couple it with adult unemployment, residential and commercial evictions, mortgage foreclosures and bank failures; and that is a recipe for a RED-HOT SUMMER and Florida State Law Enforcement Officers are in charge of keeping the peace. Several Florida Police Officers are facing charges for violent offenses committed against various community members while on “official duty”. An in-depth study concluded that policing
across the nation shows disturbing signs of racial disparate policing outcomes and low rates of upholding police misconduct complaints in almost every location. In addition, almost no departments scored higher than 70% on a scale of 0%-100% for Best Policing Practices.
The State of Florida scored 43% out of 100 (100 best possible score) with a score of 25% for Police Accountability and 67% of arrest involved some type of police violence. For Example, Daytona Beach
Florida Police Department (DBPD) received a scorecard of 38%. Investigation into officer misconduct
settlements were incomplete and the category of racial disparities in deadly force used by police officers,
DBPD received a dismal score of 25%. Overall Police Accountability received a score of 29%, while police misconduct complaints upheld, excessive force complaint upheld, discrimination complaints upheld, criminal misconduct complaints upheld- all were incomplete due to lack of data. This information was derived from the police investigations conducted by the Police Scorecard Project (the first nationwide public evaluation of policing in the United States). Police ScoreCard found that only a fraction of Police Agencies make data available on police use of force, misconduct complaints, or settlements. DBPD received an incomplete score for all the above mentioned, prompting more research into DBPD in their recent police misconduct, false arrests, and unlawful detainments.
DBPD have been involved in several high-profile cases involving police excessive use of force, or unlawful arrest/detainments. A civil lawsuit was filed against DBPD by Mr. J. Wilcox, held face down at gun point, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Further investigation revealed, Mr. Wilcox used offensive speech directed toward an officer prompting the entire encounter. Kary Jarvis filed a lawsuit against two DBPD officers after he was arrested on three felony charges, including aggravated battery on law enforcement officer and aggravated fleeing. The Judge ruled that Mr.
Jarvis was unlawfully detained after his first denial of consent to a search. The Judge also stated that the injuries the officers suffered during the illegal encounter with Mr. Jarvis was a result of the officers’ own illegal activity. DBPD was also in the spotlight in June of 2021 with the controversial, high-profile case involving deceased Office Jason Raynor. Officer Raynor was allegedly shot while on patrol. The alleged shooter is Daytona Beach resident Othal Wallace. What prompted Officer Raynor to approach Mr. Wallace is unclear. However, the DBPD Chief stated that Officer Raynor was out being “pro-active” that night of the
encounter. DBPD released what is believed to be Officer Raynor’s body cam video; however, the video appears to have been altered and is only 22 seconds long, casting doubt on what really happened the night of June 23, 2021, when Officer Raynor approached Mr. Wallace. Supporters of Officer Raynor fear Prosecutors may have over charged when asking for a jury to consider “The Death Penalty” given Officer Raynor’s history of multiple citizens’ complaints of false arrests and excessive use of force.
In April of 2023, the Associated Press reported that Gov. DeSantis signed into law a Bill ending the unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing. The Bill was signed into Law in a private ceremony, the Associated Press reported. The Judge presiding over the Othal Wallace case noted the change in Death Penalty Law. The Judge also granted a Motion for Change of Venue. Mr. Wallace is awaiting the place and time for trial to begin after two years. The Judge indicated to the Attorneys his need to have trial set by September 2023.
Anti-Death Penalty advocates are gearing up for a lively debate and the “Hold the Blue Line” activists are not backing down. They are all awaiting the start and verdict of this trial. The looming question is will Governor DeSantis be prepared to go in with crowd control whenever and wherever the trial of The State of Florida v Othal Wallace begins, which could very well be as soon as this summer?
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By Achoti Tamar
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