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While the judgment may never be paid, the ruling in the civil case recognizes the tremendous loss suffered by Sami Safar's family, attorney Jeffrey Morris said.

In 1998, Officer Karl Waldon pulled over Safar after the convenience store chain owner withdrew $51,000 from a bank, then the police officer strangled Safar in the patrol car's back seat.

Tuesday. The plaintiffs had waived their right to a jury trial.

The family previously settled with the city for $375,000, and received an undisclosed amount from the bank.

Waldon is serving four life sentences for violating Safar's civil rights, taking money from drug dealers and other convictions.

Sinclair is serving a 17-year term for conspiracy.

The criminal case grew out of a federal investigation into allegations that some Jacksonville police officers were tipping off drug dealers about raids.

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May 25th, 2004 - ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- Two Pinellas County sheriff's deputies were justified in the fatal shooting of a teenager earlier this month, a state attorney concluded.

In a letter to Sheriff Everett Rice, State Attorney Bernie McCabe cleared Deputies David Antolini and Nelson DeLeon of wrongdoing in the death of 17-year-old Marquell Deon McCullough, of St. Petersburg.

Sheriff's officials will now begin an internal investigation to determine whether the deputies followed department policies.

The People's Democratic Uhuru Movement has compared McCullough's death to that of TyRon Lewis, 18, whose fatal shooting by a St. Petersburg police officer in 1996 sparked two nights of riots.

Darryl Rouson, president of the St. Petersburg chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he was skeptical that the deputies were completely justified.

"The pain ... is still in the fact that a young black male's life has been snuffed out and there remains clouds over what happened," Rouson said.

Deputies were following reports of drug transactions on May 2, when they saw McCullough in a pickup truck they believed had been used in a drug deal earlier that day. When they tried to pull him over, he led them on a 65 mph chase, drove into their patrol cars and tried to hit Antolini when he got out of his vehicle, officials said.

Deputies fired more than a dozen shots at the truck, and McCullough, who didn't have a gun, was struck nine times. One of the bullets ricocheted and hit him in the back of the head, according to investigative reports.

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April 6, 2005 - ORLANDO, Fla. - Orange County's sheriff used driver's license records to contact a woman who wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper criticizing his staff's use of Taser stun guns and describing him as fat.

Some say Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary violated federal privacy law when he had his aides use the records to get the address of Alice Gawronski. He sent her a letter accusing her of slander.

It is illegal to access a driver's license database to obtain personal information, except for clear law-enforcement purposes, under the U.S. Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994.

"I recently read your slanderous remarks about the Orange County Sheriff's Office in the Orlando Sentinel," Beary wrote Gawronski on March 23. "It is unfortunate that people ridicule others without arming themselves with the facts before they slander a law enforcement agency or individual."

Gawronski said, "I thought I was exercising my First Amendment right of free speech expressing an opinion in an open forum about a paid public official." She considered Beary's letter a form of intimidation.

"If I were her, I'd sue and get him in front of a jury. He'd probably get laughed out of the courtroom," said Chris Hoofnagle, the senior counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

But sheriff's spokesman Jim Solomons said using a database to respond to a resident's concern is well within Beary's official duties.

The issue arose when Gawronski's letter appeared in the Sentinel on March 10, expressing concerns about Taser stun guns.

In her letter, she referred to a news conference when Beary allowed himself to be zapped with one to demonstrate its safety. Seeing Beary "in an obvious state of duress" convinced her the stun guns should not be used, she wrote.

Gawronski also wrote that Beary appeared overweight and suggested that if deputies were more fit, they might not need to resort to zapping suspects.

Beary said he was a victim of slander.

"During my Taser incident, I was never under any duress," he wrote Gawronski, adding that his heart activity was monitored by a doctor.

Before the test, the 5-foot, 10-inch Beary estimated his weight at 290 pounds.

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Cpl. Michael Sanchez has been suspended with pay pending an investigation by the Polk County Sheriff's Office into an allegation that he stole two pit bulls.

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June 24, 2000 - Miami - Six police officers have been assigned to desk duty while investigators determine whether they planted a gun on a homeless man who had just been shot in the leg by an officer.

Investigators say a .45-caliber pistol found at the scene was planted there by officers, to make it appear that the shooting victim, Daniel Hoban, had been armed. Hoban, who survived, actually
had been holding a radio.

Miami Police Chief Raul Martinez on Friday ordered the officers to surrender their guns, badges and city patrol cars. They continueto receive their pay. The six are: Sgt. Jose F. Acuna, 42; Officer
Arturo Beguiristain, 39; Officer Jorge L. Garcia, 37; Sgt. Rafael ``Ray'' Martinez, 40; Officer John T. Mervolion, 45; and Officer Wilfredo ``Willie'' Perez, 34.

Although they are the subjects of an internal affairs investigation, they have not been criminally charged.

One former officer already convicted of official misconduct in the case is Rolando Jacobo, who told The Miami Herald that all six officers played a role in the incident. He said that after Hoban
was shot by Officer Jorge Castello, Martinez decided to plant the gun.

``He started waving. `Bring the sock, bring the sock.''' Jacobo said. ``Sock'' is the code word for a throw-down gun some officers might carry to plant on unarmed suspects, he said.

Beguiristain has denied any wrongdoing. The other officers and their lawyers could not be reached for comment.

It's the first major disciplinary action for Martinez since he became police chief in May, filling a vacancy left by Chief William O'Brien, who resigned in the aftermath of the Elian Gonzalez
federal raid.

The move comes less than a week after the city settled a fatal police shooting lawsuit for $2.5 million. One of the officers reassigned Friday, Beguiristain, was also involved in that 1996
case.

The June 26, 1997, shooting of Hoban is being investigated by the Miami-Dade state attorney's office and federal prosecutors.
State prosecutors are pursuing a possible perjury case against the officers while federal officials are probing possible civil rights violations.

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After weeks of helplessly watching one motorcyclist speed by, going the wrong way in rush hour traffic, the Florida Highway Patrol has finally gotten their man.

Police said they simply got tired of watching David Carpenter endanger himself and everyone else on the road every day. So, on Monday, they put an airplane in the sky and troopers at strategic points along the highway on which they said Carpenter is usually spotted on his motorcycle, and it paid off.

Police caught Carpenter at his apartment after he went on a ride that veteran troopers said was the wildest they had ever seen. Police said Carpenter tormented them for weeks.

Carpenter refused to comment on the way he rode his motorcycle. Police said Carpente did his talking through his motorcycle itself, by bending the license plate back to make him untraceable and riding at speeds that police said made it impossible to catch him, a common problem for police dealing with speed bikers.

Troopers said Carpenter dodged and weave his way through rush hour traffic every day, practically daring police to stop him.

"He's playing a game, and there's no winners in that game. And it ended the best way it could've possibly ended," Sgt. Al Reyes, of the Florida Highway Patrol, said.

Police said Carpenter's Monday morning escapades topped everything they had seen him do before. The Florida Highway Patrol had troopers on the lookout and its airplane watching from the sky as Carpenter got off Florida's Turnpike at 41st Street, saw a trooper and doubled back the other way.

Police said he was traveling over 100 mph southbound in the northbound lanes. "That shows just how desperate he was to try to elude us," Lt. Julio Pajon, of the Florida Highway Patrol, said.

When troopers got to the apartment to which their airplane had led them, they found Carpenter outside but were not sure if he was their man. Police spotted the motorcycle inside the apartment through a window after a dog moved the blinds.

Before his arrest, Carpenter had applied to become a state trooper and would have taken his Florida Highway Patrol test in a few weeks.

"Well, ironically, he would've shown up next week, possibly on that motorcycle," Reyes said.

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08/23/2005 - WEST PALM BEACH -- As Commissioner Addie Greene sought to clarify comments she made in the wake of the Jerrod Miller case, angry police and sheriff's deputies made clear Monday they didn't care much about what she had to say. They demanded she resign from the Palm Beach County Commission.

Greene emphatically rejected the notion.
"I'm needed now more than ever," she said.

In what evolved into a faceoff between white police on one side of the room and black political and leaders on the other side of the room, Greene said people who believe she advised young, black men to run from the police are wrong. She said her comments were taken out of context.

Greene said she thinks anyone, regardless of race, age or gender should be cautious when being stopped by police.

She said common-sense advice dictates going to a well-lit, populated area before getting out of a car being pulled over by someone using flashing lights.

About 60 police officers and sheriff's deputies, all wearing T-shirts with green lettering stating "Addie Must Resign" greeted the commissioner in a 12th floor conference room adjacent to commission officers where she was holding a clarification news conference Monday morning.

They said what was reported last week as her recommendation that young, black men run from police indicates Greene – who is black – is a racist.

"She is supposed to be keeping people together. She is preaching hate," said John Kazanjian, executive vice president of the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association.

Reading from a prepared statement, with about 20 black leaders at her sides and behind her, Greene avoided apologizing for her comments, though she emphasized her view that they were inaccurately portrayed.

"My only apology is to some members of law enforcement for generalizing that all members of any group are painted with the same brush. I would never want the public or young children to believe all members of law enforcement are like Darren Cogoni."

Cogoni is the Delray Beach police officer who shot and killed Miller, 16, outside a school dance in February. A grand jury last week declined to indict the rookie officer, who was later fired.

Greene is a former head of the Conference of Black Elected Officials of Palm Beach County. The current head of the conference, Boynton Beach City Commissioner Carl McKoy, offered advice similar to what Greene offered Monday: He said if pulled over by police he would drive to an area he considered safe before stopping.

"I would not stop if I were on an open road," he said. "I would drive to a more comfortable area ... I have seen too many of our children die on our streets."

The NAACP and religious leaders who spoke after Greene said the focus on what she supposedly said last week was detracting from the big issue, outrage in the black community that Cognoi wasn't indicted. Greene later said if there's a racial divide it was caused by the union officers, whom she said were all sheriff's deputies. Several of those interviewed said they worked for police departments, not just the Sheriff's Office.

>>>> Greene doesn't seem to off base on this. Yes not all cops are criminals, yet there are alot of stories on this site that says otherwise.

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08/02/2005 - ORLANDO, Fla. -- A top-ranking commander with the Florida Highway Patrol has been arrested. FHP is being very tight-lipped about the circumstances that led up to Captain Sterling King's arrest, but it is the talk of the troopers in the Orlando district with word that one of their highest ranking captains is facing five years in prison.

Sterling King was a trusted enough representative of the Highway Patrol to spend eight years as its chief spokesman in the Tampa Bay area. In 2004, he made captain, taking command of all troopers in the notoriously busy district covering Orange and Osceola counties.

But Channel 9 has learned the Polk County resident turned himself in Monday afternoon to the Osceola County jail, charged with a third-degree felony involving bribery and misuse of public office. He quickly posted a $2,500 bond.

Sources told Channel 9 that the charge is the result of a joint investigation between the Highway Patrol and the State Attorney's Office, stemming from a complaint from at least one motorist King pulled over.

FHP confirms it has already terminated King for conduct unbecoming a trooper, stripping its former spokesman of his weapons, his patrol car and his responsibility.

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07/30/2005 - A Fort Lauderdale police officer has been fired after allegedly making racial threats in a courtroom.

Cameras in a Broward County juvenile court caught Robert Hoffman making the comments two years ago.

After a lengthy investigation, the police chief fired Hoffman. City of Fort Lauderdale officials said the city has a zero tolerance policy for racial remarks.

"There is no question about it, especially for those individuals who wear the uniform," city spokesman David Hebert said.

According to the investigation report, the courtroom video captured officer Hoffman muttering, "I'm going to get your black ass" as he walked past two young, black defendants.

It is impossible to hear officer Hoffman clearly in the tape, but the reaction from an attorney in the courtroom was unmistakable.

"I think it is inappropriate that this officer comes in the court of law in front of Your Honor and threatens these children," she said. "They're in handcuffs. They're in custody. I don't understand how a state attorney can possibly defend that behavior. It's unacceptable."

"These individuals are the individuals that are charged with the safety and security of every member of our society here within the city of Fort Lauderdale, and to have a racially-charged statement emanate from a police officer, particularly in a court of law, is reprehensible," Hebert said.

Hoffman initially denied saying the racial slur. He said he used the phrase, "one hundred and fifty, cash." When given a chance to recant that he chose not to.

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07/25/2005 - BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A former Broward Sheriff's Office deputy was arrested Friday afternoon and charged with perjury and official misconduct.

Officer Lewis Perry is charged with perjury during an official proceeding, four counts of official misconduct, and falsifying records in connection to an accident he had while in pursuit of a stolen car, according to BSO.

BSO said that deputies had called off the pursuit of a stolen car after they lost it. Perry spotted the stolen car and pulled in front of it, causing the car to collide into him. BSOsaid that once a pursuit has ended, it is against policy to reinitiate it.

BSO said that Perry lied about the circumstances of the accident.

Officer Perry had previously been terminated on March 24 for reasons unrelated to these charges. BSO said his termination was also not related to an incident in which Perry shot a Mexican national who was mistaken for a robber while the man was trying to find the apartment he lived in.

That shooting happened on Nov. 3, 2004. Germaine Gomez suffered severe head injuries and brain damage in the shooting and is still in rehabilitation. As of 5:30 p.m. Friday, Perry was still being held in jail and his bond had not been set.

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07/25/2005 - PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. -- A Pinellas County Sheriff's Office detention deputy was arrested on allegations of improperly releasing agency documents protected under the public records law. Jason S. Frederick was arrested yesterday at 7:36 p.m. during his shift. He's 32 and was hired on 10/15/2001.

Deputy Frederick posted a $1,500 bond and was released.

Detectives say the investigation began in May 2005 following the arrest of a former PCSO detention deputy; Jeffrey McCann, who was found to be in possession of agency documents containing information protected under Florida Statute 119. The documents had been printed after McCann's employment had been terminated.

Deputy Frederick is alleged to have provided the documents to McCann, who resigned while under investigation in February 2005. A criminal case continues against McCann on charges including aggravated stalking, violation of a domestic violence injunction and witness tampering.

According to the warrant Deputy Frederick was arrested for disclosure of intellectual property in violation of Florida statute 815.04, a third degree felony.

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07/22/2005 - A San Francisco police officer who admitted he used department computers to find and visit women resigned Wednesday, shortly before a meeting to determine whether he would be terminated.

Phillip Gonzales was to appear before the San Francisco Police Commission for a hearing on the disciplinary charges filed against him. But earlier in the day, he submitted a letter of resignation.

The 20-year veteran admitted he misused computers to check confidential records of at least nine women, including neighbors and grammar school classmates.

Two of the women complained, telling the civilian Office of Citizen Complaints that Gonzales visited their homes while on duty for no reason. The women told the OCC that Gonzales' visits made them feel "violated and uncomfortable" and "scared, stalked and shocked," according to the OCC.

The OCC filed disciplinary charges against Gonzales that included neglect of duty and engaging in conduct reflecting discredit on the department.

"We would have recommended his termination because of the severity and abuse of power," said Kevin Allen, director of that office.

When asked by investigators during an earlier hearing why he made the unwelcome contacts, Gonzales said he had "excessive time on his hands, and he got bored," according to charges.

According to the charges, Gonzales, a patrol officer who was assigned to Taraval Station, ran a dozen checks on various people on May 12, 2003. While still on duty, he went to the home of one of the women he had run checks on, met her husband and left him his business card, according to the charges.

Gonzales told the husband that he had gone to grammar school with the woman, had seen her name on a report and felt guilty he had not looked her up sooner. The woman told investigators she had not been friends with the officer and felt angry and violated that he looked her up 35 years later.

That same day, Gonzales visited another woman whom he had met eight to 10 years before, when he went to her home to investigate an obscene phone call.

The woman told investigators that Gonzales discussed personal matters when he took that report, to the extent she felt she had to tell him she had a boyfriend to protect herself, the charges said.

A month after taking the report, Gonzales returned to her apartment and told the woman he was checking on her. Then, on May 12, 2003, he went to her new address.

The woman called Taraval Station the next day, but Gonzales answered the phone. He admitted he had gone by her home on previous occasions, but she told OCC investigators she was too afraid to tell him not to contact her again.

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07/21/2005 - Miami-Dade Police arrested a Florida International University police officer Wednesday and charged him with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman, officials said.

On July 8, officer Frederick Eugene Currie, 35, was on duty when he spotted a car parked in Tamiami Park, a woman and her boyfriend were inside the car. Currie ordered the woman out and sexually assaulted her, Fonticiella said.

A warrant was issued for Currie's arrest Wednesday, charging him with one count of sexual battery and one count of battery.

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05/19/05 - Florida - An internal investigation is under way after a pornographic tape surfaced that includes a Lee County sheriff's deputy. Some managers at the sheriff's office knew about the videotape, but rehired her any ways.

Documents involved in the case were obtained from the Cape Coral Police Department, where Gina Wisely applied to become a police officer earlier this year. When personnel looked into her past, they found reasons not to hire her.

That evidence came from the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The videotape, which is too graphic to show, portrays women flashing and fondling themselves on the streets of Key West during Fantasy Fest.

Corporal Gina Wiseley is seen in clear view participating.

The sheriff's office confirms her husband Corporal Kendall Wiseley and Corporal Charles Pakulis are in the background.

According to Gina Wiseley's personnel file, she has an excellent record spanning ten years with the sheriff's office. But last May, Sheriff Rodney Shoap fired her for hitting golf balls in her office, even after she was told to stop.

Wiseley sued the sheriff's office. Fearing they would lose the lawsuit, Sheriff Mike Scott gave her job back, along with $15,000 in back pay.

The sheriff was about the video: When you hired Gina Wiseley in April, did you know she was in a pornographic video?

The sheriff responded "Absolutely not."

When asked if he had ever heard a rumor about the tape, he replied "We had no indication up to receiving the video she was in the video."

While the sheriff may have not known about the tape, there is evidence others in the department did. In January, Gina Wiseley applied for a job at the Cape Coral Police Department, but didn't get the job based on a memo.

In an interview, Captain Levins of the Lee County Sheriff's Office told Cape Coral personnel that, "Based on information that has surfaced (a video of Wiseley) their department will not rehire her."

The document was dated February 7, 2005, which means the sheriff's office knew about the tape two months before rehiring her.

"Anybody that we hire goes through a screening process to include a polygraph and other questioning. And I can tell you through the entire process we had no evidence of any inappropriate behavior, any illegal behavior," said Scott.

In a memo obtained late Wednesday, Captain Levins retracted his statements saying he only heard rumors but never actually saw the tape.

"Captain Levins stated that at no time did he have a video of Ms. Wiseley. He said that he heard rumors that a video existed, but he never actually saw it. He also said that his comment relative to Ms. Wiseley's future employment with the sheriff's office was misunderstood. Captain Levins said that he does not determine who is re-hired or not re-hired, as this is determined by a Sheriff's Office hiring board."

The memo shows the department knew about a tape weeks before the sheriff's office rehired her.

"If there is a rumor and that rumor is disproved through the application process, it's still a rumor. In fact it's a rumor that's disproved," said Scott.

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TAVARES, Fla. -- Lake County Sheriff George Knupp Jr. has resigned months after he was charged with two counts of perjury and suspended from office.

Knupp, who spent 16 years in office, sent Gov. Jeb Bush a resignation letter on Tuesday.

"Please accept this letter as my formal resignation from the office I have held since 1988," reads the two-sentence letter. "I thank you in advance for your consideration."

Knupp's departure comes on the heels of charges that he lied to a grand jury about how his department sold surplus vehicles. The grand jury met in February and raised questions about vehicles the sheriff's office traded in that were later bought by Knupp and his relatives, friends and employees.

The jurors cited no wrongdoing regarding the vehicle purchases, but they found inconsistencies in Knupp's testimony.

Knupp apologized for his actions in an open letter to the citizens of Lake County. An admission of guilt was required as part of a pretrial-intervention program that will result in the charges against him being dropped.

Knupp will be under state supervision for 18 months, according to the pretrial intervention contract. He also will have to perform 100 hours of community service, his lawyer Michael Graves said

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Jun. 23, 2004 - It was to have been the final federal obstruction trial in the Miami police gun-planting scandal. But instead of going to court, Sgt. Jose Acua appears headed back to work.

Federal prosecutors dropped remaining obstruction charges Tuesday against Miami police Sgt. Jose Acua, the last of 13 police officers who faced trial in connection with the department's infamous gun-planting scandal.

Had Acua faced a jury next week as scheduled, it would have been the sixth corruption trial of Miami police in less than two years -- and another reminder of a besmirched history that the department is eager to put to rest.

Nine officers were convicted or pleaded guilty and three others were acquitted. The officers faced charges of planting guns or lying to cover up misconduct at four police shootings between November 1995 and June 1997.

But Tuesday was Acua's day to celebrate: in addition to the dismissal of the criminal charges, it was his 46th birthday.

''I'm ecstatic, very happy,'' he said. ``It's been a very long four years. I'm grateful to a lot of people who believed in my innocence all along. It took a little bit of convincing, but the U.S. attorney finally saw it that way.''

Suspended with pay since the March 2001 indictment, Acua, a 20-year veteran, said he expects to return to work and resume his police career. A promotion to lieutenant -- pending when he was indicted -- could be in the works, too.

A Miami police spokesman couldn't verify Acua's status, and a request for comment from Chief John Timoney went unanswered.

Acua's first trial, last year, ended with his acquittal on two counts and a mistrial on two others: conspiracy to obstruct justice and aiding and abetting obstruction. Prosecutors said they would re-try him.

At issue: whether Acua participated in a coverup following the June 1997 police shooting of an unarmed homeless man in Coconut Grove.

But Roy Kahn, Acua's lawyer, said he helped persuade the government to drop its case by presenting new witness statements that ran counter to the prosecution theory. Assistant U.S. attorney Ed Stamm was the lead prosecutor.

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