[net-gold] [netgold] Rosewood Redux, and Other Florida Law Enforcement Problems, Possible Solutions
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Net-Gold <Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple University Net-Gold Archive <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Temple Gold Discussion Group <TEMPLE-GOLD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Gold <net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Sean Grigsby <myarchives1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Net-Platinum <net-platinum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Net-Gold @ Nabble" <ml-node+3172864-337556105@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, MediaMentor <mediamentor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Digital Divide Diversity MLS <mls-digitaldivide@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, net-gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:35:49 -0500 (EST)
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Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:56:47 -0500
From: Ears <globalear@xxxxxxxxx>
Reply-To: netgold-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: netgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [netgold] Rosewood Redux, and Other Florida Law Enforcement Problems,
Possible Solutions
Dwight Hines, Ph.D.
IndyMedia
1523 State Road 13
St. Johns, Florida 32259
February 8, 2010
Dean Register, Assistant Inspector General
Office of Inspector General
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Post Office Box 1489
Tallahassee, Florida 32302-1489
(850) 410-7225
Dear Mr. Assistant Inspector General Register:
Thank you for your prompt email of December 1, 2009. After your letter, we
had good progress toward obtaining the requested records, with some of the
slow downs due to our schedule keeping us from getting to Tallahassee.
We were able to review and examine the documents and they were helpful. I
am concerned about all of the misplaced or lost maps and sketch of the
Rosewood areas. I am also concerned that the original documents are not in
the State Archives, or at least a copy of them.
At this time, I feel that, although the record is impressive in the detail
in showings the FDLE agents did meet and talk with a number of witnesses and
with one journalist in detail, the investigation was inadequate because of a
number of shortcomings that were inappropriate even in 1995.
First, although the agents did discuss bringing in an outside expert on
archaeology, that never occurred so the areas reported by witnesses as mass
graves were never gridded, explored with metal detectors, or even used to
obtain core soil samples. Similarly, experts in botany were never
contacted to determine if there were foliage differences between the
putative mass grave areas and the surrounding areas in plant types or
abundance.
No experts were consulted on ecology or aerial photography in the federal or
state departments of Agriculture. No experts were asked, and no
professional or academic literature cited in sociology to support the claims
of how many Afro-American people were likely in Rosewood when the shooting
started. Because of the large cultural differences between the
Afro-American and white communities at that time, it is an error to assume
that living quarters were used by the same people who are listed on official
records and that official records and witness recollections were accurate
estimates. It doesn?t make much sense that witnesses are considered
credible for estimating number of people in a household, but were not
credible for locations of mass graves.
From the records currently held by FDLE, it appears that an inordinate
amount of time was spent corresponding with a journalist who was not an
expert in any of the areas ignored, although he did support their arguments
for there not being enough people missing to require the existence of a mass
grave. One cannot help but sense that the investigators were more
concerned about satisfying the specific journalist and others in the media
than they were in actually locating mass graves.
Second, the shallow ? it never literally went below the surface of the
ground ? investigation by FDLE of Rosewood would not be nearly as much of a
concern today if FDLE were not actively investigating chronic, serious civil
rights violations against Afro-Americans. Race based driver profiling is a
double harm to Afro-Americans because of the increase in insurance costs
with ticketed violations. (Heen, Mary. ?Ending Jim Crow Life Insurance
Rates?, Northwestern J. Law and Social Policy, 4, Fall 2009). In addition,
long-term, blatantly biased hiring practices by city and county governments
(You can count the number of Afro-American firefighters and sheriff?s
deputies on one hand in St. Johns County and you need no hand for fingers to
count the Afro-Americans employed by the City of St. Augustine fire and
police departments) have continued with what appears to be complete impunity
for a number of city and county governments in Florida.
Finally, there are substantive and statistically significant factual bases
to show that there are residuals of the ku klux klan active in a number of
Florida communities that are based more on fear of illegal immigrants than
on Afro-Americans, with the irony being that there are a few Afro-Americans
who are supportive of the old klan methods. For the FDLE to claim they do
not know of these groups and to ignore the reality these groups perpetuate
of witness tampering and obstruction of justice, more than strains belief,
it depicts FDLE as supporters of these groups. The repeated destruction of
the historical marker at Rosewood by persons unknown because the crimes are
not investigated is a fact, a terrible fact not only because the damage is
in the thousand of dollars but because the crimes are seen by all who live
there as solid evidence that the racists are above the law, and that law
enforcement personnel are cowards.
Rosewood investigation needs to be reopened using methods available in 1995
and valid and reliable methods used today. I do not recommend FDLE be
involved in the investigation for the reasons given above ? they still
haven?t and likely will not deal with current issues of environmental
justice, driver profiling, discriminatory hiring practices, fraudulent
court documents (including authentication), white collar crimes (see
attached letter), and harmful vigilante activities that cross county lines.
Therefore, FDLE is more than likely not capable of doing the thorough job
needed to obtain closure in the Rosewood case. However, a complete
investigation could be used to teach FDLE investigators how to use a number
of investigative techniques that are valid, reliable, practical, and
generalizable.
*Recommendations*
1) Petition the National Academy Sciences to Comprehensively Review All FDLE
training, hiring and investigative practices and performances, including
current FDLE geographical divisions of Florida, as well as current
interstate agreements with other law enforcement agencies over the past
three years ? to be completed within 24 months.
2) Request that a combined Universities project, including the legal,
scientific, and academic criminal justice communities prepare and execute a
thorough ?sound science? investigation, including consultation with experts
from Israel, South America, and the United Nations on mass grave locations
within the next 24 months.
3) An in depth review by the Department of State on the transmission of
records, historically important records, to the State Archives from FDLE to
determine what changes need to be made to the Florida Administrative Rules
to insure that historically important documents are not lost or destroyed.
4) Appoint a multicounty, multi-FDLE-region task force to determine
empirically -- using generally accepted scientific methods ? the extent of
racial profiling (Afro-American, Seminole Indian, Hispanic) in Florida by
county and by town or city for the past three years.
5) Appoint a multicounty, multi-FDLE-region task force to determine
empirically -- using generally accepted scientific methods ? the extent of
lost and fraudulent documents filed in Florida State and County Courts for
the past five years and what racial biases exist, if any, in the
preservation and proper placement of the documents.
6) Appoint a multicounty, multi-FDLE-region task force to determine
empirically-- using generally accepted scientific methods ? the extent of
racially biased hiring practices by police, sheriff, and fire departments in
the cities, towns, counties, regional, and state government agencies for
the past 3 years.
7) Appoint a multicounty, multi-FDLE-region task force to determine
empirically -- using generally accepted scientific methods ? the extent of
vigilante activity in cities, towns, and counties for the past 3 years,
focusing on witness tampering, obstruction of justice, automobile insurance
fraud, vehicular injuries, and mortality rates by age (14-25 y.o.; 60 y.o
and older) and activity (anti- and neutral) groups.
I will make a request of the Department of State for a Rule Change to
require, at the least, that copies of historical records be transferred to
the State Archives from FDLE within a reasonable period of time, or within
less than 3 years of the last witness being interviewed, with specific
penalties for failure to comply.
Dwight Hines
Attached: Copy of letter to St. Johns County Board County Commissioners
about multiple frauds by PBS&J.
Copy:
IndyMedia
Department of State, Florida
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