Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog

Former Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Lawson is in Vermont, serving a 15 year prison sentence for sexually abusing young men.  Lawson used his authority as a cop to “examine” his victims.  According to the St. Pete Times, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) knew Lawson was doing creepy things on May 16, 2002.

Between midnight and 2am on May 31, 2002, Deputy Lawson suggested to at least three people that he was looking for some car-chasing action.  A VW Passat passed by, and Lawson gave chase in his unmarked Crown Victoria.  Lawson chased the Passat for 15.8 miles, at speeds averaging 105 mph (one witness estimated 120 mph at one point).

The Passat left the road, and crashed into a tree, injuring 18 year old driver Adam Jacoby, and killing 16 year old passenger Miles White.  A local patrolman, Officer Robert Platts, pulled up and helped Lawson pull the injured Jacoby from the wreck.  Before accident investigators arrived, the Crown Vic was gone.

Seeing Lawson on news reports, someone recognized him as the cop that had done an “exam” on her son, and called PCSO.  Lawson was arrested, and he resigned from the force.

Meanwhile, PCSO accident investigators never really looked closely at Lawson’s possible role in the accident.  Polk County Commissioners asked if they could trust the PCSO to investigate itself, and you can guess how that worked out.

Thankfully, St. Pete Times reporter Meg Laughlin did not let this go.  She refused to  just accept the PCSO result as the truth.  Check out the multimedia special report:  Right By Miles:

Two teenage boys are in a car chase with a reckless, sexually perverted Polk County sheriff’s deputy. The boys crash, killing Miles White, 16. But the sheriff’s office does not investigate its deputy’s involvement. Why?

The St. Pete Times thinks that Lawson’s Crown Vic may have caught up to the Passat, and BUMPED it off the road.  In fact, a PCSO in-house newsletter states that Miles White was killed after being struck by a car driven by Lawson.  The Times also found several inconsistencies on various reports and investigations, including downright lies on Lawson’s report.

Furthermore, crash investigator Detective David Hooyman later testified that he “was instructed by my supervisors at the sheriff’s department not to conduct an interview with Lawson.”

In the end, the sheriff’s office determined that Lawson played no role in the accident but violated department policy by breaking traffic laws and not identifying himself as an officer.

In encourage you to read the entire story: Why didn’t Polk Co. Sheriff’s Office investigate deputy’s role in crash?

Oh, and wonder what kind of (and how many) coverups are going on with your local government agencies.

Sheriff Grady Judd has changed the menu at Polk County Jail:

The new menu, announced with much fanfare Wednesday, substitutes crackers, frozen egg patties and water for cornbread, fresh eggs and a variety of beverages, and will save an estimated $195,000, Sheriff Grady Judd said. He said he hopes to eventually cut $200,000 from the jail’s food services budget.

Detractors are upset, since county jail holds those awaiting a trial, so some inmates may not even be found guilty.

This entire thing is a mess.

The one who got beat up sounds like a jerk; fights with her mother ended up with her on probation, and she allegedly talks bad about her peers.  She’s so uncontrollable that her parents give up raising her, and allow her to move out at the age of sixteen.  After the incident, she allegedly taunts the six girls on myspace again.

Meanwhile, instead of confronting the girl with her online insults, the six girls chose to terrorize her, and beat the hell out of her.  Their lack of remorse indicates they feel justified, and quotes from their guardians suggest they may feel the same way.

What kind of parents allow this to happen?  The grownups on either side seem to have little control of their children, and even less of an idea of what goes on in their lives.  Not one of these children thought that six beating on one might not be a good idea.

And now the parents (and the sheriff) want to blame myspace and YouTube ("MySpace is the anti-Christ for children")?  Of course, they are the ones with lots and lots of money ("they’re gonna pay").

There’s no question that raising a child to be a productive member of society is a difficult job.  And it’s made more difficult since you may not see the payoff at age 7, 14, or even 21.

But I also have no doubt that it is one the most important jobs you will ever have.

The Tampa Tribune says the Polk County Jail housed more people per capita than any jail in the state in 2006, and ranked fifth in the nation among cites or counties with their own jail systems.

Sixty percent of the crimes committed on USF’s main campus are from people who have no affiliation with the school.  Bruce Benson is USF’s newly named director of public safety, and he has some ideas to keep these troublemakers outside the grounds.  The university plans to erect gates at a six entrances and close them between midnight and 6am.  Sometimes all you need is a bit of common sense.

Even Lakeland businesses are counting down to Tampa’s Super Bowl.

Polk Businesses Should Get Lots Of Spillover When Fans Flood Tampa

“The great thing for a family, if they stay in Lakeland, they’re halfway to events in the Super Bowl and also close to Disney,” [executive director of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee Reid] Sigmon said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there are groups already reserving. There are people that, as soon as the game is awarded, start searching for hotel rooms.”

While I don’t believe the economic impact is in the “hundreds of millions,” there is no question that hosting a Super Bowl gives some local businesses extra spending money. Again from The Ledger:

“There’s no question about it: Anytime you can attract tourists who can spend a lot of money, that’s what you want,” [executive director of Polk County Sports Marketing Mark] Jackson said.

Businesses most likely to benefit will be those located along the I-4 corridor, which allows visitors to get to the game on Super Bowl Sunday within an hour, even if they’re staying near the Disney area, he said.

Polk might have one advantage with fans who find a room close to Disney and the other Orlando attractions, Jackson said. Many, particularly those who come with families, tend to stay a little longer.

“These people turn it into a minivacation. They don’t come down for a couple of days. They come down for a week.”

From the Polk County BOCC webpage:

Polk County is strategically located in the center of the Florida peninsula, about equal distance from the east and west coast and half way between the Georgia-Florida border and the Southern tip of the peninsula. Polk lies on the Interstate-4 corridor, 25 miles east of Tampa and 35 miles southwest of Orlando. As the geographic center of Florida, it is estimated that more than 7.5 million people reside within a 100 mile radius of Polk County. This is one of the largest concentrations of population in the southeast.

According to the Tampa Bay Partnership, Polk County is part of the Tampa Bay area on the West Coast of Florida. Ok, cool. Go Tampa Bay!!

But according to myRegion.org, Polk is part of the Central Florida region, which extends all the way past Disney World to the Space Coast and Daytona Beach. Oh, Ok. Go Tourism!!

Strategically located indeed. Well which is it? Can it really be part of both? Perhaps the county should be a region all to itself. According to Tribune reporter Billy Townsend, it seems that many of you on this end of the I-4 corridor act as if Polk County is your crazy uncle:

It’s the county of oranges, phosphate mountains and trailer parks. It’s where they spread hepatitis through meth use, once elected a white supremacist sheriff, and often find themselves in perp walks on Orlando or Tampa Bay TV.

Never mind that Polk ranks ninth in population among Florida’s 67 counties, or that rapid growth and commercial investment have made it ground zero for debates over the future of shipping, the I-4 corridor and higher education priorities.

It’s still just the place you drive through quickly on the way to Disney World, right?

I don’t know. There seem to be some great people over there. And they seem to have a decent number o’ bloggers (plus look at the sidebar).

When people ask you about Polk County, what do you tell them? That is, uh, does anyone ever ask you about Polk County? Which side of the state does that place belong? Suburb of Orlando? Suburb of Tampa? Do you visit that area? Is that area the least bit interesting or important to you?