Orient Jail

The cold concrete and fluorescent lights of the Orient Road jail were a sharp contrast to the cheery disposition of its workers. I found myself often wondering how one could maintain a chipper disposition when dealing with such hardened individuals. I myself found it hard to even concentrate on our guide’s discussion when faced with a woman being led in handcuffed in a cocktail dress knowing full well that she wasn’t going out for a business lunch at 2 p.m.
Once I got past the fact that we were amongst criminals charged with a multitude of different crimes, I became amazed at the professionalism of the Orient Jail workers as well as the amazing detail they put into dealing with criminals. The process of booking a person into the jail was very simply put by our guide and shed light on a process that I was unfamiliar with. Not only did I learn how people were booked into the jail, but I learned that throughout the entire process their actions are documented. The documented actions would be a great supplement to a story about a recently arrested criminal. In addition to a police report obtained from the Sheriff’s office, I could also use a Criminal Incident Report from the jail to add to my story.
I’m still a bit unclear as to how much video is open to the public. As our guide told us, the video of the inmate being tossed from his wheelchair was all over the news, but would a video clip of a prisoner in lockdown be able to be released to the public. When we went into lockdown and witnessed the prisoner on suicide watch, I wondered if the video that was being filmed from the corner would be able to be shown in the nightly newscast if the prisoner was of prominence.

Hillsborough Sheriff's Office

My trip to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was very informative in regards to where I could go to find public records related to criminal incidents. Before my visit to the office, I was under the impression that if an item was not available on the sheriff office’s Web Site that I could only obtain such information from the public library. My knowledge of where to obtain pubic records was very small before my participation in this class and the visit to the sheriff’s office was very beneficial.

Not only was I able to learn where I could obtain crime-related reports, but I learned about what types of information was available to me. I took great interest in the fact that search warrants are open to public inspection and include rather detailed information that could create a great lead-in for a developing news story. In addition to search warrants, I learned a great deal about incident reports. Before my visit, I surmised what had occurred from the brief information located on the arrest report online. The incident report would be a great research tool in regards to developing the events of the story. I especially enjoy the narrative style incident report written by the police officer on the final page of the report.

It probably wasn’t what Mr. Calloway intended, but his admission that it was possible for journalists to be on top of a story if not ahead of the police by listening to police scanners. Before thinking of a police scanner as a useful tool in learning where a good story might be, I associated scanners with nosy neighbors. Also, it was very good to know that videotape taken within the police station could be subject to public records. I am now debating the idea of requesting video of some friends’ arrests.

Public Meeting #1

I attended the Hillsborough County Code Enforcement Special Magistrate on Septemeber 15, 2008 at 9 a.m. at 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. On the agenda, the county board discussed matters of burglar alarms, solid waste removal and landscaping cases.

            Most of the cases that were addressed did not have a witness or defendant present despite the fact that they were told about today’s meeting and eventual ruling. In regards to burglar alarm cases, most of the cases were in violation of County Ordinance 04-16 Section 10-B-4. Section 10-B-4 details the fact that when a residence that contains a burglar alarm goes off falsely, then it is the responsibility of the property owner to pay a fine for police services in addressing the false alarm.

            Generally, the fine for most cases ranged between $100 and $150. However, if a property owner did not pay the fines for a false alarm, then the magistrate would determine whether to impose more fines. In most cases a $25 a day fine would be imposed until the original fine was paid. In one case, Dorothy Ferguson arrived to present her case as to why her fine was not paid. In her case, there was no clear understanding of an annual fee that was to cover false alarm fines. Her fine was cut in half and was paid at the court.

            One case that stood out to me that seemed newsworthy was the case of James V. Cadicamo. The false alarm fines imposed upon him totaled over $4000 and were still unpaid. Instead of James Cadicamo appearing to present his reasoning why he did not pay the fines, his father Vincent Cadicamo arrived on his behalf. Vincent claimed that he had information that linked the false alarm on a situation where the FBI broke into his son’s home in order to arrest his son. Vincent had tried to get in touch with the FBI in efforts to resolve this isssue before appearing before the magistrate, but did not receive any response from the FBI. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office does not have a record online of James’s recent arrest; however, he does have one charge of domestic battery.

            The final case that I witnessed involved a solid waste management case that the county had brought against Creative Concrete & Excavation. The company had been operating in Brandon, Fla. as a solid waste collector by collecting and disposing of its excavation trash. The county has a system set up where only three comapanies are allowed to compete for solid waste removal. Creative Concrete in that regard had no legal right to begin collecting trash from the curbside of its Brandon excavation sites..

Matt Doig

From the discussion presented by Matt Doig, I learned a great deal about the power of investigative journalism. I was impressed by the fact that the Sarasota Herald-Tribune was such a powerful force in enacting change through investigative journalism. The concept of the story detailing teachers sleeping with students over a span of time rather than one case in particular was very enterprising. Not being a native citizen of Florida, the small size of a town such as Sarasota in comparison to Tampa would make me doubt their ability to take on larger newspapers in terms of good investigative reporting. However, the reporting on teachers sleeping with students affecting legislative bodies to enact new laws proves to me that no paper is too small to make a difference in the larger community. Before today's speech, I believed that in order to work on high profile stories and make a difference in the community would require myself to move to a large city.

In addition to learning about the capabilities of investigative reporting to enact change, I learned about use of public records. Unless I believe it to be a long-running or story of great importance, I believe I will steer clear of requesting national public records. The case of the 9/11 terrorist plane instructor was a great anecdote in describing the length of time it takes some national records to arrive in a journalist’s hands. In contrast, Doig did encourage me to not give up when it came to my quest of unearthing public documents. He made it seem that if you pressed hard enough and threw the law books at agencies that you were requesting records from that sooner or later they would cave in to your request.

One topic that I would have liked Doig to go into more detail about would have been doing investigative work in other states. I would move out of Florida for a job and am a bit nervous when it comes to being understanding of other state’s public records law. If I were to move to another state, would I have to learn the state’s system specifically or are there standards which apply nationally that I could adhere to.

Adria Gonzalez

From the presentation by Adria Gonzalez, I learned a great deal about what may happen in real life circumstances when it comes to requesting public affairs records and how to resolve such problems. I worried about possible fees when it came to requesting records. My concerns entailed how legal it was for agencies to charge fees and what would be considered reasonable when it came to paying for such fees. I also was unaware of how much information I needed to present to agencies when requesting such records. I feared that if it were known that I was part of a press agency that I would be denied public records based on my occupation. 

 

Adria’s organization the First Amendment Foundation will be a great outlet if I ever need help in disputing a request for public records. It is always troublesome when you encounter a problem with a company and no one is able to resolve it that works within the company. Adria’s company will be a great go-to when it comes to finding avenues to get the records that I need. Not only will her agency be a great service if I encounter problems, but also Adria gave great tips when encountering a roadblock by putting everything in writing that you produce and getting every problem from a company put into writing so that you can forward it to the attorney general and local news agencies which would hopefully help resolve the problem.

 

Only because of time constraints did this occur, but I feel the presentation did not cover Sunshine Laws thoroughly.