BrowardBeat's Buddy Nevins zeroes-in on Broward pols' hypocrisy over red-light cameras -and Angelo Castillo's name comes quickly to mind among some

Where's that red-light camera warning sign?
Looking west on W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. approaching N.W 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach, Florida. About 6:50 p.m. on April 24, 2011.
Photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Where did you say that red-light camera warning sign was, again?
No, it's not that silver-colored one next to the curb, that the Merge/Bike lane sign. Looking west on W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach, Florida. April 24, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


Oh, there you are, red-light camera warning sign, intentionally placed right between two trees!
You only see the sign above because of the reflection of my camera flash, there are no street lights nearby. You'd almost say they were hiding it, yes?
Looking west on W. Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W 10th Terrace, Hallandale Beach, Florida. April 24, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.


My own comments about Buddy Nevins' new post on red-light cameras at BrowardBeat, which I first read about around 10:15 p.m. Monday night, follow his own critical comments.

I read it while watching a new episode of NBC-TV's terrific and re-configured Law & Order: Los Angeles, which had a common element of the real-life murder last November of noted Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen thrown in, which I immediately caught despite not having read about the episode online or in print, but still felt uncomfortable about.
Chasen was the victim of a random shooting by a guy on a bicycle; in the episode, it was a hit.

Still, it was a hell of a compelling story well-told and is exactly why everyone I know is watching this show after the recent cast changes were made, with cast regular Alfred Molina sent from the DA's office to the detective squad, replacing the departed Skeet Ulrich, whose character was killed on the show a few weeks back after it finally returned to the air.

Dick Wolf Must Really Hate Skeet Ulrich
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/04/dick_wolf_must_really_hate_ske.html

Watching LOLA after Fox-TV's The Chicago Code is definitely a habit I could grow accustomed to. http://www.fox.com/chicagocode/

TheWrap
Ronni Chasen Laid to Rest, but Hollywood Can't Shake the Shock
By Sharon Waxman & Dominic Patten
Published: November 21, 2010 @ 10:31 am

They came by the hundreds from all across the country and within Hollywood. Every senior PR professional and most entertainment journalists but also composers, executives and movie stars -- to pay respects to Ronni Chasen, laying to rest the beloved publicist just five days after she was killed.

The primary message at the packed midday funeral service in the bright, fall air was of shock and loss. Elegant eulogies conveyed how fresh the grief was -- not yet a week removed from her senseless killing at the hands of a person or people still at large.

Read the rest of the post at: http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/indignation-hollywood-friends-set-bury-ronni-chasen-22675

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Broward Beat
TV Highlights Hypocrisy Over Red Light Cameras
By Buddy Nevins

Channel 6-NBC Miami proved tonight that elected officials who support red light cameras are hypocrites.

The report by Willard Shepard featured the red light camera Pembroke Pines has installed westbound at Pembroke Road and SW 129^th Avenue. This is at the southern entrance of Century Village.

I want to see any official claim how these particular Pembroke Pines cameras are being used as a safety measure. Their nose is growing.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/tv-highlights-hypocracy-over-red-light-cameras/

There was no video of this story on NBC-6 website as of 11:30 p.m. Monday night; I'll re-check Tuesday and post it on the blog if found so you all can see it for yourselves.

See also:
Broward Politics
Red light camera spokesman didn't like yesterday's post
By Brittany Wallman April 19, 2011 10:37 AM
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2011/04/red_light_camera_spokesman_did.html

Per the above, I should mention that every time I have posted something on my blog about the mendacious red-light camera situation in Broward County or Florida, esp. anything that is at all critical of them -which is each post on red-light cameras!- I quite suddenly get lots of hits from the home of American Traffic Solutions Inc., i.e the Phoenix area. Hmm-m...

Also, per the arrogant, condescending and patronizing tone of the note above in the Brittany Wallman post from Pembroke Pines Comm. Angelo Castillo -did I leave out an adjective?- as I stated recently to some of you via email, I'm really starting to fully grasp the full-dimension of my misplaced positive words about Castillo last year, as he has increasingly become for me the poster boy for the pro-govt., know-it-all Nanny State in Broward County that brooks no disagreement from its citizens.

Castillo's 'my way or the highway' attitude expressed in that note above is precisely the opposite of what an elected official should be saying right now in Broward, and, again, is about the last thing I'd have thought I'd be hearing out of him, based on his comments to me a year ago.
But make them he does, and with increasing frequency!

In one new story after another on Pembroke Pines -where my youngest sister lives- he somehow keeps finding himself on the side of everyone but the average taxpayer, having supported one pink elephant or govt-funded fiasco after another, and thus far, at least as the stories have been reported, there never seems to be even the slightest amount of doubt on his part about his actions, words or votes.

It must be great to be so sure of yourself, despite the observable, quantifiable facts all around you. General Custer must've had those traits in spades I think.

Frankly, I've wondered for the six months since Election Day why the Miami Herald never gave his truly disastrous County Comm. run last year the full Quincy, M.E. post-mortem it deserved, the sort that we have become accustomed to in other cities, since Castillo seems by most accounts to have run THE single-worst election campaign of any Broward candidate last year, esp. for one so well-financed and known.

The final totals for that three-way primary: Sharief 6,973 Castillo 2,415

Despite he and I having exchanged several friendly emails early last year, Castillo never once contacted me on when he was actually coming into HB to talk to the residents of the city living in that District 8, which had formerly been represented by Diana Wasserman-Rubin, until she was FINALLY arrested.

(Frankly, I don't know that he ever visited, since nobody I know ever heard about such a thing, which explains a lot in retrospect.)

I'd have been more than happy to post the meeting info here and remind people in emails, just as I would've been for (eventual winner) Barbara Sharief as well, because I wanted HB residents to take full advantage of the opportunity, however fleeting.
But despite having all my contact info, he never did anything to communicate.

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REMINDER: Don't forget that Comm. Barbara Sharief will be speaking at HB Comm. Keith London's Resident Forum at the HB Cultural Center Tuesday at 6 p.m.
http://www.co.broward.fl.us/Commission/District8/Pages/Default.aspx

Sharief has been a voice of logic, reason and sanity on the red-light camera issue, and has refused to be intimidated, or swallow whole the laughably bogus claims of local officials like Hallandale Beach and Pembroke Pines' mayors, Joy Cooper and Frank Ortis, that fall apart as soon as you examine them for facts, not spin.

It's telling that like Buddy Nevins says in his post, if there are problematic intersections that are responsible for a larger number of speeding-related accidents than seems reasonable, why aren't local city managers and mayors directing local police resources there to make their presence felt and change the dynamic?

The sort of thing that would have been common sense years ago in other cities I have lived in like Bloomington, Evanston and Wilmette, and which is still probably the first thing that happens in the cities and towns where many of you reading this now live.

That doesn't happen here in South Florida, though, for the very same reason that the HBPD doesn't care about all the speeding on U.S.-1, esp. at night, and while you are more likely to see someone pulled-over there by an Aventura policeman than you are a HB one. They don't want to do what's simple and necessary.

Instead, as I've mentioned so many times here, with photos, what happens is that rather than locate the second red-light camera in HB somewhere where it might actually do some public safety good, it's deliberately placed in a location, one block east of I-95, in order to nab drivers eager to get onto I-95 and out of the daily HB gridlock.

So tell me -since Mayor Cooper and City Manager Mark Antonio won't say publicly- why are there NEVER any HB police cars stationed near there if it really is a problem?

If Mayor Cooper were really interested in public safety, as she said she was a few weeks ago in her laughable performance with Mayor Ortis before the Broward County Commission, to cite but one example, why is it that for well over a year, despite everyone in the city seemingly knowing about it, for a few blocks on one of the three streets that directly lead to the HB Police Dept, it's pitch-black at night?

Yes, pitch-black, just like the Police Dept. and City Hall parking lots were so frequently for 6-9 months at a time, numerous times over the past few years, a subject I frequently mentioned at City Commission meetings and which the myopic and mendacious HB Police Chief at the time, Thomas Magill, completely ignored, along with the mayor and the city commission.

(The same way Magill continually ignored the broken parking lot light nearest the ONE security camera in front on the U.S.-1 side of the municipal building, having been out 99% of the time since the security camera were installed over three years ago. It's still out as of last night. And what about the city's liability in case something unfortunate happens? City Attorney David Jove takes the who-cares route, ignoring that possibility. month-after-month, year-after-year. Personally, I don't think the city's insurance company will take such a happy-go-lucky view, which is sure problematic for city taxpayers in the future in the event of a lawsuit.)

That pitch-black street would be Old Dixie Highway, the same street that's right near the city's largest park, Blusten Park, which many kids walk to and ride their bikes to and from everyday. The park's lights are usually turned off about 9:15 and then it's every man -or kid- for himself.

Safety is not what they care about in HB, revenue is.

Above, (diagonal) Old Dixie Highway looking north from S.E. 7th Street towards the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. HQ and parking lot on the right, two blocks away. The lights you see on the left are the auxilary lights at the city's municipal pool at Blusten Park. Hallandale Beach, Florida.
April 24, 2011 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

The photo above was taken WITH a flash, otherwise you'd see nothing but arc lights emanating from the pool area.

My prior posts on red-light cameras can be found at
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search?q=red-light

Because of the number of posts I've written on the subject, and the particular template and design I use on my blog, after you click the URL and go to the most recent one, continue to the end and right below the Google Ad Sense ad you will see "Older Posts."
Click that to see prior post on the subject in reverse chron order.

Now as before, facts seldom if ever matter in red-light camera debate in Hallandale Beach. Instead, it's just a pathetic case of "Show me the money!"

South Florida Sun-Sentinel video:
Vehicles running red lights -30 seconds, no sound.

This past Saturday, after having breakfast and talking local politics and current events with a friend over at the Denny's on Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W. 10th Terrace, I walked a block or two over to the scene of the crime.
Or should I say, what will soon be the scene of a highway robbery.

I spent about 25 minutes walking around and taking new video and photos of Hallandale Beach's two red-light cameras, the second of which goes into action on March 1st on Hallandale Beach Blvd. & N.W. 10th Terrace, right in front of the IHOP and across from... yes, the Denny's.

The two blocks I watched were to snap some shots of the city's mobile electronic message board flashing the news that the camera goes LIVE on Tuesday.

The electronic message board that was directly below the permanently-affixed FDOT message board above 1-95 that is partially obstructed by tree branches.

And where is the required permanent warning sign with the silhouette of the traffic signal with no mention that it's all the handiwork of the City of Hallandale Beach?
Oh, well, this being Hallandale Beach and all, the sign is between two trees.

Think for a moment or two of all the places in HB where you see drivers routinely make rolling right turns that could be dangerous for other drivers, pedestrians or bikers.

HBB & NW 10th Terrace, which connects to Ansin Blvd -home of the faux newspaper, the Sun-Times- would be near the bottom of such a list.
So why is it there?

Because this city, in the form of the mayor and her see-no-evil puppets, Dotty Ross, Anthony A. Sanders & Alexander Lewy, want to make a lot of revenue from local residents eager to get onto I-95.
(So why have there never been any police officers stationed near there? Exactly!)

IF it's only about public safety, as the mayor says, logic would dictate that the two cameras, if we are to have them, ought to be located at the scene of the two intersections home to the most traffic accidents, right?

So what are the THOSE intersections?

The Hallandale Beach Police Dept. ought to be telling us.
Reporters ought to be asking them.

Shouldn't we already know the answer to that question if Mayor Cooper and City Manger Antonio were really only interested in public safety?

But a number of weeks ago, with the mayor and city manger on the dais, the late Police Chief, Thomas Magill, intentionally misled the City Commission and the public in the Commission Chambers while talking about that more infamous red-light camera on U.S.-1 and hallandale Beach Blvd., saying that a fatality had taken place there.

The lie was caught only because in responding to some fact-based questions posed by Comm. Keith London, the only person who seemed to know ANY genuine facts about the subject, when London again asked where the fatality took place, Magill grudgingly admitted that it was, in fact, on U.S.-1 & S.E. 3rd Street -near the public library and the entrance of Gulfstream Park Race Track and the Village at Gulfstream Park retail complex.

For those of you reading this post from outside the area, that's exactly one block from HB City Hall and the Police Dept. HQ!

From where I sat in the room, Cooper and Antonio seemed perfectly content to let Magill lie to the public and not correct him, because he was saying what they wanted to hear.
Folks, THAT'S what we're up against in this city.

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-redlight-cameras-problems-20110219,0,3591958.story

Red light cameras plagued by problems across South Florida

By Scott Wyman
February 20, 2011

Red light cameras have become a legal nightmare for cities across South Florida.

It's costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars to defend camera-related citations in court with the result being that some cities are spending thousands more than they are collecting in fines.

The state Legislature is considering pulling the plug.

The networks of traffic cameras installed from Pembroke Pines to Fort Lauderdale have failed to live up to promises that thousands of drivers would be caught running red lights and that cities would collect millions of dollars in fines.

An increasing number of drivers are fighting their tickets and winning. Courts in Palm Beach and Broward counties have stunned city officials with rulings that severely limit enforcement. Cities have been forced to devote extra attorneys and cops to pursue tickets, and to readjust budgets as reality overtakes their once rosy projections about fines.

"The rulings have been going against us, and it's been very labor-intensive for our department," Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley said.

As a result, some communities like Boca Raton and Delray Beach have delayed plans to install cameras.

Still, supporters believe the legal problems will be sorted out over the next year and that the cameras will prove helpful in reducing accidents and improving traffic safety.

"For me, it has always been a safety issue period," Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper said. "We have cameras in our parks and other public facilities, and this is a natural progression of technology to enforce our laws. We have busy roadways and a lot of pedestrians, and I believe it will make the roads safer."

When state lawmakers agreed to allow red light cameras last year, cities thought ticketing would be as simple as what happens when someone speeds through a toll booth without paying. Officials were convinced that the law allowed them to snap pictures of cars running red lights along with their license plates, and simply mail tickets to the owners.

But defense lawyers have been winning decisions in both Palm Beach and Broward that require much more proof.

Judges and hearing officers have required photographic evidence that the car had not entered the intersection before the light turned red. Tickets have been thrown out because officers did not have certified copies of vehicle registrations.

Cases also have been dismissed because cities couldn't prove the employees who review tapes for violations are certified to do so. Cases involving drivers turning right on red without stopping have been all but impossible to prosecute.

One major setback occurred Jan. 5 when Broward cities had 53 red light violations scheduled for trial. In the first case, the court rejected Pembroke Pines' evidence as inadmissible and unreliable. The rest of the cases were dismissed or continued as a result.

"We are in uncharted waters," said Sam Goren, Pembroke Pines' city attorney. "We believe the statute is explicit, and the cities are making every effort to follow the statute. As this evolves, I think it will become more consistent."

City attorneys met with Broward's chief judge two weeks ago in an unsuccessful effort to set guidelines for court cases. They now plan to find a case to take to the regional appellate court or the state Supreme Court. They want a written decision that lays out uniform standards.

Cities that planned to add cameras are debating what to do as a result of the questions.

Delray Beach and Boca Raton signed contracts to install cameras at key intersections, but are now waiting until the legal dust settles. Pompano Beach were scheduled to discuss adding cameras, but will now wait to look at all issues raised.

"There were some issues, a number of legal things, that were mulling around. We don't want to implement the program until those iron out," said Boca Raton's assistant city manager Mike Woika.

Boynton Beach, however, is moving forward. Its cameras could be operational as soon as April. Palm Beach County is pressing ahead, as well. Its first camera is in place at Powerline and Palmetto Park roads west of Boca Raton and within a month could begin issuing warnings. Two more cameras are planned at as yet undetermined intersections in southern and central Palm Beach County.

"We are continuing to go forward," said Palm Beach County Engineer George Webb.

American Traffic Solutions, which has contracts across both counties to manage red-light cameras, is urging cities to stay the course. Its representatives are telling cities that Florida's court rulings have been out of step with how other states have enforced red-light camera violations.

"I don't think things are quite as dire as they seem, but they are a lot rockier than expected," said Michael McAllister, a lobbyist who represents ATS.

But Fort Lauderdale illustrates just how rocky the situation has become for cities.

Fort Lauderdale started its red-light enforcement in September and issued about 70 tickets a day for the first three months. But in December, the number of tickets issued each day dropped to 30. The average last month was 15 tickets.

While the number of tickets is issued is plunging, the costs are soaring.

Fort Lauderdale's Police Department is spending more time than planned reviewing tapes and preparing evidence files for court. There is now a backlog of 1,000 cases. The city also has had to assign attorneys to prosecute cases at the court's direction instead of relying on police officers as is done with other traffic citations.

City commissioners are closely monitoring the situation because their budget depended on bringing in $3 milllion from red-light camera tickets. Now they think they may collect as little as just $500,000 in light of the higher costs and fewer-than-expected tickets.

Pembroke Pines has similar cost concerns. That city has received $76,294 from citations, but the red-light camera program has cost $83,337. Legal fees encompassed $33,189 of that, with the rest going to ATS to manage the cameras.

Cities also are running into problems installing cameras.

Broward County has not allowed cities to use its right-of-way for cameras or agreed to let cities tie cameras into its traffic signal equipment.

County commissioners will discuss that idea March 1, but Commissioner Barbara Sharief, a red light camera critic, also wants her colleagues to discuss supporting the move to have the Legislature repeal the law allowing cameras. And some commissioners have raised concerns about the cost that red light cameras could have on the court system.

State Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, and state Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-New Port Richey, have proposed repeal and want the camera program ended by July. Garcia describes the cameras as an "unwarranted, Big Brother initiative."

Red light camera supporters say they want to return the focus to safety. They cite a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that cameras in 14 large cities in other parts of the country have reduced the rate of fatal crashes by 24 percent between 1996 and 2004.

"The whole purpose of this is a life-safety issue," said Bruce Roberts, a Fort Lauderdale city commissioner and its former police chief. "Red light cameras have been used successfully around the country, and behavior changes and modifies as people realize the cameras are there."

Staff writers Brittany Wallman, Larry Barszewski, Andy Reid Erika Pesantes and Ariel Barkhurst contributed to this report.

Reader comments at:

http://discussions.sun-sentinel.com/20/soflanews/fl-redlight-cameras-problems-20110219/10

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I'll have the red-light camera photos I snapped here on the blog by Saturday.

Killer convicted! Illegal immigrant from El Salvador sentenced to 60 years in prison by D.C. jury for 2001 murder of Chandra Levy

Ingmar Guandique convicted of first-degree murder of former intern Chandra Levy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/11/22/VI2010112204678.html

Washington Post
Guandique sentenced to 60 years for Levy murder
More than nine years after former federal intern Chandra Levy disappeared, a D.C. Superior Court jury found Ingmar Guandique guilty of first-degree murder in her death
By Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 11, 2011; 10:37 PM

Susan Levy stood about two feet from the man convicted of killing her daughter Chandra and wasted no time telling Ingmar Guandique what she thought of him.

"Because of you, young man, you have caused us to live a Holocaust again," Levy said in a packed, hushed and rapt D.C. Superior courtroom Friday. "You have sentenced our entire family to days of sadness, tears and heartache. You are a hideous creature."

Levy stood at a podium, with Guandique two seats away, separated by his two attorneys. At times, Levy addressed Guandique directly and pointed at him. "How could you take my daughter's life? Did you really take her life? Look me in my eyes and tell me."

Read the rest of the story, along with many other related features, at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/11/AR2011021103591.html

Chandra Levy belonged to the same sports gym I belonged to in downtown Washington, D.C., including that time period when she went "missing."

"Missing" -what a completely meaningless f-ing word when it applies to someone you have a connection to, no matter how tangential.

That "missing" photo of Chandra Levy, the one you you think you saw a million times on TV newscasts and insipid tabloid entertainment shows ten years ago, the one that was taped in the gym's front window on Connecticut Avenue north of M Street, and the other branch west on M Street towards CBS News' Washington bureau, that I and all the other gym members passed by everyday, well guess what, we saw it two million times.

And speaking of "missing," where were all the Lynda Meier "missing" posters in Hallandale Beach retail stores and restaurants and parks in the days immediately after she disappeared last summer? Oh, that's right, there weren't ANY.
Oh, so NOW you understand a little bit why that Hallandale Beach Police Dept. royal fuck-up last year under Police Chief Thomas Magill, that unprofessional Keytone Kop who threatened city residents and who used city funds and resources in an outrageous attempt to frame two innocent people to impress his dumb-ass boss, Mike Good -the useless former city manger that helped ruin this city through his sheer ineptness and incompetency, along with mayor Joy Cooper's full cooperation- an effort for which Magill was NEVER publicly punished or prosecuted for, made my head explode month-after-month?
Yes, Mendacious Magill!

See my July 1st, 2010 post, What's THE worst possible thing you can do during an active search for a 'missing person'? Another tale of HB incompetency under Police Chief Magillhttp://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-worst-possible-thing-you-can-do.html

Yes, that jaw-dropping fiasco last year where the HB Police Dept. NEVER put up ANY posters at ANY of the dozens of restaurants, retail stores, parks that residents visit daily, in the days immediately after Meier's disappearance, where a possible witness may've been found. Not one.

They NEVER even so much as put one up at next door City Hall, but sure as hell, there was a taped missing poster for someone's pet at the time, right next to the City Hall front door.
But not for Lynda Meier.

Yes, I have THAT incriminating photo of the missing pet flyer at City Hall, just like I have the photos of all the dozens and dozens of storefront windows that had nothing in them about this missing HB resident, even though store/restaurant owners and managers I spoke to all over the city unanimously said they'd have put one up IF the HB Police Dept. or HB Crime Watch had merely asked them to.But they NEVER asked!!!

And where exactly was the HB Crime Watch crew under their brown-nosing dear leader, Alexander Lewy, who never said anything the least bit critical about what Magill was doing or saying -or not doing- all those years when he was police chief, and alive?
Sitting on their fat asses!

They sure the hell weren't passing out flyers at busy intersections or stores or restaurants like they would be in other cities across the country in the first 72 hours, when time is of the utmost essence in looking for her and witnesses.
Yes, now that I've given you more context, the parts of the Lynda Meier puzzle and the City of Hallandale Beach's abject incompetency are starting to become clearer to you now, aren't they?
Me, I wish that illegal alien Ingmar Guandique was going to be executed next week.
The more painful, the better.

I'd be happy to pull the switch, push the button or tell him for the last time, "Adios!"

As of today, Friday February 11th, 2011, Hallandale Beach resident Lynda Robyn Meier has now been missing for 251 days, and the city's incompetent Police Dept. has still NEVER publicly posted one missing poster of her at a site where HB residents would have seen it.

Extra, extra, read all about it...
But not in the sleepwalking South Florida news media of 2011, eh friends?

I could tell you which print and TV reporters/columnists/editors/producers know all about that scandal in Hallandale Beach, but who have consciously said or written NOTHING about it.
Just ask me their names, I'll be happy to tell you.
And watch how rarely the words illegal alien ever come up in the Chandra Levy murder story over the weekend.
How utterly predictable it all is.

100 Days Missing: Lynda Meier of Hallandale Beach has been gone for over 14 weeks, so where are all the "missing" flyers around town?

Back on July 1st, even though I then already knew what the sad and damnable answer was to my rhetorical question, I went ahead and asked it here anyway, thinking that perhaps someone else in South Florida had noticed the same queer and unprofessional thing I had:
What's THE worst possible thing you can do during an active search for a 'missing person'? Another tale of HB incompetency under Police Chief Magill

This week, you will all finally see that answer clearly for yourself.

Spoiler Alert: It was right in front of you the entire time!

Mendacious and incompetent Hallandale Beach Police Chief Thomas A. Magill, who continues to make this small ocean-side city in Broward County a never-ending laughingstock thru his self-serving words, highly questionable actions and disreputable behavior.

You will see the dots connected thru the use of contemporaneous photos I've taken since the first few days following the disappearance of forty-year old Hallandale Beach resident Lynda Robin Meier.

If you're any kind of reasonable person, you will be both angry and shocked when you hear what's been going on here for the past 14 weeks: nothing but unfettered incompetency.

The answer to my question of last Friday re Lynda Robin Meier will be answered on Saturday morning

I've fielded quite a lot of emails and phone calls from people over the past week wanting to know what happened regarding my promised email and blog post of last Friday about what I and many other concerned Broward residents believe to be the very troubling and unprofessional situation with the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. and the case of missing Hallandale Beach resident Lynda Robin Meier, missing for exactly FIVE WEEKS today.

I will have the promised words and photos available for your perusal here on my blog Saturday morning.

For those of you who have become accustomed over the years to reading my blog posts as received emails before they ever appear in print here, you need to know that I've decided NOT to send it as an email, due to the number of photos involved, which would likely result in such an email bouncing back from many of your email accounts and rendering my efforts pointless, the last thing that I want.

The simple photos and my accompanying words -and your own natural curiosity and sense of expectations- will paint a very negative picture of the HBPD and some others in the community lo these many weeks.
So be it.

Last Friday I asked in my email and subsequent blog post:
What's THE worst possible thing you can do during an active search for a 'missing person'? Another tale of HB incompetency under Police Chief Magill 

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-worst-possible-thing-you-can-do.html

On Saturday morning, you will finally get your answer -and then some!

What's THE worst possible thing you can do during an active search for a 'missing person'? Another tale of HB incompetency under Police Chief Magill

The following is from an email that was sent out to dozens of concerned citizens of Southeast Broward County and to selected members of the South Florida news media.

-----Just wanted to let you know that I'm in the final steps of finishing up an important post that I will be emailing you on Saturday morning -and subsequently posting to my blog- that you will find of particularly compelling interest and gravity regarding the Hallandale Beach Police Dept.I'm currently double-checking some of the dozens of photos I have and sequencing them to better tell the tale I have to share.

I believe that when you read it, you will be just be as shocked and indignant as I was when I first came to realize that this particular "situation" was being handled in the completely unprofessional way it was.
Sadly, it's just the latest all-too-true story in this city that badly needs people in charge more devoted to public service than self-service and cronyism.

I say indignant for a reason, because what has actually happened here, after-the-fact, to someone who lives in this community, could just as easily happen to you or someone you care for.

It's a post that I wish i wasn't having to write, but circumstances dictate that someone in this community publicly reveal something that's been flying under-the-radar for weeks, and since nobody else has stepped-up to the plate, I'm the one who's going to take my swings -and believe me, I fully intend on connecting.

If you can possibly manage it, please make plans to be present at the Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting next Wednesday morning, July 7th, at 10 a.m. for Public Comments, and be sure to bring what I'm sure will be your growing sense of outrage, too.
You won't regret it, but you do need to be heard, too.

You see, unless something quite unexpected transpires in the next few days, after years and years of unacceptable behavior and performance, and Mayor Cooper and the HB City Commission completely ignoring the self-evident facts in front of them, there's finally going to be some public accountability and reckoning for this community's beleaguered citizens for the unethical actions, criminal behavior and unsound policies of Hallandale Beach Police Chief Thomas Magill.

When you connect-the-dots on his past indefensible actions, which I have a few newspaper articles below to refresh your memories, and add them to the latest bit of information I'll have to share with you, perhaps you will now finally agree with me that it's long past time for mendacious and intentionally deceitful Thomas Magill to hit the road for good -and NOT look back.

Magill's longstanding willingness to intentionally mislead and lie to the public -as well as and our elected representatives who are legally responsible for providing oversight- without breaking a sweat, as I personally witnessed two weeks ago, only makes his documented corruption and incompetency more galling.

Not that any of this has ever bothered Mayor Cooper or former HB City Manager Mike Good, though, since they have NEVER once held a PUBLIC forum or meeting to discuss any aspect of his behavior, conduct or management over the years.

There's a very good reason why Magill was re-hired at a City Commission meeting without it ever appearing on the public agenda, in a second-floor City Hall room without TV cameras to record the proceedings.

As I've said so often, that's not by accident, that's the way that Cooper and Good planned it. Oh, and did I mention that I'm finally going to get FDLE involved in the Magill picture, too? You bet I am!
The more the merrier.

What better way to connect-the-dots on Magill and the HB Police Dept. that far too frequently plays the role of mean-spirited Keystone Kops, than to have FDLE finally have to get off-the-dime and either do something tangible in the way of a formal investigation of him, or, quit their bluffing.

One way or the other, though, they're going to have to do something, because things are changing in this city and the incompetent and corrupt who've long held sway at HB City Hall -and their minions- can no longer brazenly dare the community to stop them from their misdeeds or foolish policy follies.

You and I are calling their bluff and raising the stakes, and we are pushing back -HARD!

I will give you this hint about Saturday's email, though:
What's THE worst possible thing you can do during an active search for a 'missing person'?
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In case you forgot what Thomas Magill was all about -he tried to frame two innocent people and used taxpayer dollars to do it- or how poorly the story about the settlement was covered, let's go back into the South Beach Hoosier Time Machine.

Also, when is the Sun-Sentinel going to finally admit that they were "had" in their foolish rush-to-judgment editorial?
Four years and nine months and counting...

I hardly need to mention that the Herald has NEVER written a single story about the settlement, which ran on the front page of the Local section of the Sun-Sentinel.

_______________

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbhallandale0128sbjan28,0,2207842.story

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Hallandale to pay to settle one of two former police officers' lawsuits
By John Holland
January 28, 2008

HALLANDALE BEACH - City commissioners have agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging Police Chief Thomas Magill falsified evidence, a city board held an illegal meeting and detectives persuaded a felon to lie under oath about a fellow officer.

Mayor Joe Cooper and attorney Alberto Milian, who represents former Hallandale Beach

Police Officer Talous Cirilo, confirmed the city's settlement with Cirilo but would not comment further, citing a confidentiality agreement. However, Cooper said the payment was more than $100,000, including attorney fees.

"I'd love to talk about this and tell people what happened, but unfortunately I can't," Cooper said.

Magill referred questions to City Attorney David Jove, who could not be reached for comment.

The settlement comes less than two months after Cirilo filed two lawsuits against the city, alleging wrongdoing in the department and City Hall. Hallandale officials fired Cirilo, alleging excessive use of force, even though a jury acquitted him on battery charges.

Cooper said the secrecy is warranted because a separate lawsuit, filed in federal court by former acting Police Sgt. Mary Hagopian, has not been settled. She promised to speak about the settlement at a later date "if I'm allowed to."

Magill and City Manager Mike Good fired the officers two years ago after prosecutors charged them with misdemeanor battery on prisoner Michael Brack. Early on April 1, 2005, Brack beat his brother as they fought in a moving car, then attacked officers who tried to intervene, according to arrest records and police reports.

Months after the arrest, a civilian employee said Cirilo choked and used a Taser device excessively on Brack.

More than a year later, the State Attorney's Office charged Cirilo with three misdemeanor battery counts. Hagopian was charged with a misdemeanor for using the stun gun on Brack as he struggled with officers in a jail holding area.

Defense lawyers said Magill orchestrated the charges as part of a vendetta against Hagopian and to show his bosses at City Hall he was a disciplinarian. Testimony at trial showed police employees mishandled two key pieces of evidence - a video surveillance tape and software from the Taser - distorting the confrontation between the officers and Brack, defense lawyers argued.

Prosecutors tried the officers separately, but jurors reached the same conclusion, acquitting them after about 15 minutes of deliberation.

After the acquittals, the officers tried to get their jobs back, but Magill and city officials refused.

In one of the lawsuits, Milian accused the city civil service board of holding an illegal meeting outside City Hall on Oct. 9, 2007, one week before a scheduled hearing on the reinstatement.

Florida law mandates that all meetings be advertised and prohibits public officials from meeting out of the public eye or discussing cases with each other. At least six board members met and discussed the meeting in a "knowing violation" of the law, according to the lawsuit.

Good, the city manager, could not be reached for comment.

Hagopian, a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo, on the force for five years, hired different lawyers and filed in different jurisdictions but made the same argument: Magill pressured his internal affairs officers and detectives to manipulate evidence and coerce false statements out of Brack so he could fire the officers and enhance his image as a reformer.

Magill used public money to have officers track down Brack on a Louisiana oil barge, where he ended up after leaving Broward County and forfeiting his bail, both lawsuits assert.

The State Attorney's office dropped all the assault charges against Brack, including the attack on his brother, then used him to testify against the officers.

The chief temporarily assigned several officers to internal affairs without any training, for the sole purpose of building a false case against the officers, Hagopian's lawyer Rhea Grossman said in court papers.

Magill sparked criminal charges against Hagopian "by preparing directly or at his direction police reports containing false or misleading information," Grossman wrote. Both lawsuits contend Magill elicited false testimony and compiled misleading evidence that he took directly to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch tossed out four counts last month, saying they belong in state court. He refused to dismiss two others, including one alleging Magill presented false information to prosecutors so Hagopian would be arrested. Zloch also let stand a charge that the city had a policy of not training internal affairs officers that, Hagopian argued, "encourages fabricated evidence for the sole purpose of allowing the whims of its police chief to terminate employees."

Milian said last week that the jury's quick acquittals proved the charges were bogus.

"This case was an abomination from the very beginning, and good officers were hurt," Milian said. "It could ultimately have a chilling effect on officers who want to protect themselves and their colleagues but are afraid because they could get in the same type of situation."

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Miami Herald
QUICK VERDICT EXPOSES CASE FOR WHAT IT IS

By Fred Grimm
November 14, 2006

The prosecution's battery case against Talous Cirilo can be measured in minutes. A Broward County jury deliberated 24 minutes Monday before acquitting the former Hallandale Beach cop.

That was fast. But in June, a jury took only 14 minutes to reject the charges against Cirilo's codefendant and fellow cop Mary Hagopian.

No one was surprised by either verdict.

The battery cases against the two officers had been built around the complaint of a bail-jumping, coked-out, drunken brawler who had been busted earlier that evening for pummeling his own brother.

The misdemeanor charges had been filed with a stunning lack of corroborating evidence. No medical evidence. No photographs.

Weeks ago, the judge had tossed out an indiscernible mess of a videotape that supposedly captured the incident.

The only mystery lingering over the case against Talous Cirilo is why, of all the allegations of police brutality tossed around Broward County, the state attorney's office chose to pursue one so empty.

``I don't know what's going on over at the state attorney's office,'' said Dick Brickman, the president of the Broward Police Benevolent Association. He said other cops around the county must now worry that, for a little political juice, the state attorney's office would pursue even the flimsiest of complaints.

AWFUL CASE

This case was very flimsy. On April 1, 2005, a Louisiana drifter named Michael Brack, admittedly drunk and coked up, had been involved in brawl at a strip club, fled that fight, then had turned on his own brother in the back seat of a moving car. The attack was so violent that the rear window of the car was kicked out.

Hallandale Beach cops pulled the car over, arrested Brack for battery and resisting arrest with violence. He continued his nasty behavior, spitting and yelling, at the Hallandale Beach Police Department as Cirilo and Hagopian tried to book him.

Then, Brack claimed, he was choked, kicked, his head knocked to the floor and he was subjected to unwarranted Taser shocks.

Even though Brack miraculously was spared scratches, bruises or injury in his ordeal, prosecutors took him at his word - when they finally tracked him down.

Brack had jumped bail and was a fugitive until prosecutors agreed to drop charges against him if he testified.

An internal investigation by the Hallandale Beach Police Department also came up with a community service aide who said she saw Cirilo choke Brack. But her credibility was hurt by a very lousy work record, including insubordination and refusal to obey orders. And her details clashed with some of Brack's.

That was it. The extent of the prosecution's case.

``It was an awful investigation. It was a rush to judgment. I think the jury verdict bore that out,'' said Alberto Milian, Cirilo's lawyer. Milian blamed the prosecution of the two cops on political pressure out of Hallandale Beach City Hall.

COPS UPSET

Talk about politics and ambition trumping justice circulated among the cadre of Hallandale Beach cops attending the trial Monday. The quick verdict only seemed to validate those theories.

``This case should never, never have been brought to trial,'' Milian said. The lawyer said the June trial against Hagopian and the subsequent lightning verdict had exposed the case for what it was. Or wasn't.

Yet the prosecution brought back Michael Brack for a reprise last week and he was so combative and disagreeable that it was a wonder that jurors didn't pelt him with their shoes. ``You don't have to like him,'' prosecutor Catherine Maus told the jurors Monday, trying desperately to rehabilitate her tarnished star witness. ``He is who he is.''

This case was what it was. And the jurors didn't have to like it.

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Editorial

ISSUE: Two police officers are fired amid accusations of Taser abuse

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Hallandale Beach City Manager Mike Good has provided an object lesson for other agencies on how to handle the controversy over the use of Taser stun guns by police officers. He fired two cops accused of repeatedly using Tasers on a man who was already under arrest, handcuffed and in a holding cell.

That's an apparent misuse of stun guns, which should be employed only when there is no safer way to subdue a suspect. In this case, though, one of the officers is also accused of choking the suspect into unconsciousness, a sign that this may have been a simple case of police brutality in which the Taser was merely one of the tools of abuse.

Both officers have been charged with misdemeanor battery by the Broward County State Attorney's Office. That prompted their attorney to complain, incredibly, that a thorough investigation had not been done and that she's "not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their job."

Maybe she should open her eyes and look around. Police who abuse their authority get charged with crimes quite often. Is brutalizing prisoners her idea of police just doing their job?

Officials say these cops were trained in the use of Tasers, which, when used properly, are a valuable alternative to lethal police service weapons. They should have known they'd be crossing a line if they used Tasers on a confined and handcuffed prisoner.

The officers will have a chance to challenge their dismissals. Whatever the outcome, Good has set a standard that other South Florida agencies should adopt, if they haven't already. Tasers should be used sparingly and only when necessary. Police should be fully trained in their use. And using Tasers as a means of brutalizing suspects shouldn't be tolerated.

BOTTOM LINE: This is the right approach to the controversy over Tasers: keep them in use, but punish officers who abuse them.

The Curious Case of the Missing Crime Statistics: Hallandale Beach mystery explains a lot for what passes for normal here: un-checked incompetency

Are you a detective or do you play one on TV?

If so, can you help solve this Hallandale Beach mystery that explains a lot of what passes for normal here: un-checked incompetency with no fear of accountability.
It's The Curious Case of the Missing Crime Statistics

Step one, go to
http://hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=373

You are here: Home > Departments > Police Department > General Information > City Wide Crime Maps

City Wide Crime Maps Weekly Crime Statistics The City Map is updated on a weekly basis and the information shown on each map is for one week only. The icons on the map are explained at the bottom of the page and each one tells what type of crime occured in the general location it is placed on the map. You may click here to go directly to the Document Center, open the Police Department Folder and click on the: Weekly Crime Statistics

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So click the link.
You are then led to http://fl-hallandalebeach.civicplus.com/DocumentCenterii.aspx?FID=15

And you notice that not a single document there has been updated since January 8th.
Of 2009.
So look for Weekly Crime Statistics amongst the laundry list.

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Police Department

	Background & Record Checks FDLE 170 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Citizens Volunteer Program 412 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Community Oriented Policing 169 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	COMMUNITY OUTREACH HEPBURN CENTER 164 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Complaints-Commendation Brochure 430 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	COPPS brochure public 563 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	CPTED Information 333 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Crime Prevention for Seniors 255 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Crime Prevention Survey 111 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Crime Prevention Tips 527 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Disabled Parking 328 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Fl Bicycle Safety Laws 217 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Gun Safety 192 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Gun Safety for Parents 420 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Illegal Dumping 244 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Juvenile Curfew 655 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Landlord-Tenant Brochure 117 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Neighborhood Crime Watch 149 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	NOISE ORDINANCE 326 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	PAL Brochure 534 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Pal Kids Fit Program 417 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Parking Citation Info 218 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Parking Permit Program Brochure 451 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	POLICE ACADEMY BROCHURE 1130 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Privacy Identity Theft 170 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Ride-Along Program 399 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	RUOK in color 419 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	SALT BROCHURE 342 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Security for Apt Blds 2 337 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Seniors vs Crime 11-06 revised 443 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Shopping Carts 408 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Terrorists What Is Suspicious 148 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	Weed Seed 2 284 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	What every child should know about the law 264 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM
	What to do if stopped by PD 504 KB, Last Uploaded: 1/8/2009 4:51:45 PM

It's not there, is it?
So where are the Weekly Crime Statistics we were promised?

Yes, it's another success story for HB Police Chief Thomas Magill.
Again, this is just an appetizer.
The hearty posts about Thomas Magill and the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. are still to come.