Brian’s Letter to Governor Crist Re. His Programs As Sheriff
Mr. Liam McClay, Office of the Governor
State of Florida, Appointments Board Coordinator
The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida
Re: Hernando County Sheriff Appointment
Dear Mr. McClay:
This is a follow-up to the two St. Petersburg Times newspaper articles e-mailed to your office yesterday, December 27, 2010, regarding the high incidents of homicides and serious crime in Hernando County which occurred in 2010. Please include in my file and make available to the Governor and his Board. Thank you.
I have decided to not just be critical, but also to follow up with some positive programs and recommended actions on how, as the new Hernando County Sheriff, to combat such mayhem (newspaper’s use of word in its title) that Hernando County experienced this past year. I have also attached one of my letters-to-the-editor (below) that was published April 25, 2010, addressing the need for citizen and government responsibility in domestic abuse cases.
Many of the homicides in Hernando County in 2010 alone were family-related, due to a variety of pressures and tensions in our community. Causes stemmed from domestic abuse, marital/couple discord, sibling rivalry, drugs and alcohol, depression, homelessness, unemployment to mental disabilities.
Hernando County suffers from a lack of adequate social services involving mental health providers, suicide and general counseling/hotlines, homeless shelters, food kitchens, drug rehabilitation, halfway houses, methadone clinics and vocational training centers; amongst other needs.
In contrast, state, county and city government revenues have fallen.
To sustain and increase the needed social services and community safety, new revenues will have to be acquired, not from taxes, but from a variety of creative and innovative actions, which a sheriff can only indirectly promote by lobbying federal, state, county government leaders and the state legislature.
I will be an advocate, and use the bully pulpit of the sheriff position, by calling for government-owned banks and annexing city with county government, or for urging the combining of Pasco County government with Hernando and/or Citrus county government(s). These systemic changes will free up access to new revenues and would reduce duplication and unnecessary waste, if not in all government services, at least in the fire and law enforcement departments.
Furthermore, combining or annexing governments will also head off any city or county bankruptcies, which are realistic to expect in this difficult economic climate. This probability is reinforced because of the state’s deficit problem, and a new governor-elect whose solutions only seem to be to reduce and eliminate social services and needed government personnel and programs.
As Sheriff, I will be a strong voice in the law enforcement community for more social services, systemic economic changes and more consolidated governments, without the traditional losses of both government personnel and programs, entailed in the solutions offered by more conservative politicians and legislatures.
Furthermore, in addition to combating community violence and homicides, I will also work creatively in combating the increased number of vehicular accidents and deaths Hernando County has been experiencing over the last few years. Hernando County needs to lobby the political leaders to lower the speed limits on U.S. Highway 19 and State Road 50, and on other access boulevards. Plus, the sheriff department needs to utilize its deputies in providing aid and assistance to vehicular breakdowns and to stranded motorists, which are now neglected due to errant policies.
We will need a more humanitarian approach to community incidents which the typical “law and order” approach does not emphasize enough. We need to establish alternative methods to the traditional punitive measures with the use of civilian and neighborhood courts, citizen review boards, and a stronger emphasis on officer respect and protecting citizen rights. All of these ideas and approaches will reduce the financial and manpower burdens on our overtaxed government agencies and courts, while at the same time, offer a more humane approach to law enforcement in our community.
Finally, and just as importantly, social upheaval and increased tensions are expected to occur because of the deteriorating economic conditions and expected draconian measures that political and business leaders traditionally demand in response to such social upheavals. It is important that we have a moderate sheriff who will withstand such self-destructive pressures, while simultaneously respecting and protecting the rights and freedoms of our citizens
This is the type of “peace officer” that can “keep the peace,” while simultaneously lowering the crime and death rates, across the board, for Hernando County.
Sincerely, Brian P. Moore, Spring Hill, Florida 34606
Florida Community Fails to Act on
Domestic Violence / Depression
Why didn’t those in the know react responsibly?
The recent news of the Florida Highway Patrol trooper involved in a murder-suicide in Citrus County, involving himself and his wife, smacks of similar conditions surrounding the recent deaths of Dr. Robert Blackburn and his wife, Sarah, in Spring Hill.
Both couples represented law-abiding citizens, well known and respected in the community.
However, in the case of Dr. Blackburn, domestic abuse toward his wife was well known and over an extensive period of time, by, of all people, the wives of both the Hernando County Sheriff and the fire chief, who were close friends.
In the case of Florida State Trooper Eddie Silcox and his wife, Sandra, of Floral City, it must have been known that they had recently separated after 30 years of marriage and that he had moved out of their home one week prior to the incident. Plus, 911 reports indicated he said he was depressed, apparently over the separation from his longtime marriage. The circumstances had to be known, at least to either family members or close friends, in this case as well.
Where were these citizens if they knew about such conditions, especially regarding the illegal domestic violence that was going on over a long period of time with the Blackburns? In fact, one of the wife friends of Sarah Blackburn urged Mrs. Blackburn to delay informing her husband of her recent actions to file for divorce, for fear by both women of the doctor’s probable violent reaction.
Should not authorities been advised; or at the least, the wife should have left on her own or been removed from the situation immediately, in light of their full knowledge of the dangers involved?
Where were these so-called pillars of our society, who knew firsthand from their own husbands or immediate families of the risks and dangers involved in both situations? The signs were obviously there, but no action was taken.
Are people so concerned about appearances or public reaction that they hesitate, delay or postpone any responsible action indefinitely until it is too late? They decide to not get involved because of the public pressures of “appearing all is well” when it really is not; or of “not getting involved” when we really should, if they value their friendship, and more importantly, their well-being. We now have a tragedy of losing four precious lives, and their teenage children being orphaned and scarred for life.
Where was the community that knew of such dangerous conditions, and why did they not act?
Brian P. Moore, Spring Hill, Florida
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