Whidden is running for a fourth terms as rural Hendry County Sheriff, and the New-Press article claims that 24 of the 51 deputies hired had been fired or resigned from previous jobs when accused of misconduct.
Also claimed that 27 deputies had committed offenses that would have been classified as moral character violations, including "DUI, theft, possession of drugs, falsifying records, making false statements, and prostitution."
Records indicate they all had admitted misconduct or were found guilty, said the article.
Thirty-two of those deputies remain with the Sheriff's Office out of 112 full-time law enforcement and corrections officers in Hendry County.
Among those named in the article are Sgt. Nestor Echevarria, fired from Florida Department of Corrections in 2007; Herman Bledsoe, lied about paying an informant for sex 20 years ago; Captain Donald Weathers, fired by Fort Myers Police three years ago; Lt. Mike Favara, fired one year before Whidden took office, and then re-hired in 2009; Allison Bennett, fired for failing Sheriff's field training, fired by Department of Children and Families in 2014 for intervening in a child custody case involving Hendry Sheriff Chief Deputy Kevin Nelson's former son-in-law.
Whidden and none of the deputies or former employees named in the article responded to requests for comment, according to the News-Press.
There must be a failure in the States certification program if their certificates haven't been revoked when the behavior violated laws.
ReplyDeleteGood question. Here's a 257 page list of Florida law enforcement folks who HAVE lost their certifications: https://www.usatoday.com/documents/5977555-Florida-Decertifications/
ReplyDelete