Get YOUR facts right before you go posting untruth information

Manny, please enlighten us on the truth as you know it. What happened to cause a 10 year veteran to resign from CCSO.

Got any more information about the esteemed Brian Ely ? Is he fiscally responsible?  Can he handle a budget?

What… no answer for this one?

Got any more information about the esteemed Brian Ely ? Is he fiscally responsible?  Can he handle a budget?

Sounds like you already know the answer Manny.Twenty+ years of experience, retired captain with a masters degree from John Hopkins, you do the math Manny.

Starscream you seem to know alot - But you can’t answer the pertinent question

Got any more information about the esteemed Brian Ely ? Is he fiscally responsible?

Got any more information about the esteemed Brian Ely ? Is he fiscally responsible?

http://www.firstsheriff.com/administrativedivison.asp

I have a question. Why was Mike Rackey terminated by Gartland? Was it political, because Gartland had a reputation for being a politician first and a fair man second. Just curious. Also, what has Rackey been doing since he was fired from Charles county?

Rackey was not fired, he was given the option to resign or be fired. Jim Gartland was not a politician nor did he travel through the political circuit, he was a no nonsense administrator.

Pardon?

Isn’t the sheriff an elected position? How can the sheriff be elected and not be a politician?

So while Rackey wasn’t officially fired, he would have been fired if he had chosen not to resign. Tomato, ToMAHto. You didn’t answer the question.

Does anyone know why Rackey was forced out? Was is legit or was it politics?

While the position of sheriff is an elected position, Gartland did not play the game. Rackey was a probationary officer who, could not complete his probationary period due to poor performance.

Jim Gartland not a politician?  He ran for Clerk of the Court after he lost the Sheriff race.

Elected officials are entitled to a pension through the state upon completing 12 years of service, Gartland had eight years and decided to run for the clerk’s position. It was thought that Gartland would win the election over the late Rick Day as this was the first time Rick would run for the position as he was appointed to the position upon the resignation of Donna Burch, the then clerk of the circuit court. Needless to say, Rick won.

Elected officials are entitled to a pension through the state upon completing 12 years of service, Gartland had eight years and decided to run for the clerk’s position

So he is not a politician just in it for the money?  You should watch what you say about people that are not part of this - Just to put things out there because you think it furthers your agenda is dangerous.

Starscream - 28 May 2009 07:57 PM

There were appointees during the Davis administration who “jumped” quite a few ranks and served in his Command Staff that hadn’t worked their way up the ranks. I’m sure the same can be said by each of the adminstrations prior to Davis’ too.

Quack, can you elaborate? I can’t think of anyone elevated in rank as you describe.

Wasn’t Ross Pitrelli a political appointee? And what about the Deputy Director of the Detention Center, what rank was he before being promoted?

Wasn’t Ross Pitrelli a political appointee? And what about the Deputy Director of the Detention Center, what rank was he before being promoted?

Pitrelli was appointed to the position director of Administrative Services by Davis. The deputy director of the detention center was not a command staff position and the deputy director was not appointed by Davis but rather Sheriff Gartland. I think we are comparing apples to oranges here. No sworn member under Davis enjoyed such a ride as to be a patrolman one day and captain the next.

truthhurts - 29 May 2009 01:04 PM

Since the current rank structure was created in 1979 under then Sheriff David D. Fuller, no I repeat NO officer has “jumped ranks” to be promoted to a higher position. It was not done by Sheriff Fuller, it was not done by Sheriff Gartland and it was not done by Sheriff Davis. It was not even done by Sheriff Francis C. Garner who served as Sheriff from 1958 until 1978. If anyone doubts these facts, I invite you to contact any of these individuals and ask them, they are all still alive and well.

Starscream - 31 May 2009 02:07 PM

Wasn’t Ross Pitrelli a political appointee? And what about the Deputy Director of the Detention Center, what rank was he before being promoted?

Pitrelli was appointed to the position director of Administrative Services by Davis. The deputy director of the detention center was not a command staff position and the deputy director was not appointed by Davis but rather Sheriff Gartland. I think we are comparing apples to oranges here. No sworn member under Davis enjoyed such a ride as to be a patrolman one day and captain the next.

So now you guys are arguing semantics. First it was no one was a political appointee, then no “officer” was a political appointee (or jumped ranks), then its no “sworn” member… then, those that did either were civillian or were not done by Davis.

truthhurts - 29 May 2009 01:04 PM

As to the assertion that there’s no difference in what Dave Williams plans to do by bringing in retired Capt. Brian Eley and what Rex Coffey has done by bringing in two ex-officers in command positions, I submit there is more than one difference. First, Williams is saying right up front that if he’s elected this is what he is going to do. Coffey never even mentioned the possibility of bringing in people from outside the agency until he was elected and sworn in.

Here’s an article in the Indy from September 2006, where Coffey received the endorsement of the FOP. In it Coffey states,

“There is a logjam at the top of this agency,” he said. “There are some, and I emphasize some, unproductive people that need to be replaced.”

So now you guys are arguing semantics. First it was no one was a political appointee, then no “officer” was a political appointee (or jumped ranks), then its no “sworn” member… then, those that did either were civillian or were not done by Davis.

Let’s get it straight, I said nothing of the kind. You made the remark, I asked you to elaborate, you proffered Pitrelli and the Deputy Director of CDC. Pitrelli skipped no ranks and the deputy director’s promotion was made by Jim Gartland. Plain and simple there were no jumps in rank made by Fred Davis. The same cannot be said for Rex Coffey and it is not my intention to demonize Rex, facts are facts. As much as some you guys would like a replay of the 2006 election, it won’t work

The mud-slinging is starting early this time around. Should make for interesting 18 months. If nothing else, it will give us something to laugh about. Gibson did leave, under less than desireable conditions. I want to know why no one cares about a certain county commissioner who left under a thunderstorm of sexual harassment complaints, and was allowed to go quietly into the night. And the taxpayers rewarded him by giving him a big fat pension and electing him to his current post. As bad as some of you think the candidates for sheriff are, look who’s running our government. There’s always skeletons hiding in one’s closet as I am sure we will see in the next 18 months.

Eley is a political hack. He is “running” with Williams to try to garner a large portion of the minority vote in this county. But if you look into it, both Williams and Eley are two of the most despised officers to have have EVER worn the uniform in the CCSO.

Ok, so Eley has this degree and that degree… So what? What does that say about his character? It doesn’t mean a thing if 90% of the people who work with you, hate your guts. You know, a smart dude once said, ” Judge not a person by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”. But still Eley, Williams and a the whole host of other ” Captains”  that decided to retire just before Rex took office, have little or none of it. Not saying that Rex getting elected was a bad thing, but the CCSO sure didn’t turn out like he told us that is would. And the county sure as hell isn’t any safer than select parts of PG County now.

What we need isn’t someone who has a piece of lambskin on their wall. What we need is someone who KNOWS how to combat a rising crime problem in this county, with 21st Century policing, while being up front and honest about his dealings with the department AND the community. If you think Williams and Eley are going to do this, you are sadly mistaken. Eley made his bones off of the backs of the officers around and under him, while Williams ( Dave ) never did anything worth commenting on, his entire career with the agency. Nothing. If you like mediocrity, you’ll love Dave Williams…..

And since when does a Sheriff need to have a ” running mate”? Why does he feel the need to ” slap” the face of the officers already on the department that already have rank on their collars, those who chose to stay and ride out the storm, instead of retiring and running? I’ll tell you why. To keep the rank and file in check, in case Dave Williams gets up there in the Crystal Palace and screws everything up, he can bank on the fear and paranoia that Eley created in the agency, prior to his retirement, to keep everyone in line, and to keep them from criticizing him publicly. ( Like I am doing now ) Hey, it’s popular right now to have a black guy run with you, and it’s a 2for if the guy used to scare the living hell out of the members of the agency to boot…

Tomahawk sends…..

Gee tomahawk, you sound like one of two things.  Either you’re a former CCSO member who got caught doing something wrong and got jammed up for it, or you’ve been talking to someone who was in that situation.  Either way doesn’t add a whole lot of credibility to your rant.

As to your statements about Dave Williams and Brian Eley being do-nothings who were despised and feared by those who worked with them and/or for them, I believe if you were to actually talk to anyone in that category, you’d find that both were regarded as well respected, honest hard working officers and administrators who had the reputation for doing the right thing.

It also occurs to me that you know very little since you didn’t mention that AT LEAST two of the captains who you accuse of cutting and running before Rex took office were threatened with demotion and transfer by one of his flunkies before he was even sworn in.

truthhurts - with a screen name like that, you should try telling the whole truth.

Its true both Eley and Williams enjoyed reputations for being hard working. They both also had reputations for being Davis henchmen that were sneaky. Most officers understood both would sacrifice friendship and reputation for their own personal gain in the Davis regime.

And the captains that cut and run did so of their own free will. None of those captains were facing termination. They were merely facing reassignment within the agency. They were facing removal from their appointed (not promoted) positions- not demotion. The sheriff has the right to do this. They had not reached the rank of captian because of a promotion, therefore they werent “demoted”. They received the rank due to politicl appointment. Coffey had his own people in mind for those spots and filling them is his right. Those guys got pissed because their little kingdom changed and they were no longer heirs to the throne. Boo Hoo.

Fact is the sheriffs office is a political game. The captains know this when they accept their appointments. It amazing you think somehow the appointment to captain is a lifetime appointment.

Okay tomahawk, an enhancement in rank is a PROmotion and a reduction in rank is a DEmotion.  Hopefully you are now clear on that point.  Nowhere in my post did I mention the word termination.  I said these captains were threatened with DEmotion and transfer.

As to your assertion that coffey had every right to make political appointments, you are correct.  Never mind the fact that in the history of the Agency, no such sworn officer political hires had ever been made.  If you want to talk about who slapped the already employed hardworking officers of the CCSO in the face, why don’t you ask a few of them.  And what cracker-jack appointments these were.  A pretend major who never made it past the rank of corporal in his career and a “captain” who previously couldn’t make it past the probationary period when he was first hired.  I would have to say that their qualifications are suspect at best.

At least Williams and Eley were commanders and administrators, responsible for both budgets and the supervision of officers.  If, when you talk about them being sneaky you are referring to their time in internal affairs, then I would submit to you that policing the police is a very difficult, unpopular and thankless job.  How else would you attempt to discover what bad cops are doing and how they’re doing it?

An enhancement in rank is only a promotion if the officer is the rank of lieutenant or below. The ranks of Captian and Major are appointed to serve at the pleasure of the sheriff. This means they are political appointments and can be returned to their previous rank at the will of the sheriff. Please refer to the manaul for clarification of this topic. If you have achieved the rank of lieutenant or captain, you should be aware of this policy and how it works.

I am aware you never used the word ‘termination’. I used the example of termination to illustrate the fact that these men did not leave under duress. They left of their own free will.

While we are on the topic of the departure of these men, it should be mentioned that they had an obligation to the officers and non-sworn employees that served under their commands. This obligation is the essence of being a commissioned officer. These Captains abandoned their posts without regard for the interests of the agency as a whole. Their egos and sense of entitlement outweighed their loyalty to their sworn duty. If they chose to retire instead of returning to the rank of lieutenant and continuing on in the Coffey administration, they should have stayed long enough assist in a smooth transition. Instead, they turned their back on -and in some cases insulted- the officers and non-sworn personnel that had no choice but to stay.

You have a right to your opinion on Coffey’s political appointments. I will freely admit they have sparked vigorous debate within the agency. And most officers would have preferred appointments from within.

I am sure you will agree a sheriff needs to be able to trust his executive staff to “have his back” in the county political arena. Did you really expect Coffey to trust captains and a major who signed loyalty statements to Davis and printed it in the paper? Should he have trusted the captains who wrote letters to the editor that questioned Coffey’s professionalism and political motive? Should he have trusted commanders who blatently campaigned for Davis on the job?

Probably not.

My comments about Willaims/Eley’s reputations are simply an assessment of what I hear. I have no personal stories, but the current IA has a reputation for being fair and thorough. The old IA had a reputation for doing whatever Davis told them to do. A man’s conscience can be a heavy burden. Maybe that’s why Williams and Eley considered it such a “difficult, unpopular and thankless job.”

You want to know what really irratates me? The use of insider words. Yup, the use of words or phrases that refer to policies and standards that the general public knows little or nothing about. Internal memos, underhanded or sneaky practices… it just really digs under my skin.
Instead of using terms and phrases that everyday people would come to understand, people who are in power, and are afraid of losing it, well, they come on here and seek to muddy the waters, cloud the everyday citizen’s judgement. That way, they take the normal language off of the table, and replace it with a bunch of terms you need to have ” insider knowldge ” about, and thus taking you, and I, the everday, normal citizens, out of the discussion, and thus away from the issues at hand.

Or how about the folks who are not “in” power, but looking to assume it? Well, they do the same things. These particular folks like to keep the focus on the current administration, sharpshooting their flaws and shortcomings, hoping all the while, you don’t take a peek under their skirts, to see what they may be hiding…..
Being who I am, I choose not to get all wrapped up in the Administrative Policies of the Sheriff’s Office, nor the Political ramblings of a “Sheriff” hopeful. One thing I learned early on in life is, ” if you have no choice BUT to fight, the least you can do is choose the location OF the fight”.

Coffey is fighting like a very desperate man, with his back up against the wall, to save his political career. He’s made some really, really bad choices both when he first assumed his role as sherrif, as well as his subsequent years in office. Now it’s coming back to bite him, and he’s liable to say anything, do anything, to help himself. And those that stand to continuly gain from his position, will do the same.

Those that are not in the ” crystal palace ” will step forward and point, ” THERE!!! There is a shortcoming, a flaw.. look at how they do this, or look at how they don’t do that… ” All the while, hoping to God the public doesn’t focus on them a tiny little bit, or else, like the Wizard in the land of Oz, the curtain comes crashing down.

Personally, I smile. I smile at the accusations of being a “previously jammed up officer” or an “officer who knows one”. That’s cute But all the finger pointing and jumping up and down in the world, will never change the fact that the words I speak are true. And any good investigator will tell you, ” you cannot change the facts”. I wish you all the best, Williams and Eley, and all of their cronies alike, because I am never going to stop trying to derail and destroy your political ambitions in this county. Because as we will ALL soon find out, you are the worst picks for this job.

Tomahawk - 09 September 2009 12:24 PM

And any good investigator will tell you, ”you cannot change the facts”.

That’s true, sort of. It was once fact that the World was flat. It was once fact that the Earth was the center of the universe. These are examples of limited knowledge and information leading to a widely accepted belief—something known or believed to be true. My point is “fact” isn’t always the truth, we don’t have to change the facts to change our understanding of the truth. Any good investigator should understand this, too.

Well Quack, it certainly sounds like tomahawk has some kind of personal ax to grind “I am never going to stop trying to derail and destroy your political ambitions in this county.”  I don’t know, I’m not very smart but why don’t we ask a few questions?

How much did it cost the taxpayers to take all the numbers off the police cars and then turn around and put them all back on?

How much did it cost the taxpayers to replace all the Beretta handguns, which by all accounts were very reliable and working fine, with another make?  Not to mention the cost of ammunition for requalification, new leather gear (holsters), man hours spent on the firing range and training new armorers to repair them.

How much did it cost the taxpayers to take all the red lenses off the police cars and replace them with blue ones?

How much taxpayer money has been and is being spent at Southern Police Supply, a company which is wholly owned and operated by the family of coffey’s “administrative pretend major” who has purchasing authority for the Sheriff’s Office?  A little conflict of interest there or not?

Those are just a few of the questions I and the other citizens of this county who pay taxes should be asking.  But then I wouldn’t expect honest answers from the current administration of the Sheriff’s Office, because that would mean telling the truth and the truth hurts.