Member Submission: Compliance Checks
While FAC deals only with registry issues, many of our members are having to deal with sex offender probation, too.
In reading articles published throughout the United States, one will soon see that it is becoming a common occurrence to have U. S. Marshalls serving on specially assigned task forces to assist local law enforcement agencies in so-called compliance checks for people forced onto the registry. Research shows that these compliance checks are costing taxpayers a great deal of money and doing almost nothing to increase public safety.
This past Wednesday evening at 9:30 pm, our doorbell rang. Upon opening our front door, I was met by my husband’s probation officer along with eight other armed, bulletproof-vest-wearing individuals from probation and the U. S. Marshall’s Department, making for a total of nine individuals. The first man entered our home yelling, “U. S. Marshalls entering!” (We had just had a full house search a month ago by armed LE and will get another one on Halloween.)
My husband and I were first told that we had to leave the house. Upon seeing that my husband was having some difficulty trying to navigate his way outside in the dark, one of the invading individuals decided that we could remain in a front room. Three individuals used flashlights to search outside our home while four individuals searched the inside of our home. Two individuals remained with my husband and me, with my husband’s PO trying to quiz my husband on what electronic devices he owns. (Even though I have sent various medical reports to probation documenting my husband’s severe cognitive loss along with a civil court’s declaration of incapacity for him, probation has told me that they do not want me to bring up his dementia anymore. My husband is expected to follow all probation rules that someone without dementia is expected to follow, because that is what the statutes state.) So, I sat quietly as my husband struggled to answer his probation officer with his not knowing what the answers were. Finally, I looked at one of the other officers and quickly stated that my husband has been declared incapacitated by a civil court. At that point, she took over and told his probation officer that she was only to talk to me – not my husband. This was the first experience for me with probation in dealing with anyone that has any common sense.
When I inquired as to why the search was occurring, I was told that this is happening all over Florida for anyone on probation – not just sex offense probation. I was also told that our home was chosen randomly by a computer. All the registrants in our neighborhood who were eligible for this search were also targeted that night; therefore, I am not sure how “random” our search was, unless it is by neighborhood.
Just that morning, I had commented on an article in Pawnee County, Oklahoma about the wasted money and man hours spent on a compliance check that the local sheriff touted had made his county so much safer. Our experience this past Wednesday was not a compliance check per se, but had the same effect. While these nine individuals were combing our neighborhood, a very safe 55+ gated community, and finding nothing illegal, the residents on the east side of our city are begging for the presence of more LE’s because of the rapidly increasing gun crimes in their once safe neighborhoods. Our police department chief has been “throwing up his hands”, not knowing how to combat the rapidly rising gun violence there. There were nine individuals that he could have used this past Wednesday evening, but common sense is quickly leaving our legal system.
I was also told that these searches are necessary as one such search helped them find a 4-year-old girl tied up. My heart breaks for that little girl, but searching the homes of people who are now law-abiding citizens does nothing to prevent such situations from occurring. It only takes LE away from watching people they know are a threat.
So, If you are on probation in Florida, you could be getting a swat-team-style search some evening close to your curfew time, and, as always, will be told that these actions are making society safer.
By the way, I decided to follow the advice that someone posted at our FAC website a couple of years ago: I did not withdraw in any way the next day. I made sure that I was outside, as always, pulling weeds in our front yard and waving and speaking to my neighbors. If anyone ever asks me what was going on that night, I will answer that they were witnessing a waste of their hard-earned taxpayer money. Then I will give them a friendly smile, and the discussion will be over.
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Next time try recording the interaction to hold the police accountable and keep them on their best behavior. Make sure to use a service that immediately saves and stores to cloud, so if they rip the camera from your hands, the footage will be safe (and you can sue them – always take every opportunity you can to financially attack these fascists in court).
Thank God i’m not on paper, because when these weedend warriors show up at my residence, I can respond to their questions with “get a warrant”, which is followed with 2 words– first word starts with F and rhymes with “duck”, and the second word is the opposite of “on.”
Derek
I know what I am going to do next time. I know the two times the officer checks on me. I am not on probation. So If I see a large law enforcement presence next time at my door like last time, I won’t answer the door but go on the computer and look at the warrants list on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website.
Of course, the office who checks on me told me “If you don’t come to the door, we will go to every neighbor on the street and ask if they have seen you”. Since the do not give notifications on my, I do not want that. I will go to the door but they are not coming in my house. Got nothing to hide but they are not planting shit in my house just so I can get back in the system.
I worked in law enforcement so I know for a fact there are some dirty cops who would do almost anything to get someone back in the system. God blessed me with a great lady as a probation officer while I was on probation. Only twice did she give me crap. Once was a misunderstanding (I was never told that while on probation you cannot go to Disney)
The 2nd time an anonymous A-hole called in a fake tip that I had kidnapped someone and had them in my attic. As hot as attics get in Florida, I guess they would have been dead if they were really up there.
After that she basically left me alone
Derek,,,Also Toss them a Copy of Caniglia v. Strom, out your window, just make sure it falls on the ground first and doesn’t hit these knuckleheads…
And also Claim your 4th and 5th Amendment Rights….
AS I told them the other month when they (3 Male US Marshals) threatened me cause I would not go outside to speak with them, they said they would get a court order…well then 3 minutes later, 3 female Local Police Officers-all of whom I personally Know were shocked to realize that I am a ‘Person Forced to Register’, were very nice and just left…I guess in bewilderment….
I did not sign the compliance form…they just asked for my full name and address…that is it….then they left
The 3 Male US Marshals were big baby bullies….they were very very hateful MEN!
I have a very hard time believing that a “compliance check” rescued a tied up 4 year old. That certainly would have made the news. The press release from the LE office conducting that check would have been even more sickening and self-congratulatory than ever.
Hello!! I wrote this a hundred times before, over the past 20 years, and ill say it again, Unconstitutional punitive, post we ex facto punishment, resulting in banishment, in order to set the building blocks, for the Police State.
Mark
The Grand Phubas of justice have ruled nothing is punishment to those with sexual offenses. I heard a rumor they will do away with polygraphs and bring back the ancient torture procedure where they ram bamboo shoots under your finger nails to get you to confess to all the unsolved crimes in your area.
So far I have been linked to the D.B Cooper case and I shot J.F.K and J.R Ewing from the show Dallas. (True story. I showed them how useless their polygraphs are when I confessed to all those and passed lol)
No child was ever found tied up during a compliance check. That is a lie, and a self-serving one.
Please do not let them waste your empathy on fake children.
Jacob
No I remember the story. It was in 1971 in Minnesota. They were checking on someone on probation and found another victim. They didn’t lie they just left out the detail that it happened before that officer was even born, in another state. Oh and the story was actually from a fictional crime novel by author and best seller Alfred E. Newman.
To clarify, by “on probation in Florida,” do we mean on probation by the FL state Dept of Corrections or by the United States Probation Office and its three Florida Federal districts?
Hard to believe it would both doing this at the same time.
Florida (state) probation
I believe the state of Florida needs to be put on probation for fraud due to having anybody that visits Florida, lived in Florida or is dead all to get more money from the fed of their joke of the registry. ( Registry is a joke and has been since its creation). Dead people don’t commit crimes; yet those in Tallahassee do every year passing bs laws.
Brandon
“Dead people don’t commit crimes” ?
Don’t you believe in Ghost? They are sneaky bastards and have a knack for stealing all my ice cream while I am sleeping.
Problem is, you cannot arrest ghost cause the handcuffs just fall right off. :)~
Having said that, if the States could lock them up, they would be able to really get those Federal funds increased. Sounds crazy but so does putting dead folks on the registry. Like they are a safety risk.
CherokeeJack
Move your ice cream out of the freezer making it liquify, their non throats aren’t capable to handle liquids. Don’t ask me I’m not a Ghostbuster; however I’m someone to call if a bs bill needs to be defeated or other forms of support.
Everything about the registry and it’s supporters doesn’t make sense. You can’t touch my kids; yet the ones over there you can mingle with at will. Restrictions just proves the country has gone mad and we need a Dr. Loomis. Lawmakers have fooled the public, but they haven’t fooled me. They have the darkest eyes, the Devil’s eyes. Cut to black. Sorry watching a Halloween movie concept.