As a former law enforcement officer, that is why I left. Officers, troopers, deputies etc. all seem to have a wide and vast immunity to prosecution for so many things.
” I kicked the guys brains out because he mouthed off to me ”
becomes ” I feared for my life and backup was 10 minutes away so I did what I had to do to get home to my family after end of watch”.
I saw this often from corrupt cops I would go to sleep at night and have nightmares. If you went forward with what you saw from another officer either the supervisor would sweep it under the rug and cover it up, you would become known as a snitch or usually both.
I worked for both a huge department and a small one and both are just as bad. Just in a large department you can somewhat blend in. In all the years I worked there at the large department, I never once met the chief of police. In the small one I actually went to the chief’s house for dinner once.
But the sense of power most ( not all ) officers get, goes to their heads. The courts frown on going after law enforcement unless it has the backing of the top brass of the department. Too many officers getting arrested and the chief or sheriff can get the boot so they tend to handle things ” In house” with maybe a write up in the officers file or a day suspension.
I personally got several pats on the back from one supervisor for cases I solved but never got any awards or notations in my file like the seasoned officers did. Most of the time they would thank me for solving it then the chief would go on the news and take all the credit for single handedly making an arrest and solving the case.
When I got locked up, I had a double target on my back. I was in for a sex crime AND a former cop.

There is no Florida Statute under which that is classified as a crime, to my knowledge.

I like your thinking!!

“Anti-registry activists” is spot on. The term arouses curiosity in the reader and may prompt them to read on. We are against public conviction registries of all types, and readers may be, too, as public conviction registries proliferate.

Whereas the term “sex offender activist” prompts a knee-jerk reaction from some readers who may be turned off. We are not sex offender activists, we might explain to the reporter, as we oppose sex offending of all kinds.

FAC has done a great job getting media outlets to recognize Gail as an information resource on this issue. Now I wonder whether the next step would be to issue more frequent press releases, making the first move, as NARSOL did, and putting overzealous sheriffs on the defensive (perhaps once we’ve sufficiently funded FAC Legal to put our money where our mouth is).

But “sex offender advocacy organization” is about the worst I can think of actually!! I don’t think we should ever, ever say “sex offender”, for any reason. I think it is extremely harmful. I’ve told NARSOL that directly.

I’m not advocating for “sex offenders”. Those people commit sex crimes. I’m advocating for People Forced to Register. That is accurate.

So many people in the public think the Registries are just some big game and that they are part of a person “following the requirements of their release”. 100% nonsense.

People are Registering because they are being forced to by terrorists at the point of a gun. Nothing less than that and for no legitimate reason. You will Register or you may be shot and you will be imprisoned.

We should actually refer to ourselves as “anti-registry activists.”

It’s direct and to the point.

We’re just spinning our wheels with euphemisms like “sex offender reform coalition.”

Gotcha!

I was referring to the media’s response to this press release.