Windy March's Windless Visit

Unfortunately for myself, I was unable to attend Mr. March's actual visit to our public affairs class due to my internship. I was however, able to watch his visit from the previous semester on-line which was very beneficial in its own right.

March is the chief political political writer for the Tampa Tribune. Described by professor Gil Thelen as, "one of the most enterprising and tenacious reporters in this town."

March talked about the political side of public records and money laundering. A word that is often tossed around in Mafia movies, but I was never 100% clear on.

March then went on to explain a huge story he covered in 1996 where a man named Mark Jimenez who laundered money through not only his family, but also his work. Jiminez was the largest soft money donor to the Democratic Party donating roughly half-a-million dollars to various sections of the party.

March then explained in a step-by-step manner how to access the public records that he used to show Jimenez's wrong doing.

There is a limit to how much one particular person can donate to a political candidate. In order to side-step this facet of the law Jimenez gave $1,000 to his wife and children so that they could donate it to his political causes. This while illegal is very difficult to prove and often goes unchecked. However, Jimenez went one step further and provided money to his employees to the tune of $1,000 each to donate to his political causes. This sounds like an untraceable crime until you see the public records showing many of his employees donating the exact same amount of money to the exact same causes. This once again could all be coincidence until you look further into public records and see that one man in particular Ernesto Belfonte drove a car that cost less than $1,000, was registered to vote but had never voted once on anything and was by no means a rich man. So logical conclusion leads you to believe that a man who has shown no previous inkling of interest in politics is suddenly going to donate more money than his car is worth when he is in no financial situation to do so? March said not and charges were brought against both Jimenez and his company.

This just once against shows the almighty power of the public record. It also demonstrates the power of being a pro-active journalist and having the right instinct. If you think something is askew it probably is.

The Rules and Regulations of the Public Records Nation to Educate the Generation is a Cause for Celebration said Preston Trigg, in Summation

"All documents, maps, books, tapes, photographs, films, recordings, software...regardless of physical form...made or received pursuant to law or in connection with transactions of official business." - Florida Statutes Sec. 119.011(11)

By this point in the year we know Florida statute 119 is one of the most if not the most important statute for aspiring journalists to know. This was once again hammered home by this past Thursdays guest speaker and Director of Administration and Special Projects for the Hillsborough County Tax Collector's office, Preston Trigg.

Trigg went over in great detail: what a public record is, who can get a public record, what the rules are for obtaining a public record, types of records, common exemptions, tricks of the trade and what reporters should do.

However, some of the bigger things I took away were the tools of the trade. Trigg himself is a former reporter and having these trade secrets that can only be learned with experience passed on for free without sacrificing time to learn is invaluable.

Trigg talked about the many ways people working in public record halls will try to deceive you and the things you can do to render them moot. The first trick Trigg commented on was putting everything in writing to avoid any legal problems that could arise. If for any reason the public records workers refuse to hand over the records they must cite the exemption and nature of the record that the agency isn't giving you. It is a crime not to release a record, but it's also a crime to release an exempt record. Trigg also said to always ask for the costs up front so that they wont throw you a curve and high ball you. Inspect any records you look at in stead of just mindlessly copying the information. The time frame in which you receive the records must be turned over to you in a reasonable time frame. Last but perhaps most important, you must always be conscious of competition as your request for public records is public record so your competition can 119 your 119.

The Boring Side of Crime

The 10-year-old in me was expecting/hoping for an episode of MSNBC's Locked Up, walking through a hallway filled with nothing but Tampa's most violent murders, rapists and child molestors snarling and cursing as we walked by. The reality of course was nothing close.

After visiting the Hillsborough County Jail last Thursday, I decided to put together a list of things that are less mentally laborious and shorter in length than being arrested and booked in the Hillsborough County Jail.

Taking the SAT, waiting in line at a theme park, curling, trying to figure out why Twitter is popular, trying to figure out why anyone thinks Renée Zellweger is attractive, anything involving the DMV, the Boston Marathon and last but not least the Daytona 500. That being said the visit served as further motivation to keep me from doing anything illegal in nature.

The journey that is booking begins of course with the actual arrest for whatever particular reason it may be. The man or woman is than taken to the Hillsborough County Jail on Orient Road, no matter where in Hillsborough County they are because any arrest in the county has to go through that particular jail. So needless to say this could result in quite the tedious ride to the jail. The arrested individuals are then stripped of any property they have on them and it is placed in a bag that will be returned upon their release. They are then asked to sit in a waiting room of sorts until they can be called up to be processed which includes, finger printing, a photograph, medical questioning, a trip in the Boss 2 or (Body Orifice Surface Scan) and then a trip to another waiting room to appear in First Appearance Court, before being escorted to your actual cell where you will remain until a trial or you are bailed out. The entire process of checking in and First Appearance Court lasts more than 24 hours and for some can last much longer.

The People on the Other End.

I had never really heard anyone die before. Sure I had "seen" it on surveillance tapes of Wildest Police Chases and similar shows, but never actually just heard pure unfiltered audio of someone dying. Not only that, but someone being shot.

That was until last Thursday when I visited the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and spent time with both the 9-1-1 responders unit and PIO office.

It is a truly startling experience, but a reality that 9-1-1 call respondents have to face every time they go to work. Not that someone dies on the job everyday, but traumatic experience is always a possibility.

It takes a special breed of men and women to willingly work 12 hour shifts answering phone calls from the most monotonous, "my cat is in a tree," to both literally and figuratively talking someone off the ledge.

I had no idea how complex the call and respond systems were or really how much work went into keeping the system up and running 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Not because I just didn't know, but because it is a part of living that I just take for granted. If I would have spent more than 10 seconds thinking about it, I would surely have realized how stressful and detailed this occupation is. It's a part of everyday life, something bad happens you know you can call 9-1-1. It really is a job that deserves more respect as they are the ears of a unit that preserves order on the streets.

I was also able to listen to Larry McKinnon speak during my visit. McKinnon is a retired 25-year veteran of the Tampa Police Department now works in the PIO office. McKinnon broke down the workings of filing reports and how we as future journalists will be able to obtain them. McKinnon repeatedly harped on the importance of knowing the 119 statute. Which can be found in all its glorious details here. According to McKinnon the 119 statute has many loopholes and the more we know about it the better. Just one more piece of knowledge in my ever growing understanding of public records.

Chris Davis...Investigative Reporter or Crime Scene Investigating, White-Collar Crime Busting, Government Spy

Imagine you come across an old abandoned house perched on top of a small hill in the woods. Upon entering the house you discover the murdered body of a young family. Who did this?

That is the scene of a unsolved crime that dates back nearly 60 years and is now closer than ever to being solved. With new technologies and an ever improving system of public records investigative reporters like Chris Davis of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune are turning into true crime fighters.

Helping shed light on everything from white-collar crime to half a century old murders, the life of an investigative journalist is becoming more and more the stuff of movies.

Mr. Davis himself was involved in a large scale investigation about Florida residents flipping houses for a profit by committing fraud and gaining millions from the banks. After a lot of time invested in researching public records Davis and his team were able to point out the extravagantly large circle of criminals who defrauded the banks of Florida out of millions of dollars.

Public records can be used to trace financial transactions, which can prove to be useful in fraud cases. Davis and his team were able to obtain individual databases collected from property appraisers in individual counties to assemble a larger database of information to help identify the perpetrators.

Davis was then able to create a very intricate and informative graph that showed who exactly these people were, and how they were all linked in a spider-web type of chart. While no charges have been brought, Davis and the Herald-Tribune are safe from any libel suits because their investigation was so thorough and done with the use of public documents.

This type of reporting, writing and visual-aid construction is what I am sure most news directors could only dream of. To get it in a market the size of Sarasota is something special.