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Breaking: Sanford Police Chief Steps Down “Temporarily”

Posted: March 22, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Civil Liberties, Crime | Tags: , , , , |23 Comments

Sanford, FL police chief Bill Lee

From CNN broadcast news: Bill Lee, the police chief of Sanford Florida announced just a short time ago that he will "temporarily remove" himself from his job until the investigation into the shooting of Trayvon Martin and his deeply flawed handling of the case is complete. That doesn't seem like enough to me. Lee needs to resign or he must be fired outright.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Embattled Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. has stepped down from his post “temporarily” this afternoon, brought down by a firestorm of criticism over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old.

“My role as the leader of this agency has become a distraction from the investigation,” Lee said in a brief statement. “It is apparent that my involvement in this matter is overshadowing the process.

“Therefore, I have come to the decision that I must temporarily relieve myself from the position as police chief for the city of Sanford,” Lee said.

“I do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to a city which has been in turmoil for several weeks.”

Sorry, Bill. It’s time for you to go. No one is going to be satisfied with half measures after you’ve done nothing for more than three weeks.

Chicago Tribune:

City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr., said the city was taking the proper steps to ensure the investigation is sound, and the judicial process can run its course.

“What the city wants most for the family of Trayvon Martin is justice,” he said, adding that city officials would hold regular news briefings to update the press on developments in the case.

Lee, 52, has insisted his agency did a fair and thorough investigation, but black leaders, those in Sanford as well as NAACP national president Benjamin Todd Jealous, said he had to go.

Lee’s failure to arrest admitted shooter George Zimmerman has angered millions of Americans.

That decision has sparked a backlash of outrage. Hundreds of thousands of people have called for Zimmerman’s arrest. It started with Trayvon’s family but now includes members of Congress.

Protesters have staged rallies in Sanford, New York, Miami and Tallahassee. One, featuring Al Sharpton, is scheduled for 7 p.m. today in downtown Sanford and is expected to draw thousands.

The parents of Trayvon Martin are currently meeting with officials in the U.S. Justice Department. There will be a new conference following the meeting.

I will post more links in the comments as they become available. Please post anything you are hearing too!

23 Comments on “Breaking: Sanford Police Chief Steps Down “Temporarily””

  1. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 22, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    Chicago Tribune: Sanford police chief steps down ‘temporarily’ in wake of Trayvon Martin’s shooting death

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/os-trayvon-martin-sanford-chief-20120322,0,2419134.story

  2. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 22, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    Eugene Robinson: “It could have been me or one of my sons.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-be-black-in-america-/2012/03/22/gIQAEKr4TS_story.html

  3. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 22, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    News conference with Al Sharpton and Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/os-trayvon-martin-al-sharpton-rally-20120322,0,1271658.story

  4. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 22, 2012 at 4:05 pm

    Miami Herald on the “bungled” case:

    Lee was hammered for his handling of the controversial case, which experts say was marred with irregularities. He gave incorrect information to reporters, and the family felt he and the department were more interested in offering excuses for shooter George Zimmerman than making an arrest.

    The relationship between the boy’s family and police deteriorated from the start. Trayvon’s family believed the police department deliberately covered up Zimmerman’s past arrest record, portraying him as having a clean record because he had no convictions.

    The family had to file a lawsuit for the release of 911 tapes, but they felt the department was often willing to release information that was favorable to Zimmerman.

    As evidence that the incident was not a case of racial profiling, Lee told The Miami Herald that when the police dispatch operator asked Zimmerman the race of the suspicious person he saw, the Hispanic neighborhood watch captain did not know. Yet when the recording of that conversation was made public, Zimmerman clearly says, “he looks black.”

    Initial police reports never mentioned that Zimmerman had a bloody nose or a wet shirt that showed evidence of a struggle. Attorneys for the dead teen’s family believe the information was added in a second report to justify the lack of an arrest.

    Police said witness statements supported Zimmerman’s account. But several of the witnesses expressed surprise, telling The Miami Herald that they reported hearing someone crying for help just before a shot ended the cries. The 911 tapes of witness calls bolstered their claims.

    One of the witnesses who heard the crying said she called a detective repeatedly, but said he was not interested because her account differed from Zimmerman’s.

    For nearly a month, police never noticed a profanity Zimmerman mumbled under his breath when he called police, which some people believe was accompanied by a muffled racial slur.

    Even though investigators have the dead boy’s cellphone, it was Trayvon’s father who combed through the phone records to discover that his son was talking to a girlfriend in the moments that led to his death.

    • peggysue22's avatar peggysue22 says:
      March 22, 2012 at 4:50 pm

      When I got back in, BB, this news item was on every network. I have a feeling these Stand Your Ground gun laws are going to come under intense scrutiny. I read that self-defense killings have tripled in Florida since the law was passed in the state. And then there’s the bungling of the case right from the start–the police at the scene didn’t even take the gun off Zimmerman after he killed this kid. None of this makes sense. I’m a gun owner myself but where does it say that you can claim ‘self-defense’ when you’re the pursuer? That apparently is what’s happening in Florida because the language of the law is so vague.

      I think the Police Chief will need to do more than take a ‘temporary’ vacation on this one. Horrendous case.

      • RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
        March 22, 2012 at 5:03 pm

        The police chief and some of the police who handled this case should be goners, if not prosecuted themselves.

      • HT's avatar HT says:
        March 22, 2012 at 6:45 pm

        I can only shake my head in disbelief and dread. Disbelief that this happened, and dread at the followup or should I type lack of any followup until public opinion had been engaged. Does this mean that anyone can be killed, and unless there is a public opinion backlash, then it will be swept under the carpet? With the exception of well to do white men who will automatically get attention should they have the misfortune to be assaulted or killed, who else will be accorded the same “justice” the same police attention? Treyvon is a tragic symptom of what is wrong with so many things that have perverted the meaning of justice. Walking or driving while black or brown, walking while female / child/ elderly (other than young nubile blonde females or children of wealthy white families),walking while appearing to be poor and/or homeless and it goes on and on. Had this man Zimmerman killed an affluent white man or a blonde white women, he would have been arrested on the spot. It’s appears that it’s open season on whomever doesn’t fit a certain criteria. I’m being hyperbolic, but it’s happening more than we know, and it’s not pretty. What’s worse, the police and politicians who are supposed to serve the people who pay taxes to employ them are either perpetrators, or aiding and abetting the perpetrators. where does the corruption end? Without public engagement each and every time it happens, there will be no change. What century are we living in?

  5. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 22, 2012 at 5:14 pm

    Hundreds have died at the hands of concealed carry killers.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-sugarmann/trayvon-martin_b_1373642.html

  6. RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
    March 22, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    Even Tea Party weather vane Rep Allan West calls this an outrage. It’s officially FUBAR.

    http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/allen-west-on-trayvon-martin-case-this-is

  7. Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
    March 22, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    Does Lee really think that temporarily stepping down will restore sembalance of calm? Does anyone really think now is the time to talk about peace and calm, I don’t think it’s important just now as to the current discussion. What he has done is take a backward approach to this case, and he is not part of the cure. If there is such a thing. I look at the the community, at the attitudes of the people in the community, the tax payers, and the legislators, and I see them as being prejuiced towards minorities, and I don’t mean just males, but women. We can’t afford to keep playing these deadly games.

  8. ANonOMouse's avatar ANonOMouse says:
    March 22, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    From all of the accounts it seems obvious this young man was killed for wearing a hoodie and holding something in his hand (skittles and tea) while being black.The Chief of Police should be fired, today.
    .

  9. Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:
    March 22, 2012 at 6:20 pm

    “@OSTrayvonMartin Thanks to our friends @myfoxorlando we hv live video from Rev. #AlSharpton rally for #TrayvonMartin
    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/os-trayvon-martin-rev-al-sharpton-rally-for-trayvon-martin-20120322,0,4404877.htmlstory

    Live Feed above from Florida

  10. Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:
    March 22, 2012 at 6:23 pm

    Anonymous ‏ @YourAnonNews
    WATCH LIVE: Rally for #TrayvonMartin in Sanford, FL |
    http://www.ustream.tv/cbsnews
    #millionhoodies

    Live Stream from Florida

  11. The Rock's avatar The Rock says:
    March 22, 2012 at 6:44 pm

    He should be fired.

    Asshat.

    Hillary 2012

  12. bostonboomer's avatar bostonboomer says:
    March 22, 2012 at 7:05 pm

    Governor Rick Scott and Attorney Pam Bondi have appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the killing of Trayvon Martin.

    http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/03/fla-city-manager-to-discuss-trayvon-martin-case/1#.T2u91tWiYW8

  13. northwestrain's avatar northwestrain says:
    March 22, 2012 at 8:55 pm

    0bowma is doing what his brother GWBushie couldn’t do —

    “We’re all in the dark, and for all we know it could be a rerun of Total Information Awareness, which would have allowed the government to make a computerized database of everything on everybody,” said Kate Martin, the director of the Center for National Security Studies, who criticized the administration for not making the draft guidelines public for scrutiny ahead of time.

    So the Internet contains the history of what all sleaze bag politicians say and write etc.

    But every single person in the US could have a file — unfiltered FOREVER.

    I just can’t tell any difference between either party — one says and one DOES the worst. Both legacy parties have no interest in the 99%

    • northwestrain's avatar northwestrain says:
      March 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm

      “no interest” in the 99% — other than to collect data on innocent law abiding citizens — and history shows that this information is too often used by “authorities”.

    • Woman Voter's avatar Woman Voter says:
      March 23, 2012 at 1:10 am

      I saw that and it is most disappointing. Taking people’s rights is so easy, getting those rights is not as easy.

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