Researchers see rise of 'Constitutional Sheriffs' as threat to democracy. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw is a career law enforcement professional responsible for leading the largest law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County. Ric Bradshaw wins fifth term as Palm Beach County sheriff - WPTV Sheriff Bradshaw has a successful track record of fifty (50) years in law enforcement. For Political Parties; Dougan moved back to Palm Beach County with a burning sense of injustice. As Sheriff, I have worked to make the Palm Beach County Sheriffs office one of the nations most professional law enforcement agencies. Eventually someone in the county government seems to have figured out the flaw in the countys address confidentiality system. They were published on Julian Assanges WikiLeaks beginning July 22, 2016. In an interview with detectives, Lewis said the recordings had been modified to put words in his mouth, though in the same interview he claimed not to have listened to them. Im shocked how he is still alive., Jessica couldnt get enough of it. If so, please name them: Have you ever run for office before? He panders to the leaders of the left and special interest groups. Newsletter But he has become a typical self-serving politician. Instead, The Daily Beast has learned exactly how Dougan used public information and sophisticated data analytics to blow holes in Floridas address confidentiality system without cracking a single network. Raban was found in violation of 11 different department regulations and demoted. Settling in Moscow was hard at first, Dougan says, and he struggled to make ends meet. The name and address went right into BadVolfs next data dump. Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, who faced blistering criticism for granting Jeffrey Epstein liberal work-release privileges while the sex offender was serving time in the county stockade, has . County Mayor Dave Kerner was a favorite to become the next Sheriff. Our in-house medical unit all follows the same process with our correctional staff. The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office has six departments Legal Affairs, Law Enforcement Operations, Community Operations, Corrections, Support Services, and Administrative Services. I arrived, but the embassy was shuttered until Monday. Weve even gotten to the point whereand this is not completely, you know, on the law enforcement sidethere are ways we can even access her password through various methods, Rodriguez said. In one incident that year, one of Rabans deputies, Michael Woodside, pulled over a woman named Maria Paul, put her in a chokehold and slammed her to the ground, according to a subsequent lawsuit that the county settled, before dragging her in handcuffs to the back seat of his cruiser and punching her repeatedly in the face and body. Education: Bachelor's in public administration, Barry University, Political: Ran unsuccessfully for sheriff in 2016, Money: Raised $29,827, including $13,655 of his own money, as of July 25. Bradshaw took 61 percent of the vote to Freemans 39 percent. Bradshaws fund-raising prowess isnt his only source of political strength. If that was the plan, it worked. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has said a rise in calls for service is part of the reason why his agency's budget has risen sharply in recent years and now accounts for nearly . Dougan started patrolling Belle Glade in 2008 after four years on easier turf. Is this true of PBSOs contract with its road-patrol and detention deputies? The Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office is comprised of 4,200 employees and approximately 5,000 volunteers. In June, Dougan self-published his autobiography, BadVolf: The true story of an American cops retaliation against a corrupt system of justice and politics, forcing him to seek political asylum in Russia. Sturdy and wrought in steel, the tables resemble consoles from Star Trek or props from TRON and are primarily marketed to gamers. Some very wealthy, powerful people. I really dont care. (Lewis declined repeated interview requests from The Daily Beast. He oversees 4,300 employees and 5,000 volunteers with a budget of more than $788 million. He rose through the ranks of the West Palm Beach Police Department and in 1996 was appointed Chief of Police. Once theyd patted him down and confiscated his cell phone, they told Dougan he was free to go. Michael Gauger, the longtime chief deputy to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, wants to run against his old boss in the 2024 election for county sheriff. 2023 Florida Sheriffs Association // Privacy and Refund Policy, "The people of Palm Beach County, and the Sheriff's Office make a great team, which is why Palm Beach County is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. Deputies at the time said they intervened to keep protesters from blocking traffic and endangering the public. Its easy to envision Dougan bluffing his way into a meeting with an important Russian and then leaking it to a friendly gossip site, if only to make his enemies wonder. When Dougan arrived in Belle Glade in mid-2008, it had lots of brewing issues. Freeman denied the allegations. I always figured it was just on there.. On March 13 he sent Dougan a tranche of files over Tor, says Dougan, and Dougan agreed to put up an anonymous website to present them to the world. Bradshaw started out good. You would think that they would notify people, especially police officers and judges and shelters and things like that, says a woman who manages a shelter for domestic abuse victims. Deputy Dougans interpersonal skills need improvement, a lieutenant wrote in an evaluation, as he does not know how to pull back from a brewing issue.. Bradshaw got an early $5,000 from the Police Benevolent Association, so he also has the powerful unions backing. Im putting everything out there.". For someone who claims to dislike politics, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has made himself into a political force. About two weeks after the leak, Palm Beach County shut down its public feed of the SITUS dataset, according to logs kept by an open-source cartography site. Internal Affairs is now investigating. The change came about this year, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Orange County that state election law prevents counties from deciding to hold nonpartisan elections. He says he walked into the Miami FBIs satellite office in West Palm Beach carrying the recordings on a thumb drive, and demanded the bureau investigate Bradshaws office for hacking him. Diaz, who was unchallenged for the Republican nomination, said that Bradshaw is a better politician than a sheriff. Gov. DeSantis orders criminal probe of Jeffrey Epstein case - Miami Herald He got 66 percent of the vote four years ago against three challengers, avoiding a runoff. I havent felt any effect from it, but just knowing it was breached its a mental thing, he says. Bradshaw has expanded the PBSO empire over the years, taking over patrol duties in tiny cities such as Palm Beach Shores, Westlake and South Palm Beach in 2019 to add to a network that includes Lake Worth Beach, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Lake Park and the three Glades cities. Freeman, 51, is pinning his hope on the moment. Mar 10, 2023. Its like when your friend robs a bank and you're sitting at home. Sheriff Ric Bradshaw - Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Population: 1,492,191 I am the person thats been keeping you and your family safe for the past 16 years.. Please explain. I have worked to ensure our hiring reflects the diversity of our community. PBSO was prepared to handle this unprecedent challenge. This place kicks ass.. Asked about the criminal investigation of Epsteins jail time that Gov. The change came about this year, when the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a case involving Orange County that state election law prevents counties from deciding to hold nonpartisan elections. In its broad strokes, Dougans story meshes with the superficial features of the 2016 election leaking. One of his bigger hits quoted Bradshaw encouraging motorists to run over Black Lives Matters protesters. Sputnik News ran a lengthy piece on him highlighting his daring escape to Moscow. But the next day the FBI came and carted off Dougans computer, and with it the leaked files. Editorials are the opinion of the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board and written by one of its members or a designee. Woodside was fired for using a police PC to watch a movie while on duty, and another deputy was terminated for lying on a police report and surfing Facebook on department time. A New Decade, A New Era And A New Culture of Law Enforcement, his campaign website proclaims. According to one report, he couldnt stand to look at PBSOtalk, so he had his people monitor the site and report daily on the latest outrage. One sheriffs official carried on an intimate 10-day telephonic flirtation with a woman who turned out to be Dougan using a voice changer. This fall's race for Palm Beach County Sheriff has four-term incumbent Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, a Democrat, being challenged by former Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Capt. Questionnaire: incumbent Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw Like the version he ultimately published, the draft opens with a tease about a Washington, D.C., meeting with a whistle-blower. Im just lucky that I have a place to go, and Im really grateful for that. The records of Jeffrey Epstein's grand jury remain sealed for the time Over the previous weeks, someone had been systematically targeting federal agents, judges, local cops and intelligence agency workers throughout Florida, posting 14,000 of their home addresses to the web, all of them specifically exempted from public records because of their sensitivity. Lewis told Jessica all about his career. (A spokesman for the FBIs Miami office declined comment.). Weve positioned our agency on the leading edge of change and we continue to work proactively in identifying better ways of providing great service to our community. So he came up with another plan. The best known victim of that attack was John Podesta, and a handful of documents from Podestas Gmail account appeared on the site four months before WikiLeaks published the whole inbox. Sheriff Bradshaw was first elected to office in the first year that the race was non-partisan, 2004. Dougan mastered the dark art of fake news, crafting official-looking websites with names like DCWeekly.com and DCPost.org for his made-up stories. Publix shooter's ex-wife says she warned authorities about his - WPLG But he still did work for Sheriff Bradshaw. Our command staff has an excellent relationship with our road-patrol deputies. Lewis was certain that Dougan was visiting Russia to partner with that countrys cybercriminals. Hes also mentioned in former CIA officer Bob Baers 2002 autobiography See No Evil. News/Commentary After that it didnt take much digging to confirm what Rodriguez had already come to suspect. Epstein, a well-connected billionaire who was found hanged in a Manhattan jail cell last year after federal officials charged him with additional sex crimes, paid for the deputies who monitored his movements while he was out of jail. At no point, though, did officials warn the victims of the leak, according to several people on the list who spoke with The Daily Beast. It seemed puzzling from the start that Dougan, hot on the heels of an FBI raid and already planning his escape, would take a couple of days off to physically transport a zip file small enough to be sent as an email attachment. View Map Voters will have a chance to choose between Freeman and Bradshaw on Aug. 18, with the winner facing former PBSO deputy Lauro Diaz, a Republican, in the general election on Nov. 3. And I talked to him about trying to overturn that Russian adoption law that I thought was not great. Seven months later, an Internal Affairs probe concluded there was no excessive use of force by the men. I have a whole file cabinet dedicated to this, nothing but this guy, Lewis said. Mr. Epstein was allowed to engage in sexual behavior with underage girls. I said, you know what? We contract with an inmate health care provider and ensure that all possible CDC guidelines are followed. During our interview, he seemed more concerned about the potential loss of evidence from a search than the idea of harming someones life over a potentially needless arrest. There really was a DC Leaks. Jack has written for the Sun-Sentinel and the Boca Raton News. Dougans Facebook timeline contains a curious artifact from his first trip. Jack Furnari is a husband, father, entrepreneur, publisher, columnist, and former political consultant. And this is where his story hits another snag. Sheriff Bradshaw allowed Jeffrey Epstein to be on work-release for 12-hour days, six days a week. Dougan told GossipExtra that Borodin was interested in hiring him to set up a websitea massive community charity fundraising website for all of the various charities in Russia.. Palm Beach County: Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw - Florida Sheriffs Association PBSO seeking $740 million, a $31 million increase, in next years budget, to pay $6 million of a $22.5 million verdict won by Dontrell Stephens, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Its just that simple, Bradshaw said. Dougan posted the full audio of his calls with Lewis, along with screenshots of their text messages. Theres an obvious irony to Dougan choosing Russia as his refuge. For months rumors have been circulating among Palm Beach County politicos that Sheriff Ric Bradshaw wouldnt run again due to health reasons. He claims the record shows otherwise only because Shinjuro outsources its domain registration service to the Romanian hosting company THCservers. I had nothing to do with this, he told New Times. We have strict disciplinary rules that work at removing officers who do not uphold our values and mission. At best, this is irresponsible behavior.. But that day in the spring of 2016, his hoax backfired spectacularly, with FBI agents raiding his home and carting off his computers. He says Epstein, who was given a so-called "sweetheart deal" on a prostitution charge, shouldn't have been in the county lock-up. On the other hand, a lot was known about the owner of the website where the data appeared. In October 2017 Dougan posted a story to one his fake news sites claiming that Ric Bradshaw's second-in-command was a white supremacist nursing fantasies about killing "a black man or a Jew . And the sheriffs office opened yet another investigation. Voters here in 2002 cast ballots in support of making the races for Sheriff, Property Appraiser and Supervisor of Elections non-partisan. He changed training to include a tactical pause designed to de-escalate confrontations and leave more distance between the deputy and a suspect. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw challenged by Alex Freeman in Dougan had nowhere left to go. All in all, a successful bit of trolling. As far as the body cameras, were thrilled to death, he said. The warrant sought evidence of communication between Dougan and Internet user BadVolfs Russian moniker. Livestreaming capabilities of body cameras raise privacy concerns Lauro Diaz, the Republican nominee. They all needed a taste of their own medicine, and he knew just how to deliver it. "We're confident at the end of the day that we're going to come out on the right side of this. But they dont feature at all in Dougans story. The hacker turned out to be Anthony Rodriguez, a social media specialist in PBSOs media relations office. Early release of inmates in not my decision and is up to the Chief Judge and the State Attorney. Publicly, he claimed BadVolf was a friend hed met in Russia, but he disclaimed responsibility for the putative hackers actions. The couple even decided on a nickname for Dougan, Mr. Memes He was fired in 1998 for lying during an internal investigation, but he later won his job back after a hearing officer determined that the firing could not be justified because the police departments lawyer only relied upon hearsay evidence. Before he got into the construction business hed worked at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office for 23 years, retiring in 2005 as a lieutenant detective. Last year, Palm Beach County prosecutors charged Dougan with extortion and wiretapping, the latter presumably for recording the Jessica calls. Crime Its evident, though, that he was floating a version of the story in his BadVolf guise as early as September 2016. Dougan says hes had no contact with government officials or former Kremin bigwigs since that lunch with Pavel Borodin in 2013, except for the bureaucrats who processed his political asylum request. In addition to exposing the sheriffs offices desperation to pin something on Dougan, the recordings captured Lewis boasting about doing the same to another longtime Bradshaw critic, an ex-cop from Michigan named Jim Donahue who ran against Bradshaw in the 2012 election. How do you see the differences facing voters in this race? Leaving behind his ex-wife and their two children, he started the long drive north to the Canadian border. For more information about Diaz, visit www.diazforsheriff.com. She broke into an elaborate story about a suspicious woman whod become involved with her wealthy father, and asked Lewis if he could help investigate the woman. Would you support the creation of a civilian review board to review complaints about deputies? It deals with the safety of your family.. Sheriff Bradshaw On Newly Partisan Race & Jeffrey Epstein's Work $692,658 about 23 times the amount Freemans campaign has raised. The audio dump went off like a bombshell in Palm Beach County. The encounter had begun with Paul playing her car radio too loud in violation of Floridas traffic code. On January 4, 2005, Sheriff Bradshaw was sworn in as Sheriff of Palm Beach County. As he began his third year in the sheriffs office he put in for a transfer to Belle Glade. This doesnt sound like much money, but it turns out to be approximately $4.5 million of taxpayers money at a time when many people in our county have lost jobs due to the pandemic, Diaz said. Staff writer Chris Persaud and researcher Melanie Mena contributed to this story. Four years later, Freeman was named Victims Rights Officer of the Year by Palm Beach County Victim Services. Bradshaw is a politician, not a sheriff. Total of 49 years in law enforcement; West Palm Beach Police Department: road patrol officer; detective sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major; assistant chief of police, chief of police,1996; elected Sheriff of Palm Beach County, 2004; reelected 2008, 2012 and 2016, and 2020. The penchant for engaging in unethical behaviour was so deep-rooted among his colleagues that he left the force and launched a personal crusade against them. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Orders Epstein Criminal Probe - Breitbart Once in Moscow he came to appreciate the city almost as much as the woman. In 2001, Borodin was briefly detained in New York on Swiss money-laundering charges en route to George W. Bushs inauguration. We refer throughout this opinion to "Deputy Lin" and "Sheriff Bradshaw" individually, as each pertinent issue and defense pertains to these defendants separately. Sometimes called Muck City for the slimy run-off from the local sugarcane farms, Belle Glade is best understood as a developing-world-style shantytown plunked down 40 miles west of Mar-a-Lago. So far he says hes shipped 20 of them from his newest startup, BadVolf Serious Systems. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office just issued the following statement: "On May 3, 2022, Sheriff Bradshaw, under advice from his doctors, elected to go forward with a heart procedure . Through July 25, Bradshaws reelection campaign had pulled in a massive haul of $692,658 about 23 times the amount Freemans campaign has raised. Shootings have declined significantly. I couldnt stick around out of fear I would be missed, so I drove straight back to Palm Beach County before they realized I had taken my little trip.. The Sun Sentinel endorses Ric Bradshaw for Palm Beach County sheriff. Dougan says he was disgusted with the behavior, but feared the reprisals hed face if he made a stink. Phone:(561) 688-3000 Sheriff Getting Proposal Together For Boynton Beach Regarding Merger With his shaved head and stolid build, he looked every inch a career police officer, but his eclectic job history also included stints in horse transportation and database design, and he was a licensed pilot. Sylvester Stallone (Tulsa King) is set to return for a sequel to the 1993 action thriller Cliffhanger, which Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen) will direct from a script by Mark Bianculli (Hunters). But the independent Maine Human Rights Commission ruled that Dougan did indeed sexually harass Nelson, and in January 2013 Nelsons lawsuit against the town of Windham was settled out of court on undisclosed terms. In the months and years that followed, Dougans website became a consistent source of insider dirt: a leaked affidavit about a former SWAT commander accused of stealing painkillers from a dying deputy; purchase orders showing the office spent nearly $80,000 on barbecue grills; a photo of officers posing with a topless woman on a Palm Beach golf course. 1:07. During Palm Beach County's 2020 elections, some races that were non-partisan since 2004 will now be partisan, including the one for Palm Beach County Sheriff. Dougan claims that he registered the DCleaks.com domain name through the Malaysian company Shinjiru Technology in Kuala Lumpur, where DC Leaks was also hosted. The Russian capital felt free and ungoverned, a place where you could get away with almost anything, as if the internet itself had suddenly transformed into a major metropolis. During the last few weeks, demonstrations locally and nationwide have called attention to the issue of law enforcement reform. But his primary focus was the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, and its elected chief, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. It was too small a case for the FBI. The feed reopened five months later with the confidential addresses now masked.
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