Sheriff: 'I am personally embarrassed'

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee, in Jacksonville at a Florida Sheriff's Association meeting, released this statement today:

As Sheriff of Hillsborough County, I want to assure Mr. Brian Sterner, as well as the citizens of Hillsborough County, that this incident will be investigated to the fullest. I am personally embarrassed and shocked by the horrific treatment Mr. Sterner received. I cannot and will not even try to offer an explanation for what is seen on the video, other than to say, that once it was brought to my attention, I immediately initiated an internal investigation. The deputy responsible for dumping Mr. Sterner out of his wheelchair has been suspended without pay, and the three supervisors that were on duty during that time are also placed on suspension.

The incident involving Mr. Sterner was not caused by a lack of training or procedure.  It represents aberrant behavior that is totally out of context with policies, practices and standards of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.  Last year over 72,000 inmates were processed through Central booking, more than 230 of them came to jail in wheelchairs.

I offer my personal apology to Mr. Sterner for the treatment that he received while being processed through Central Booking. I want to assure him, and the public at large, that this incident is not indicative of the behavior of the over 3,500 men and women of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office who perform their duties with pride and professionalism on a daily basis.

Related content:

Quadriplegic wants apology

Readers comments

Watch video from jail

Watch clip from Today show

Treatment attracts national spotlight

- Rodney Thrash, Times staff writer

Comments

[William]

As terrible as this incident was, imagine if the races were reversed and it was a white person dumping a black person out of a wheelchair. Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson would be on-site and all over the media complaining this department is racist, along with the city of Tampa, and the Sheriff would be forced out of a job immediately.

[ROGER]

Sheriff Gee is an outright liar. This type of behavior at the jail is not an isolated incident. The deputies and supervisors operate this way routinely. Inmates, regardless of charges, ar routinely verbally abused, by the ANIMALS they call DEPUTIES. They are worse than the people they are supposed to be in charge of....the inmates. Gee is aware of it, he has been told of many incidents that go unreported, and not investigated. He either refuses to look into these allegations, feels he can't resolve the issues, or he CONDONES it. I personally hope Mr Sterner sues in Federal Court for Civil rights violations, and the taxpayers of Hillsborough County pay millions in damages. Maybe then they will realize they have allowed this incompetent Sheriff to remain in his position.
CHARLETTE MARSHALL - JONES, SGT. GARY HINSON, CPL.STEVEN DICKEY, CPL. DECONDRA WILLIAMS, ALL NEED TO BE TERMINATED NOW,NOT LATER.
They need to loose their pensions, and any matched funds the taxpayers have made to 401K's etc. If Gee does anything less, he needs to be recalled by the voters of Hillsborough County, and sent packing in shame and disgrace. RESIDENTS DO NOT ALLOW A COVER UP

[ROGER]

Furthermore...this will send a message to the deputies that will remain in their jobs YOU MAY BE BEHINED LOCKED DOORS AND IMPERMIABLE WALLS, YOU ARE NEVER OUT OF SIGHT. YOU CONTINUE TO BE ABUSIVE ON YOUR JOB....YOU WILL PAY DEARLY. INMATES DO HAVE RIGHTS, CONTRARY TO WHAT YOU BELIEVE, AND YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT BY YOUR SUPERIORS.
SHAPE UP OR GET OUT !

[Laurie]

Not to worry, Mr. Sterner will become wealthy and the Deputy's will become unemployed as well they should.

Not one Deputy flinched when this occurred, nor did any one of them try to help him. It does appear this is usual practice in this Department. If it wasn't for the video, we would never know about it. Justice will prevail and good luck finding a job anywhere in this world with the extensive coverage this story has received. The joke's on you!

[Reality Check]

First of all, William, how many different articles are you going to post that same contrived comment on? We GET it, you think the world is one big convoluted ball of racism.

Secondly, Roger, how obvious is it that you're an ex-con? Hilarious.

[ricco]

ATTENTION:SHERIFF GEE

THE WORLD IS WATCHING. DO THE RIGHT THING FIRE THIS EMPLOYEE NOW!

AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE LAUNCHED OUTSIDE THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE.

WELL AN APOLOGY HELPS,CRIMMINAL CHARGES NEED TO BE BROUGHT UPON THIS DEPUTY THAT HAS DISGRACED THE HILLSBOROUGH SHERIFF OFFICE.

[alan]

racism at its best. more police brutality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

shows morals of hcsd

[ROGER]

REALITY CHECK....I DIDN'T SEE YOUR POST UNTIL JUST NOW. YOU ARE CLOSE...I HAVE BEEN AROUND JAILS AND CON'S 32 YRS OF MY LIFE. YOU ARE PRETTY PERCEPTIVE. CLOSE BUT ON THE WRONG SIDE....32 YRS NYPD RETIRED LT DETECTIVE, HOMICIDE. HAVE A NICE DAY !

We all of course want to see the perpetrators fired and charges pressed against them, but everyone must understand that these are processes that take time.

The woman is not allowed to work, and is not getting paid, and that will continue until she is fired, so she pretty much IS fired, isn't she? Not to mention her phone number is public record and I'm sure she's being harrassed night and day (as well she should). She's being punished plenty until the system processes it all and puts her behind bars.

[Samuel]

"32 YEARS NYPD"

....guess that explains the spelling errors and the improper use of caps lock.

Thanks, Rog, my ears are now bleeding.

[Not an ex-con]

I have never seen the inside of a jail house but still believe in our basic rights that all are innocent until proven guilty. That includes anyone going through Central Booking at the Hillsborough County Jail!

If Charlotte Marshall-Jones' reason for dumping Mr. Sterner out of his wheelchair is because she did not recognize he is physically disabled then she must be mentally disabled and we do not need someone of her limited intellect working in a position of power. If she did this with malicious intent, as I truly believe she did from watching the video, then she needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for assault on a disabled person just as any one of us would be.

Sheriff Gee: This is not a breach of 'policy' this is a crime and needs to be treated as such!

State Attorney's Office: You have video evidence of this crime and if charges are not pursued, then you need to drop all of your cases of assault. Do not pick and choose who you prosecute based on their profession!

Lastly, to the officer who arrested Mr. Sterner for 'fleeing and alluding an officer', aren't you ashamed and embarrassed to say that a quadriplegic fled and alluded you? Thanks for getting that 'criminal' off the streets and in jail for five days. Wow, you're good.

[Fred]

These officers really roughed this guy up good. I am can't believe they did not tazz they him though. I guess cause he was crippled they wanted to take it easy on him.

[Dave]

Yeah, where's the tasing?

The cops are getting too soft. They should have kicked his head a few times as well, just to be sure.

After all, isn't that what we pay our taxes for?

[Joe]

....guess that explains the spelling errors and the improper use of caps lock.

Thanks, Rog, my ears are now bleeding.

Nice Samuel....there's always 1 moron in the crowd that thinks all people from up North are bad and everyone else is so good.

[Saralea]

Disgusting! And the black woman cop just stands there. Sickening. Don't they know they are being watched? I'm sure they are bitter and jaded by their job, who knows what the guy in the wheelchair did or said to piss them off but please...this is intolerable. Like someone said, can you even imagine what would be happening if the guy were black and the cops were white!?

[Rhonda]

This is amazing, when it was a young black male being beaten(TO THE POINT HE WAS KILLED)the only thing the media and THE PEANUT GALLERY had to say then was terrible parents, terrible black child I guess he got what he deserved. Funny, how the tables turn when it's a white person who can't defend himself.

[Gilbert R. Ford]

I can not began to explain what the video disclosed. Further, seeing clearly the other Deputies laughing and enjoying this outragous behavior is indicative of an atmosphere of a non-professional climate that pervase throughout the agency. While, I believe the individuals present acted with malice and incompetence the accountability spectrum begins and ends with the person in charge! The simple notion that the Sheriff is "so called outraged" run as a joke. I wonder if this gentleman (Mr. Sterner) is a veteran? If so, every veteran within that agency should voice thier displeasure with those fellow Deputies in a not so pleasant tone! If he is not a veteran, then Hillsborough County is paying the salaries of these badge toting abusers and should hold Sheriff Gee to account. The Federal Civil Rights Statue appears to have been violated here. Lets wait and see! Then again, this is Florida and a teenager was murdered on camera (Martin Anderson) and nothing happened.

[Any]

This is happening all over America nowadays. Any citizen crosses the line and all of a sudden citizens have no basic rights anymore. People are afraid to even call the cops during a domestic issues, they usually come with attitudes and ready to shoot.

[Joef]

We can't say it any simpler, all four should be fired, immediately! The wheel chair dumping deputy should be prosecuted for violating this guy's civil rights and for abusing a handicapped citizen. Nothing, else, will even begin to make this situation better.

[Hank]

After 32 years of watching the criminal justice system all I can say is that if something bad is happening in a correctional facility at least 50% of the time its the cops at fault.

Rhonda, most people were appalled at the case of Martin Anderson. You cannot judge by these boards as many of the ignorant comments come from people who repeat themselves or simply want to stir up trouble. I have yet to come across ONE person who thought those men and that woman should have been held legally liable.

It is not funny or ironic. One does not excuse the other. If one condones one act as a result of the other, you condone both.

[ROGER]

JOE....SPELLING ERRORS OR TYPOS ? DON'T BE PICAYUNE. AND IF IT LOOKS LIKE I AM YELLING.....I AM. IF ALL CAPS ARE THE ONLY PROBLEM YOU HAVE ON THIS EARTH, THEN BY GOD YOU HAVE GOT THE WORLD BY THE B----

[ROGER]

SAMUEL....SPELLING ERRORS OR TYPOS ? DON'T BE PICAYUNE. AND IF IT LOOKS LIKE I AM YELLING.....I AM. IF ALL CAPS ARE THE ONLY PROBLEM YOU HAVE ON THIS EARTH, THEN BY GOD YOU HAVE GOT THE WORLD BY THE B----

[ROGER]

RHONDA....You are right about the ANDERSON CASE. The outcome of that case was deplorable, and anyone employed in the corrections field knows it, but either won't or can't admit it, for fear of reprisal. The group that were involved are a disgusting group of human beings, especially the NURSE, who is sworn to FIRST>>>HURT NO ONE, as part of the medical hypocratic oath. She stood by and LET THIS KID DIE. DOC should be ashamed of themselves, as well as the STATE, for these things to happen in this "polically correct" era. Florida took a 50 year step BACKWARDS on that case....a disgrace.

[Lisa]

What is sad is I have been trying to get a job with them. If this is the type of people that work for your department and they have a college degree then thanks but maybe your department needs to be looked at more closely sheriff!! Maybe you need to remove some of these people and give other good people a chance. I am very appalled that this is the way your staff would treat anybody. Two words come to mind Sensitivity Training!!