Tag: APP Public Safety

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — After three years, a federal lawsuit against the Pasco Sheriff’s Office was settled Wednesday morning, on the eve of the trial.

The Institute for Justice represented four plaintiffs who challenged a controversial policing program that targeted juveniles and their families. On Wednesday, attorneys for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office surrendered, agreeing to a six-figure settlement, and pledged to never resume the program.

The families involved in the lawsuit say the program implemented by the sheriff’s office violated their constitutional rights, saying it used an algorithm to find juveniles who were likely to commit a crime, then relentlessly harassed them and their families. They say this settlement wasn’t about money, but protecting other families.

Darlene Deegan is one of four plaintiffs represented by the Institute for Justice in the federal lawsuit against the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

“My younger son, who is now deceased, they would be coming to my house, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, looking for my son. He didn’t live with me, but because I’m his mother, they would always be coming over there looking,” said Deegan said.

She admits that her son did get into some trouble as a teenager, but nothing severe. She says when he dropped out of school his freshman year, the harassment began.

“They decided they were going to jump my fence, and look for my son, which of course, he wasn’t there,” she said of one incident. “But then they decided, ‘Well, let’s give her over $3,000 worth of code enforcement fines.’ One of them being a $500 fine for not having house numbers on your house.”

Her son wasn’t a suspect in any crime at that time, and it wasn’t until later when the Institute for Justice heard what was happening and contacted her that she found out about the sheriff’s office “Intelligence Led Policing” program.

“We went through this whole thing and I knew nothing about this targeting the children. Yes, my son, back as a freshman, he quit school, so oh, right away, he’s going to be one of our future offenders so they would just always be on him, everything,” she said.

Robert McNamara, a Senior Attorney for the Institute for Justice, said in court Wednesday that the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office attorneys finally surrendered.  He says the program violated families first, fourth, and 14^th constitutional rights.

“What happened here today should send a message to law enforcement across the country that in the United States, we punish people after they have been convicted of a crime. We don’t punish people because we’ve decided they might commit a crime in the future,” said McNamara.

Deegan says Wednesday was a huge victory and that she’s proud to have been part of the fight to protect families rights. “I stepped forward because I’ve got grandchildren and I feel, and we gotta protect the children and the future generations and if I had to be a scapegoat for it, I was going to be it, things have to change.”

This is the statement, in its entirety, from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office regarding the settlement:

“The Pasco Sheriff’s Office will never apologize for keeping our community safe and holding those who victimize our community accountable for their actions. 

It is important to note that this is the final case tied to the false reporting alleged by former members of the Sheriff’s Office who were held accountable and disciplined for their actions. In all previous cases, courts ruled in favor of the Sheriff’s Office and, in this case, a court also found that the Sheriff’s Office written policies were constitutional.

To be clear, this activist group from outside our community represented four individuals and this is related to these four individuals only.

As a steward of taxpayer dollars, the Sheriff must adhere to that responsibility and, when presented with a financially minimal settlement agreement of $105,000, which is significantly lower than anticipated attorney costs for trial which could have reached millions of dollars, accepting the settlement was the best decision for the taxpayers of Pasco County. This was strictly a financial decision that was best for the taxpayers who fund our operations and will be paid for by the Florida Sheriff’s Association Risk Management Fund.

We continue to protect and serve our community and will continue to be tough on crime and make sure those who victimize our community will be held accountable. We will, again, never apologize for keeping our community safe.”