{"id":98366,"date":"2023-12-07T05:17:57","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T11:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=98366"},"modified":"2023-12-07T05:17:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T11:17:57","slug":"98366","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=98366","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida police officials vow to stop illegally seizing ammunition from the public<\/a>
\nFlorida City Police Chief uncertain how long illegal policy has been enforced.<\/em><\/p>\n

Last April Fools\u2019 Day, a 61-year-old Miami man had a defensive gun usage in Florida City, Florida, which is certainly no surprise. Florida City was once considered the most dangerous city in the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n

The man, who did not want his name used in this story, was at a fast-food restaurant when he was accosted by an individual who he now believes was emotionally disturbed. The man was filling his water bottle at a soda machine when someone behind him said, \u201cI\u2019m from prison. Don\u2019t\u2019 touch my food or I\u2019ll kill you.\u201d He quickly left the restaurant.<\/p>\n

The disturbed man followed the victim outside, screaming about how he was going to kill him for touching his food.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was reaching in his pockets, being aggressive, saying how he was going to kill me, reaching into his pockets. He then ripped off his t-shirt and started running toward me very aggressively. I pulled my 9mm and told him to stop,\u201d the victim said.<\/p>\n

The victim kept walking backward, telling the suspect to stay back. At one point he tripped over some rocks, fell back onto his butt and had a negligent discharge. Fortunately, the round went into the ground striking no one. The victim got up and continued backing away from the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe kept being aggressive, telling me to go ahead and shoot him. I kept walking away \u2014 about an eighth of a mile. He followed me the whole way, screaming and telling me to shoot him,\u201d the victim said.<\/p>\n

Florida City Police officers finally arrived. After two hours of questioning, they confiscated the victim\u2019s Taurus G2c and two loaded magazines and then let him go. They took the disturbed man to a local mental health facility, where he was admitted for a 72-hour psychiatric hold, which is known in Florida as a Baker Act.<\/p>\n

The incident occurred three months before Florida\u2019s unlicensed concealed-carry law took effect, but the victim had a valid Florida Concealed Weapon or Firearm license.<\/p>\n

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It took 68 days for FCPD\u2019s investigation to conclude. The victim was not charged with any crime.<\/p>\n

When he went to the police department to retrieve his property the ammunition was gone. The department\u2019s property clerk, Krishen Boodoo, told him the ammunition was confiscated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t return ammo,\u201d Boodoo allegedly said. \u201cThe department will probably use it for training.\u201d<\/p>\n

This policy, one expert says, is patently illegal.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be clear, this is theft and it\u2019s also a preemption violation,\u201d said Jacksonville attorney Eric Friday, a firearms law and Second Amendment rights specialist and general counsel for\u00a0Florida Carry, Inc.<\/a><\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s powerful preemption statute<\/a>\u00a0declares that only the state legislature can regulate firearms. Any public official who violates the law can be removed from office and face fines of up to $5,000, which they must pay personally,<\/p>\n

Law enforcement unlawfully confiscating firearms, ammunition and personal property is an \u201cawful issue statewide,\u201d Friday said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just filed suit against the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office over a similar issue last week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Previously, Friday explained, Florida law allowed Sheriffs to sell confiscated arms and ammunition to Federal Firearm Licensees and then deposit the money into their budget. However, at some point the legislature realized this might have created an improper incentive for law enforcement. Now, when Sheriffs sell firearms or ammunition to a gun dealer, the money must be deposited into the state education fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time a sheriff destroys a useful weapon instead of selling it to an FFL, they are taking money out of the education fund and from the children of Florida,\u201d Friday said.<\/p>\n

Corrections made \u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Florida Carry sent a letter to Florida City Police Chief Pedro Taylor, warning him of the possibility of litigation, the apparent preemption violation and that his department, \u201chas a policy of not returning ammunition that has been taken from licensed, law-abiding citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email sent Tuesday, FCPD internal affairs Detective Julian Hoyte said, \u201cthe Florida City Police Department has reviewed and is immediately correcting this matter regarding confiscation of ammunition. All correction(s) are been (sic) made to ensure ammunition is returned to licensed, law-abiding citizens. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoyte\u2019s email chain contained another email, which Chief Taylor sent to his property clerk, Boodoo.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease see me,\u201d the chief told his clerk.<\/p>\n

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Florida City Police Chief Pedro Taylor. (Photo courtesy FCPD).<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Crime is out of control in Florida City. It has a violent crime rate of 2908.8 per 100,000 people, which is considerably higher than the national crime rate of 369.8 per 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

Florida City\u2019s 11,245 residents have a 1 in 34.4 chance of being a violent crime victim. Statewide, Floridians have a 1 in 260.7 chance of being a violent crime victim.<\/p>\n

In an interview Wednesday, Chief Taylor wasn\u2019t exactly sure how long his department\u2019s ammunition confiscation policy had been in effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say, I\u2019m not even sure. It\u2019s been a while. Maybe since 2012 to 2013,\u201d the chief said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure. It\u2019s something that was just brought to my attention. I would have to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

As to the allegations his officers were committing theft, Chief Taylor said, \u201cI have to talk to my attorney. We\u2019re not stealing ammo. We have a 90-day policy. Once they don\u2019t claim it, it\u2019s destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is bunk, the victim said. He tried to claim his ammunition well within the chief\u2019s 90-day window.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was defensive ammo, which isn\u2019t cheap,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted it back and they wouldn\u2019t give it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida police officials vow to stop illegally seizing ammunition from the public Florida City Police Chief uncertain how long illegal policy has been enforced. Last April Fools\u2019 Day, a 61-year-old Miami man had a defensive gun usage in Florida City, Florida, which is certainly no surprise. Florida City was once considered the most dangerous city … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98367,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98366\/revisions\/98367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}