[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by mrfixit

I say THANK YOU to N44125
for giving us a head's up on this person
who was on The 10 Most Wanted List.

We can only hope the list of "sex offenders" will also be published.

I will pitch in $$$ to print the Sex Offender Mugshots and dossier....
...of the DOZENS of Sex Offenders IN The Villages...... and mail them to their 50 closest neighbors.

I choose to be aware of my surrondings and appreciate those who
keep us aware.

Those who do not wish to have this valuable info can ignore the thread.

MY take on this is contained in The First Amendment......
.....the part...."or abridging the freedom of speech" comes to mind.

Thank You again N44125 for keeping us informed.

Also, Kudos to the Law Enforcement Community.

Did this person think that growing out his hair and growing a beard would fool the LEO's at The Sumter County Sheriff Office?

A sex offenders list is available to everyone and is public information.

If interested, anyone can sign up on AlertID.com and receive a variety of information in addition to the sex offender list .

Don't kid yourself.
They are here, too!

[Rags123]

Originally Posted by blueash

Redwitch's posts raise a sincere and I believe important concern. As I read through the posts there are several fitting the theme.. If they got arrested they must have done bad things in the past or now. They must have made mistakes. They must have been involved in criminal activity. Those assumptions simply are not true and reflect a prejudice (as in pre-judge) against the accused. That this 22 yo was on the most wanted list only means the authorities really want to find him. It does not mean he has any past criminal record, it does not mean he has committed a crime in the situation for which he is presently being sought. Now he may have a past record and he may have committed the crime for which he is sought but I was taught that he is innocent until... and that if I ever am asked in jury selection if I have an opinion on the innocence of the accused to answer yes, my opinion is that he is innocent unless the prosecution can prove otherwise.

Having said that, I do not object to the availability of names and addresses of those arrested being public record. That is far better than people just disappearing off the streets with no public record as still may happen in too many countries.

I must be really thickheaded and stupid.

This man was already on the county's TOP TEN MOST WANTED LIST. He was not picked up jaywalking or speeding. He already had violated the law...he already was not fullfilling his obligations based on past arrests or he is would not be on the TOP TEN MOST WANTED LIST.

I just do not understand the stiff defense of a man who has such a history he landed on the TOP TEN MOST WANTED LIST. We call for others heads at times.......we judge them publicly even BEFORE an arrest and this guy is getting such a defense on here.

We are not talking about a single arrest....this thread is about a TOP TEN MOST WANTED IN THE COUNTY.

Please, what am I missing about this !

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by kittygilchrist

Here's the crime victim advocate, under departments from the Sumter website:
Victim's Advocate (352) 569-1623

That's good information. But, at least in my own philosophy about the criminal justice system, the number ONE priority is the needs of the victims such as recovery, their statements, mental health, support systems, etc. Criminal Investigations Division

Catching the right defendant is the second priority.

The needs of the cops to have their TOP TEN lists would probably be near the bottom.

I changed the name of a man committed of one of the most notorious crimes in the State of Minnesota back around 1988. That's when I tried to change his name in 1988. Not sure when the actual crime was. The Judge presiding over the paperwork chewed me out for just having the audacity of using the legal system to do something that the Defendant was entitled to by law-- a name change. The victim would be notified of the name change as soon as it went through but the judge still had to grandstand about the emotions she felt because of this name change. I cannot give you the name of my client back then as there are ethical rules still in place on me with respect to attorney-client privileges and the like even if I was just a student attorney.

I do not recall any prisoners I represented at Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners being innocent. I thumbed through every file I could get my hands on looking for an innocent defendant.

I hope you can get what I am trying to advocate. The more open the information on the Internet about things like the Florida Victim Services Directory the more respect shown to the needs of the victims. The judge was being very paternalistic protecting the victim of my client's case of a name change. But the victim was already granted that right of being informed about the name change.

The TOP TEN List should be not what is highlighted in the Sheriff's Web-site. It should be something that instills trust in the justice system from the part of the victim like the Florida Victim Services Directory and a link to it.

[EnglishJW]

Originally Posted by N44125

According to the electronic newspaper a 22 year old villager, who was on the County's Most Wanted List was just apprehended and arrested. He is Oliver Smith residing at Sothell St here in TV.

Here's his mugshot. I don't remember ever playing golf with him. Am I the only one?

This is the public information that had been posted in the Sumter County Sheriff's office and online: SCSO Most Wanted - Oliver Smith

The crimes he is suspected of are burglary and grand theft. Like you, I see nothing wrong with sharing this information. That is why the Sheriff's Office posted it in the first place. There may be much more to this story and I hope we learn of the ultimate outcome.

[EnglishJW]

The TOP TEN List should be not what is highlighted in the Sheriff's Web-site.

While I understand and agree with your view concerning victims, I see no reason why any law enforcement agency shouldn't use whatever resources they have at their disposal to apprehend whomever they are searching for.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by EnglishJW

While I understand and agree with your view concerning victims, I see no reason why any law enforcement agency shouldn't use whatever resources they have at their disposal to apprehend whomever they are searching for.

You would probably be right about Sheriff's Offices web-sites using Most Wanted pictures. Here's Hennepin County in Minnesota's web-site. Top Ten Most Wanted | Hennepin County Sheriff's Office

They also have this though-- Staying Safe. http://www.hennepinsheriff.org/safety

Once in a while I will spent a few days looking at what is out there in various communities in the US for victims of crimes. Something I hope that more TOTVs will also do as a hobby. The more people are pestering police departments about taking a look at things from the perspective of the victim the better things will be for victims who report crimes or more importantly ARE THINKING ABOUT reporting crimes.

I do find something like this would be quite useful for citizens of a community. It is from the County covering Reno and other areas in Northern Nevada -- http://www.washoesheriff.com/staying-safe.php

Look up the community or communities you came from and what kind of things are on their Sheriff's web-sites. I lived in the Milwaukee, WI area; Reno, NV; Belmont, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Denver, CO; Provo, UT; Itasca, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Rohnert Park, CA; and Palm Harbor, FL.

[mrfixit]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Some of the Top Ten seem to simply have missed their court dates for driving without a license.
Not sure how that qualifies for Top Ten? [/url]

In my little thinker, The Message Is CLEAR.

Sumter County Sheriff Office...
...is efficient, top-notch and so good at what they do
that the Top 10 Wanted list CAN include "Failure to Appear".

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by mrfixit

In my little thinker, The Message Is CLEAR.

Sumter County Sheriff Office...
...is efficient, top-notch and so good at what they do
that the Top 10 Wanted list CAN include "Failure to Appear".

I think what it means is that Sumter County thankfully has such a lack of heinous criminals that they have to add failure to appear to get the list up to ten.

Andthat makes me a happy camper.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by mrfixit

In my little thinker, The Message Is CLEAR.

Sumter County Sheriff Office...
...is efficient, top-notch and so good at what they do
that the Top 10 Wanted list CAN include "Failure to Appear".

In my limited experiences with the Sumter County Sheriff's Office I have found their officers very courteous, professional, and capable.

I have not sent them any e-mails in a while about the Florida Victims Services Directory. Cannot even remember the last time I did this. It has been something I have been pushing since 2000 but mainly for links from law and public libraries across FL.

[redwitch]

I have no issue with police using whatever resources are available to apprehend someone, even if just to question that person. If someone mugs another in a parking lot and there is a photograph or video available, I firmly believe it should be public knowledge. The police need an aware public and a public willing to let them know when they see a potential bad guy. The police should do what is necessary to stop crime. But we're talking about after the bad guy has been arrested. As I said, it could have easily been reported as one of the county's top ten most wanted has been arrested, but there is no need for any of the other information. It is an embarrassment to his friends, families. They certainly don't deserve this. Imagine all of the folks doing a drive-by of the street just to see where he lived. And, of course, there is still the issue that no one has been found guilty of a crime yet -- just arrested.

However, I'm talking about someone already in custody. There is absolutely no reason to post the mug shots, the names, the addresses. The police have done their job -- they have arrested someone. It is now up to the judicial system to prosecute that person, not the newspapers or the internet. What possible need is there to know the name and address of the person arrested -- he's in custody. I don't know Florida's laws, but I do know that in California victims are kept very well apprised of an assailant's status and whereabouts.

I'm sorry you think it is acceptable that this information is so freely given in Florida. Not only acceptable, but welcome. I still find it nauseating.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by redwitch

I have no issue with police using whatever resources are available to apprehend someone, even if just to question that person. If someone mugs another in a parking lot and there is a photograph or video available, I firmly believe it should be public knowledge. The police need an aware public and a public willing to let them know when they see a potential bad guy. The police should do what is necessary to stop crime. But we're talking about after the bad guy has been arrested. As I said, it could have easily been reported as one of the county's top ten most wanted has been arrested, but there is no need for any of the other information. It is an embarrassment to his friends, families. They certainly don't deserve this. Imagine all of the folks doing a drive-by of the street just to see where he lived. And, of course, there is still the issue that no one has been found guilty of a crime yet -- just arrested.




However, I'm talking about someone already in custody. There is absolutely no reason to post the mug shots, the names, the addresses. The police have done their job -- they have arrested someone. It is now up to the judicial system to prosecute that person, not the newspapers or the internet. What possible need is there to know the name and address of the person arrested -- he's in custody. I don't know Florida's laws, but I do know that in California victims are kept very well apprised of an assailant's status and whereabouts.

I'm sorry you think it is acceptable that this information is so freely given in Florida. Not only acceptable, but welcome. I still find it nauseating.

Well Red, It's a good thing we agree on most things, because we don't on this one. I think most of us would like to know where someone who has a mug shot is living in relation to where we are living.

[KathieI]

Originally Posted by Bonanza

A sex offenders list is available to everyone and is public information.

If interested, anyone can sign up on AlertID.com and receive a variety of information in addition to the sex offender list .

Don't kid yourself.
They are here, too!

I am already on the email Alert list of sex offenders that live in the Villages and when I get the mug shot, I forward it to all my friends that live near that address. Are you kidding me,,,, if they weren't in trouble in the first place, they wouldn't have a mug shot and all that is public information and I think it should be. In Los Angeles, we received one also, and my friends with little children were especially interested in what they looked like and where they lived. These are scary times, the more info we can get, the better..... and that my opinion

[tommy steam]

We have had criminals in the villages and surrounding area who have broken into homes, and also mugged people. I don't mind seeing their pictures in the newspapers, It might shame them enough to keep away from us .

[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Well Red, It's a good thing we agree on most things, because we don't on this one. I think most of us would like to know where someone who has a mug shot is living in relation to where we are living.

With you on this on Gracie. You bet I want to see the mug shot and know where they live. Plaster it all over. Expose the address and those that might be harboring a criminal, including the parents. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Our society is too soft on crime and criminals.

[Bushey]

Be careful of offer for a free credit report from Citizens Bank. It is a fraud, it is not Citizens Bank and it is not free.