Visit to Sheriff's Office

  The  visit to the Sheriff's Office in Ybor was insightful.  I had trouble finding the building initially until I saw the other students from class standing outside.  The main building was bigger than I imagined it would be.  We gathered in a board room in the annex to the main building where J.D. Callaway and Cristal Bermudez met us.  They had information such as Standard Operating Procedures, criminal report affidavits, online inquiries, arrest warrants and other records to review with us. 
   The standard operating procedure for news releases and media cooperation is to assist Sheriff's personnel with such documentation.  It explains when information may be released and when there are special considerations that exempt release of information.  Exemptions include interviewing people in custody and suicide notes. 
  It was interesting to see the online arrest inquiries.  The 17-year-old was charged as an adult because he was charged with solicitation to commit murder, which is a felony.  If a juvenile is charged with one felony or three or more  misdemeanors, he or she is charged as an adult.  Once charged as an adult, the juvenile's information will be public record.  Callaway said that public records are available fairly quickly online.  They are available within an hour after the booking process.
  People can request dash cam videos as public records for DUI cases, as DUI units are the only ones with dash cams. 
  I found it interesting that public records relating to criminal behavior are only located at the sheriff's office, jails, and court houses.  The public records we went over were very detailed.  It was insightful to see how an officer fills out reports. 
  Bermudez said that particular sheriff's office in Ybor is the first in the area to be more cutting-edge by using social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.  It's a fast way for reporters to be informed about arrests, etc. so they may obtain the public records quickly.  On YouTube, they post entire videos of news conferences, unlike broadcast news, where only bits and pieces of the news conferences are broadcast.
  We then toured the main building and saw where public records can be obtained.  Also, we toured the room where 911 calls are received.  The 911 operators seemed to know how to keep calm when calls came in.