Annual Report, Year 2006 - Monroe County Sheriff's Office

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Annual Report - 2006
Also in October, several team members participated in a buy bust operations on Stock Island at the Burger
King parking lot. The suspect arrived and delivered a large amount of narcotics to an undercover officer. The
suspect was taken into custody.
In January, March, April, June, August, September and October the team participated in high profile prisoner
escorts of a suspect who had allegedly planned to escape while being transported to court. The team
handled the escorts from the Detention Facility to the Courthouse. Once the suspect was in the Courthouse,
the team provided security in and around the Courthouse.
In December, the team responded to a barricaded subject in Marathon at Herbie’s Restaurant. The
suspect was wanted on Domestic Battery charges and had barricaded himself in the restaurant. The suspect
was armed with two handguns. After several hours of negotiations, the suspect attempted to break out of the
perimeter the SWAT team had established. The suspect was apprehended as he tried to exit from a wooded
area. The suspect was confronted by several SWAT members and was given orders to drop his weapons. The
suspect complied and was taken into custody without incident.
Traffic Enforcement Unit
2006 was a been a busy and successful year for the Unit.
To start with, during our approximately 260 working days, 90 of those days were devoted to other projects
that detoured us from our Traffic duties. We’re not complaining since this is part of our job function, only that
when your wondering where a
Traffic deputy is, that’s more
than likely the answer.
It’s been a great year for
the Unit and the County with
another lower than average year
in traffic fatalities throughout the
Keys. I believe the heavy traffic
enforcement activity from the
Unit and many in the SO specifically
targeting traffic violators
has helped reduce this figure - it
makes a difference.
The Traffic Unit has been
awarded several thousand dollars
in equipment from the State
The Traffic Enforcement Unit
in 2006. We have participated in many campaigns from “Click it and Ticket” to DUI enforcement” with several
others in between. Hand-Held radars, night vision goggles and soon tint meters are a few of the items awarded
and all we have to do is our job - priceless...
The “motor heads” have all received their new BMW 1200 PT-P motor units. They all have had a few
months of riding these bikes and they are a pleasure to ride. No more blisters on the thighs from motor heat,
they stay dry in the rain (they have a retractable windshield). They are 200 pounds lighter, so there is less
physical exertion during the day and so on. Just the ABS brakes alone have already saved a couple of officers
from the inevitable (bike riders know what that means).
For a good part of the year, Deputy Adam Rabinowitz was tied-up with administrative duties relating to
DUIs, Agency Inspections, depositions, court etc. Fulfilling these requirements now takes-up about 80% of one
traffic deputy’s time. As of December 2006 Dep. Luis Blasco was assigned to the position of Agency Inspector,
taking over the duties from Adam. Blasco has an extensive medical background and has been recently certified
as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).
You may have seen the Traffic Unit at the Marathon Hanger for training in December. They all successfully
completed the painstaking, mind boggling, mentally exhausting (many bottles of aspirin killed and calculators
smoldering) Traffic Homicide Investigator class. Excellent job by all with a 92% average for the class.
Kudos to Traffic secretary Joni Green for maintaining all her normal duties and the ever relentless DUI
tapes that keep growing and growing. Her job has increased tremendously with the pro-active detective cases
and DUI enforcement.
Speaking of DUI enforcement, what a fantastic job Dep. Edgar Piniero (Jr) has done this year. After
finally being able to dedicate a year (not counting all that time away from his duties as mentioned in the first
44