Two Wakulla County Sheriff deputies are being disciplined for posting racially insensitive comments on facebook, following a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict a police officer who shot a black teenager.
Wakulla County Sheriff Larry Creel released the results of an internal investigation Tuesday. The investigation cleared three other officers of wrongdoing, but found that Undersheriff Trey Morrison and Detective Richard Moon participated in, "conduct unbecoming in an off duty capacity."
Both Morrison and Moon have been suspended without pay for five and two days respectively, and will be placed on a six month probation. In addition, they'll have to undergo diversity training.
But for some members of the Wakulla County community, Morrison and Moon have gotten off lightly. One woman said it appeared the men had received, "a slap on the hand." Creel says he's trying to be fair.
"These men are remorseful. If it happens again, they're unemployed," Creel told the crowded room of people in the Wakulla County Emergency Operations Center.
The Sheriff says he remains confident in Undersheriff Morrison's ability to lead. Morrison is the number two person in charge of the department.
"I've never heard him make a racist statement," Creel says.
Still, keeping both men-- especially Deputy Moon on staff, remains troublesome to those who attended Tuesday's press conference. In 2009, Moon was the subject of an investigation involving his use of the N-word against four black teens.
Four days before Christmas in 2009, Moon walked into the Subway inside the Crawfordville Wal-Mart. Four black teen-aged boys told sheriff's investigators Moon, while wearing his sheriff's office jacket, confronted them stating "who said the "n" word?". The statements say Moon told the teens he was armed and threatened to shoot them and called them "a bunch of "n"s". The statements also show one of the teens called his uncle who is a lieutenant with the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office to try to diffuse the situation. Witnesses say Moon took the call but then said, "I don't have time for this f-ing s" and then hung up the phone. Reporter: "Given what happened recently and then what happened a few years back would you agree this would be a pattern? Wakulla County Sheriff Charlie Creel: "Um...yes I would." Eyewitness News went to Moon's home for comment. But a neighbor said he wasn't home. In his statement about the incident, Moon admitted to using the "n" word and swearing multiple times.
Wakulla County Commissioner Howard Kessler expressed concern about putting, "the person with a prior history," back in contact with the public, but Creel says he believes there will not be future problems and says the most recent incidents are why he's working on purchasing body cameras for his deputies.
Creel is also launching a 14-member Citizens Advisory Committee that he hopes will help improve the relationship between the Sheriff's Office and the people it is supposed to serve. He's also working to revise the department's social media policy.
According to the summary of the internal affairs investigation, "when the public believes that there is an appearance of impropriety by public servants who are members of the only local law enforcement agency in the county, it adversely affects their perception of the agency and its members."
Three other officers, Sergent Eddie Wester, Detective Rick Buckley and Detention Deputy Jeff Carroll who were initially suspended during the investigation, were found not to have violated any policies. The report says their comments were found not offensive because they were not made in relation to Morrison's posting of the racially-charged cartoons or to Moon's comment of ,"Damn cockroaches! Squashem all!!!!".
