Excessive Force by Orlando Police Cost Taxpayers Big…Again

In Orlando, many people wonder why the community does not have a strong and positive relationship with the police force locally. First of all, Orlando PD is often used by Mayor Dyer and the local establishment in absurd ways (think arresting people feeding the homeless and needy at Lake Eola, think arresting people for standing in a public park, etc). But other reasons include their constant use of excessive force, including unnecessary lethal force.

And the latest taxpayer payout is $750,000 for the shooting of an unarmed man during an improper takedown. This follows $880,000 to an 84-year-old man whose neck was broken after a cop flipped him upside down and $140,000 payment to a woman whose teeth were broken after a cop shoved her face-first to the sidewalk.

As Scott Maxwell from the Orlando Sentinel put it “Yet, I’m not sure anyone is demanding they behave any better. Mayor Buddy Dyer and the Orlando City Council have been largely silent, simply cutting checks to make amends.”

Too bad Maxwell and his pals at the Sentinel did not hold Dyer accountable on this issue or others when they had the opportunity to question candidates in 2012’s mayoral debate. Everyone is responsible for the status quo in Orlando – so when will it finally change?

It’s a shame too — because I was the only candidate in 2012 locally to offer a comprehensive public safety platform for Orlando, still available online, which would drastically change the status quo.