Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jac VerSteegJuly 5, 2015

A tough question facing Florida – and particularly South Florida – is: How can we combat flakka? But first, a more basic question: Why should Florida bother to combat flakka? It’s mind-boggling that people continue to take the dangerous drug. And its use apparently is increasing. Anyone with half a brain should know that the […]

Janelle Irwin TaylorJune 16, 2015

Welcome to another installation of “my bad luck is your source for information!” About six months ago, I reported my identity had been used by someone somewhere to file an unemployment claim. I was lucky. All it took were a handful of phone calls, a few hours and some mildly aggravating music-on-hold in order to […]

Jac VerSteegJune 15, 2015

“He did nothing wrong. He was afraid for his life. I commend him for his actions.” Those words were, in effect, Alberto Iber’s resignation letter. The Miami high school principal – excuse me, the former Miami high school principal – posted those fateful words online on a Miami Herald comment page. Iber was defending the […]

Bob SparksJune 11, 2015

There is no way to sugar coat it. The relationship and level of trust between urban African-American communities and police is at its lowest point in decades. Bringing people together will take an honest assessment of where we are followed by good-faith suggestions for solutions. Everyone must understand it is tough being a cop and […]

Melissa RossJune 9, 2015

An on-air discussion of the McKinney, Texas, viral video making the rounds this week quickly turned into an impassioned debate on criminal justice, with one participant’s calls to confront institutional racism set against another’s plea to evaluate police use-of-force incidents case by case. “We have to look at the institutionalization of racism in America,” activist Wells […]

James CallApril 2, 2015

Civil Rights groups are sounding the alarm about public records exemptions in a police body camera bill moving through the Senate. A coalition that includes the ACLU intend to argue Thursday the exemptions are so broad they prevent disclosure of evidence of police misconduct “even in the most egregious circumstances”. Groups including Latino Justice, Organize […]

Florence SnyderMarch 4, 2015

If you don’t live in Miami Gardens, you probably think its police department is no concern of yours. Ira Glass thinks otherwise. The host of This American Life used his highly respected program to bring the Miami Herald’s reporting on the out-of-control police department to his international audience of public radio listeners. The tale was first told […]

Guest AuthorDecember 31, 2014

Why should I have to tell my sons to respect the police? My sons are both military veterans, the oldest having served in the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan and the younger in the U.S. Army in Iraq. Both served during wartime. I am certain my older son would respect the police and would comply […]

Martin DyckmanNovember 30, 2014

Many years ago, a Union County jury spared the life of an inmate who had killed the Florida State Prison’s deputy warden during an escape attempt. Raiford was the governmental version of a company town, so how did the killer get second-degree murder instead of a ticket to the electric chair? The reason, as an […]

Guest AuthorSeptember 11, 2013

When the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City comes around, my thoughts are on the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives that day, how much we should honor their sacrifices and how our governor and state lawmakers care for our public servants today. When […]

Tag: police
Golf ball and golf club in bag on green grass

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Fight flakka with a tax on tobacco

Janelle Irwin: Not even kids cop a break from credit thieves

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: Miami principal inept but didn’t deserve ouster

Bob Sparks: Police body cameras can exonerate as well as implicate

The McKinney video: a Rashomon

Civil rights groups oppose police body camera bill, alarmed by public records exemptions

Florence Snyder: Miami Gardens a police reign of terror in miniature

Vanessa Lopez-Littleton: Why should I tell my sons to respect the police?

Martin Dyckman: Ferguson prosecutor should have recused himself because of his police ties

Rick Outzen: Florida Legislature and governor are dishonoring the fallen