Florida top cop resigns post under cloud (FDLE-boot camp death)

[seafan]

Fla. top cop resigns post under cloud

Controversial FDLE Commissioner Guy Tunnell has stepped down after allegedly comparing U.S. black leaders to Osama bin Laden and Jesse James.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND MARY ELLEN KLAS
April 21, 2006

TALLAHASSEE - Guy Tunnell abruptly ended his controversial run as head of Florida's Department of Law Enforcement on Thursday, days after sources said he made off-color remarks comparing black leaders who were to attend a Capitol rally to Osama bin Laden and Jesse James.

Tunnell submitted his resignation to Gov. Jeb Bush hours after The Miami Herald requested he comment on whether he likened U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to terrorist leader bin Laden and the Rev. Jesse Jackson to outlaw James during a meeting of Bush's agency heads Tuesday. One person in the room and another source who spoke with an agency head told The Miami Herald about his remarks.

Obama and Jackson were invited to a march today to bring attention to the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson after an altercation with guards at a Panama City boot camp. The FDLE was initially investigating, until a special prosecutor threw it off the case after The Miami Herald reported Tunnell exchanged e-mails with the sheriff who ran the camp. Tunnell told The Miami Herald he was ''embarrassed'' by the e-mail exchange because it ''tarnished the agency.'' He said he did nothing wrong, but said he apologized for the ``appearance of impropriety.''

Tunnell, whose predecessor held the job for 15 years, is the second agency head of Bush's to resign under a cloud this year. State prisons chief James Crosby was fired by Bush in February because of numerous scandals at his agency. Meantime, juvenile-justice chief Anthony Schembri is under fire for the way his agency handles boot camps and for complaints that he has lied to lawmakers.

Bush had only kind words for Tunnell in a written statement Thursday night.

snip

Sources said Tunnell joked that he wished he were in uniform to meet Osama bin Laden and Jesse James.

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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/14392819.htm

[RagingInMiami]

1. Good riddance

May there be many more resignations to follow.

[noonwitch]

2. The best of those programs are run by retired military guys, not cops

When I was a delinquency worker, in Michigan, we at one point had a program that was run by this really great guy who loved the kids he worked with, but was tough on them. He was a retired marine. The kids did very well in his program, for the most part, and came out with both improved academic skills and usually a trade skill to get them by, whether they are college-bound or not.

I know a lot of posters here have issues with the military. Guys like the one who ran this program have vast experience in teaching young people vital information for their survival. Their experiences in combat are somewhat relevant to what a lot of kids who come from neighborhoods filled with crime, poverty and violence have experienced. They can probably relate better to troubled teens than a middle aged, middle class, suburban female like myself.