PASCO COUNTY, Fla. – Last Wednesday, four plaintiffs sued the Pasco County Sheriff, saying they were harassed, fined, and even arrested by deputies who overstepped their boundaries and are asking the courts to end the Intelligence-Led Policing (ILP) in Pasco County.
“Pasco’s program seems like it was ripped from the pages of a dystopian sci-fi novel and not a manual on effective police strategies,” said Institute for Justice Attorney Ari Bargil. “This program isn’t just unethical, it’s patently unconstitutional to use a crude computer calculation to target, harass, fine, and even arrest citizens who have done nothing wrong.”
In a tweet last Thursday, Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman from the Florida Panhandle, said Gov. Ron DeSantis had the authority to remove Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and should consider doing so.
“I don’t care that this is being done by a GOP Sheriff,” Gaetz said in the tweet. “Its awful to harass citizens because you think they may commit crimes, hoping to make their lives miserable.’
The Intelligence-Led Policing philosophy was implemented in the Pasco Sheriff’s Office in 2011, with the first agency in the area to use this philosophy being the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which implemented this philosophy and technology in 2009.
The algorithm is based on the premise that 6% of individuals commit 60% of the crime and that, by focusing on that 6%, a large reduction in crime can be seen across the board.
“ILP is a philosophy that is blind to a person’s race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, or any other aspect of an individual’s life. The only consideration for ILP is an individual’s criminal history and actions along with their criminal associates,” said Sheriff Chris Nocco in September 2020 statement, “As evidenced by the 74.4% reduction in residential burglaries since we first implemented the ILP philosophy. This reduction has a direct, positive impact on the lives of the citizens of Pasco County. There is a direct correlation between our ability to keep our community safe and families and economic opportunities expanding in Pasco County.”
Amanda Hunter, a Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said in response to the lawsuit, “We look forward to defending any lawsuits in which we may be named in the proper venue and will not be party to litigation via the media.”
“This focus has lead the Pasco Sheriff’s Office to have the highest closure rate of crime in the Tampa Bay area meaning, essentially, that the Pasco Sheriff’s Office is solving more crime than surrounding jurisdictions,” said Chase Daniels, Assistant Executive Director of Pasco Sheriff’s Office in a September statement.
Public records request revealed the arrests and charges of the four plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who seek to end the ILP program by Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.
Dalanea Taylor: Alerts for gang member added in January 2019. 73 incidents, 57 arrests, 11 jail incidents, and 36 warrants between 2009 and 2020.
Arrests between 2012 and 2016 include VOP, auto burglary, grand theft auto, auto burglary, and residential burglary, throw/shoot a deadly missile into an unoccupied structure, burglary conveyance, firearm thefts, armed burglary, and dealing in stolen property. Top 5 offenders and prolific in 2017.
Registered convicted felon in 2017 for 13 counts Grand theft auto, shoot/throw missile into building/vehicle, 8 counts of Attempted burglary of an unoccupied structure, and criminal mischief property damage. The last contact was in January 2020 and September 2019 and both incidents were an attempt for a welfare check on her adult cousin called in by another individual.
Tammy Heilman: Alerts for verbal abuse to officers, 2016, “Tells deputies to “f**k off”, anti-law enforcement officer, 2016, no further, and officer safety, 2018, intentionally swung open a door, striking a deputy.
On probation for a battery of a law enforcement officer, and very anti-LEO, 71 incidents, 18 arrests, and 2 jail incidents between 2006 and April 2020.
Arrests between 2016 and 2018 and include code violations, battery on LEO (2016 and 2018), battery on a firefighter, resist officer without violence, false info to LEO during missing person, and VOP (Batt LEO). The last contact was in august 2020 for a Junevile Protection Order.
In 2020, Heilman’s younger son was arrested and brought to the Juvenile Detention Center.
Darlene Deegan: 40 incidents, and 7 arrests between 2002 and June 2020. Arrests between 2018 and 2019 for code violations (standards for numbering, parking, polluted water discharge, permitted use violation, accumulation of debris and overgrown conditions). Most incidents list her as victim, complainant or other and include her wanting her son removed from her property after he is found sneaking into a camper.
In December of 2019, Tyler Panneson was found dead at Deegan’s home. Hypodermic needles, white powdery substances were located on the scene. Prior to his death, Panneson had 93 incidents, 36 arrests, 14 warrants, and 11 jail incidents between 2000 and 2019. Arrests between 2001 and 2019 and include heroin possession, trespass, auto theft, grand theft, meth possession, retail theft, residential burglary, VOP felony, P/S/D/M controlled substance, carrying a concealed firearm, and fraudulent use of a credit card. Top 5 in 2018, prolific in 2017, and target of the month in 2016.
Robert Arthur Jones III: 19 incidents, 10 arrests, 3 jail incidents, and 11 warrants between 2015 and 2016. Arrests between 2015 and 2016 and include code violations, marijuana possession, child neglect, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, FTA warrant (code violations), and resisting officer without violence.
The last contact was in March 2016 for a search warrant following approximately 25 auto burglaries occurring within one mile of Jones’ residence.
Trash pulls were conducted and revealed items from the auto burglaries. Jones III stated another individual had been residing with them and believed he to be the suspect in these cases; however, that individual was incarcerated during the burglaries. Jr. also claimed the burglaries were by the other subject and when questioned on marijuana that was located, Jr. stated he believed it belonged to his father due to him smoking often. Jr.’s girlfriend was in the home babysitting an infant during the time of the warrant and also stated the marijuana belonged to Sr. He was arrested for possession of marijuana and child neglect.
His son Robert Jones IV Jr., has 23 incidents, 16 arrests, 1 warrant, and 6 jail incidents between 2015 and 2016. Arrests between 2015 and 2016 and include auto burglary, tamper with or fabricate physical evidence, marijuana possession, JPO, FTA warrants. Prolific offender in 2017 and top 5 in 2016.
“I am very proud of the hard work of our members and the partnership with our community that has led to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office having among the highest rate of solving crimes,” said Pasco County Sheriff Nocco.
In a statement to The Free Press, Rob Johnson, a lawyer working on the case from Institute for Justice said, “In an apparent effort to smear the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, in retaliation for their willingness to stand up against the Sheriff’s unconstitutional tactics, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office has provided a misleading and at times blatantly false account of their past histories.”
“The Sheriff’s Office summary grossly inflates the number of arrests for each of these plaintiffs. Most people understand the word “arrest” to mean that a person was taken into custody by the police, but the Sheriff’s Office has explained that they count every individual charge against a person as an “arrest”—even if that person was never physically arrested at all. As a result, the Sheriff’s Office states that Dolly Deegan has been arrested seven times, when, in fact, the truth is that she has never been arrested in her life. The “arrests” recounted by Pasco are nothing more than code enforcement charges for tall grass, missing house numbers on a mailbox, and other similar complaints. The arrest counts of the other plaintiffs are likewise wildly inflated, in an apparent attempt to make a handful of property code violations look like a life of crime,” Johnson added.
“The Sheriff’s Office summary also leaves out a critical fact: To the extent that these plaintiffs were actually arrested, many of those arrests were part of the Sheriff’s Office unconstitutional campaign of harassment. Sheriff’s Office deputies repeatedly arrested Tammy Heilman and Robert Jones because they felt Tammy and Robert were not sufficiently cooperating with their frequent, harassing visits to their homes. The Pasco Sheriff’s Office uses arrests as a tool to harass residents, and then the Sherriff’s Office points to those arrests as proof that its targets are bad people. That is perverse.”
“The Sheriff’s Office also neglects to mention that all of Dalanea’s arrests occurred when she was a juvenile—with some arrests occurring when she was as young as twelve. Many of these arrest records are confidential under Florida law, and the Sheriff’s Office has violated the law by revealing them to the press. More importantly, Dalanea is now an adult, and she has left her past behind. Yet the Sheriff’s Office appears determined to ensure that her past will follow her forever,” said Johnson.
“Finally, we note that there is absolutely no reason for the Sheriff’s Office to have disclosed details from the tragic death of Dolly’s son. Those details will now be on the internet for years to come, and may some day be read by Dolly’s young grandchild. The picture the Sheriff’s Office paints is inaccurate and, more to the point, is totally irrelevant. The Sheriff’s Office should be ashamed of its efforts to use a son’s tragic death to retaliate against a mother for standing up for her rights,” Johnson concluded.
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