Today (Wednesday) was my last day as a municipal government reporter at the Sun-Sentinel. It's been a long but rewarding three months. Ever since they extended my internship after September, I've been covering city government in four cities clustered south of Fort Lauderdale - Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, West Park, and Pembroke Park. It was my first real "beat" - in my past reporting internships I covered health as a general topic or was a generalist. The city beat reporters are sort of the foot soldiers of the paper, the ones writing about city commission meetings and what the elected officials decide to do with taxpayer money, spotlighting the movers and shakers in the community, and the ones who do the story on anything that happens within city borders really.
On any given day I was picking up police blotters - the listings of nonviolent crimes that readers seem to like to read - calling the mayor or city manager for an update on something, going to commission meetings which can last several hours, talking to business owners, residents, tourists, driving around, reading some document or Web site, or writing a story. It was busy, busy. In the beginning it was a lot of jumping around, trying to make sure I wasn't overlooking something in one city at the expense of another. By the time I started to hit a groove, my time was up.
One story I was proud of was when Hallandale fired two police officers for abusing a man they arrested, choking and tasering him 15 times one night in April.
Another was a few stories on Dania Beach's efforts to revitalize their gritty downtown area even through seizing property through eminent domain. They also sacrificed a historic hotel that had housed people barely able to scrape by, favoring a new project boasting market-rate condos.
I also liked writing about a French family with a little girl who traveled to Pembroke Park each year for special therapy to overcome her cerebral palsy.
I feel fortunate to have come across these stories and to learn from my mistakes. I also feel more confident in organizing my time and resources because, well, with four cities, you have four sets of elected officials and staff, four sets of issues, four separate little fiefdoms. Ideally there would be one reporter for each city, which we used to have in the office. Now people have to double up, or quad up in my case. At least if I get hired somewhere else to do local government, one or two cities will be cake. At least I hope.
At the end of the day today I sent emails to each of the four city managers telling them I was leaving and to forward any upcoming info to my editor. I never told them I was an intern. Partly I think that was because I didn't want to seem like an amateur. But also I think I was trying to mentally picture myself being a staff writer, or getting hired on as a staff writer. And no reason to tell them I was an intern if I was hired at some point- there'd be a seamless transition. Of course, they didn't hire me. At least not yet.
In any case, as I left the office for the last time, I felt happy to be out but sad too. I kinda missed the 10 hour or 12 hour days. Talking to residents. Being plugged into what was happening. I had only just begun to scratch the surface of my cities.
December 28, 2005
December 25, 2005
December 8, 2005
flying on coke
So I'm at my desk eating a Wendy's spicy chicken meal and reading some document simultaneously to maximize my work time....sad isn't it....and I look at my iced tea cup, which has a bright label on it proclaiming, "Buy 32 drinks = 1 FREE 1-way ticket"
Hmmm, I thought in between parsing sentences of a land use plan amendment ordinance.
Free flight eh? 32 drinks eh? SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM!
But upon closer examination, it seemed like you really can fly on airTran anywhere they fly after sending in 32 drink upc codes. Who's heard of airTran, please raise your hands. Seeing no one, I now close the public hearing. Sorry, I have city government meetings on the brain.
I googled "wendys free flight" and came up with the promotion on the first hit. airTran appears to be a discount airline with ATL as its hub. And they fly to Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, all the places I want to be. You can't fly from SF to LA without going through Atlanta but hey should be a nice trip.
A 20-oz drink at Wendy's probably costs $1.90 or so, call it two bucks. 2 times 32 = 64. 64 dollars in change from between my car's seat and the floor don't seem too bad for a free flight. that's 128 bucks for a roundtrip. And all the soda I could drink in several months. Oh wait, maybe you need to buy a meal to get the cup. and the deal expires at the end of the year or whenever Wendy's runs out of cups with the offer on the side.
hmmm, how to beat the deadline.
well, simply buy Wendy's for everyone in the office, that's it.
could come up with the goods in a couple days.
get everyone obese off of square burgers.
sounds like a plan.
Hmmm, I thought in between parsing sentences of a land use plan amendment ordinance.
Free flight eh? 32 drinks eh? SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM!
But upon closer examination, it seemed like you really can fly on airTran anywhere they fly after sending in 32 drink upc codes. Who's heard of airTran, please raise your hands. Seeing no one, I now close the public hearing. Sorry, I have city government meetings on the brain.
I googled "wendys free flight" and came up with the promotion on the first hit. airTran appears to be a discount airline with ATL as its hub. And they fly to Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, all the places I want to be. You can't fly from SF to LA without going through Atlanta but hey should be a nice trip.
A 20-oz drink at Wendy's probably costs $1.90 or so, call it two bucks. 2 times 32 = 64. 64 dollars in change from between my car's seat and the floor don't seem too bad for a free flight. that's 128 bucks for a roundtrip. And all the soda I could drink in several months. Oh wait, maybe you need to buy a meal to get the cup. and the deal expires at the end of the year or whenever Wendy's runs out of cups with the offer on the side.
hmmm, how to beat the deadline.
well, simply buy Wendy's for everyone in the office, that's it.
could come up with the goods in a couple days.
get everyone obese off of square burgers.
sounds like a plan.
December 3, 2005
News from the front (page, that is)
Woohoo! First time I hit the front page of the paper, today:
"Two Hallandale officers fired over Taser use"
The competition had a story but I got it better, this time around.
How'd I celebrate? I came home from the office after editing the story, at 10:45 pm, cracked open a Sierra Nevada, cooked some speghetti, and watched Leno and Conan. yeah.
HALLANDALE BEACH - Two city police officers were fired Friday after being accused of choking and using a Taser on a man in a holding cell more than 10 times in less than five minutes.
The Broward County State Attorney's Office charged Officer Talous Cirilo with three counts of misdemeanor battery, and Officer Mary Hagopian with one count of misdemeanor battery. Hagopian was a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo was employed for three or four years, said Police Chief Tom Magill. Their arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 21.
"I can't have that in this organization," said City Manager Mike Good, who authorized the firings. "I won't tolerate it."
Their lawyer on Friday said the decision to fire Cirilo and Hagopian was "bogus."
"No way did the city do a thorough investigation," said Barbara Duffy, general council for the Broward County Police Benevolent Association who represented Cirilo and Hagopian. "I'm not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their jobs."
The officers have 15 days to challenge the firings.
The dismissals come at a time when police use of Tasers faces mounting criticism. Critics contend that the stun guns are sometimes misused and that the unregulated weapons may be unsafe. The manufacturer, Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., contends the devices are safe.
On the morning of April 1, police noticed two men fighting in the back seat of a car on Federal Highway and pulled over the driver, officials said. Cirilo arrested Michael Brack, 23, for domestic violence for the alleged fight with his brother. Brack struggled with officers at the scene, and at some point Cirilo shoved a Taser against Brack's body three times and activated the electricity, police said.
After Brack was arrested and placed in a holding cell, Cirilo choked the handcuffed man, Good said. That incident was recorded by video camera. After being fingerprinted, Brack was led out of sight of the camera, then choked unconscious by Cirilo, Good said.
When Brack woke up, he kicked his cell, prompting Cirilo and Hagopian to shock him with a Taser more than 10 times in four minutes, 22 seconds, officials said. Two Community Service Aides saw the incidents, they said.
Hagopian, who as an acting sergeant was a supervisor at the time, used her body to shield the service aides from entering the room as Cirilo choked Brack, according to a police statement. One of the aides said he saw Hagopian with a Taser in each hand, shocking Brack multiple times.
In June, Internal Affairs presented its case to the state attorney's office, Magill said. The state charged Cirilo and Hagopian in October. On Nov. 16, Magill told the city manager he should fire the two officers.
"We can't accept that behavior," Magill said Friday. "I'm extremely disappointed. We hired them, trained them, did the best we could."
City officials held a meeting on Monday to allow the officers to defend themselves, but only their lawyer, Duffy, showed up.
City Manager Good fired the officers Friday.
Neither officer has a criminal record in Florida. Neither did Brack, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The domestic violence charge was dropped.
Magill said it took eight months to discipline the officers because the state attorney working the case was promoted and the case was given to someone else; the Tasered man, Brack, left South Florida; and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma took up city police resources.
Every Hallandale officer who carries a Taser goes through a four-hour training session by in-house instructors, said Assistant Police Chief James Kirchoff. About 70 patrol officers carry the devices.
More than 7,000 law enforcement agencies, including the majority of the police agencies in South Florida, use the devices. Critics point out that more than 100 people nationwide have died shortly after being shocked by a Taser.
In Florida, at least 24 people have died since 2001 after being zapped, more than in any other state. Medical examiners attributed most of those deaths to other causes, such as the presence of drugs, including cocaine.
Kirchoff said that the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum recently put out new Taser guidelines, which the city follows.
After the April incident the department put out a memo telling officers not to "dry tase" a person as Cirilo did when Brack was arrested, Magill said. During a dry tase the electrified darts are not fired; the Taser is pressed against a person's body and activated.
News researchers Barbara Hijek and Bill Lucey contributed to this story.
Chris Young can be reached at ciyoung@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7916.
"Two Hallandale officers fired over Taser use"
The competition had a story but I got it better, this time around.
How'd I celebrate? I came home from the office after editing the story, at 10:45 pm, cracked open a Sierra Nevada, cooked some speghetti, and watched Leno and Conan. yeah.
HALLANDALE BEACH - Two city police officers were fired Friday after being accused of choking and using a Taser on a man in a holding cell more than 10 times in less than five minutes.
The Broward County State Attorney's Office charged Officer Talous Cirilo with three counts of misdemeanor battery, and Officer Mary Hagopian with one count of misdemeanor battery. Hagopian was a 15-year veteran, and Cirilo was employed for three or four years, said Police Chief Tom Magill. Their arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 21.
"I can't have that in this organization," said City Manager Mike Good, who authorized the firings. "I won't tolerate it."
Their lawyer on Friday said the decision to fire Cirilo and Hagopian was "bogus."
"No way did the city do a thorough investigation," said Barbara Duffy, general council for the Broward County Police Benevolent Association who represented Cirilo and Hagopian. "I'm not aware of any other state attorneys' offices that charge cops for doing their jobs."
The officers have 15 days to challenge the firings.
The dismissals come at a time when police use of Tasers faces mounting criticism. Critics contend that the stun guns are sometimes misused and that the unregulated weapons may be unsafe. The manufacturer, Taser International of Scottsdale, Ariz., contends the devices are safe.
On the morning of April 1, police noticed two men fighting in the back seat of a car on Federal Highway and pulled over the driver, officials said. Cirilo arrested Michael Brack, 23, for domestic violence for the alleged fight with his brother. Brack struggled with officers at the scene, and at some point Cirilo shoved a Taser against Brack's body three times and activated the electricity, police said.
After Brack was arrested and placed in a holding cell, Cirilo choked the handcuffed man, Good said. That incident was recorded by video camera. After being fingerprinted, Brack was led out of sight of the camera, then choked unconscious by Cirilo, Good said.
When Brack woke up, he kicked his cell, prompting Cirilo and Hagopian to shock him with a Taser more than 10 times in four minutes, 22 seconds, officials said. Two Community Service Aides saw the incidents, they said.
Hagopian, who as an acting sergeant was a supervisor at the time, used her body to shield the service aides from entering the room as Cirilo choked Brack, according to a police statement. One of the aides said he saw Hagopian with a Taser in each hand, shocking Brack multiple times.
In June, Internal Affairs presented its case to the state attorney's office, Magill said. The state charged Cirilo and Hagopian in October. On Nov. 16, Magill told the city manager he should fire the two officers.
"We can't accept that behavior," Magill said Friday. "I'm extremely disappointed. We hired them, trained them, did the best we could."
City officials held a meeting on Monday to allow the officers to defend themselves, but only their lawyer, Duffy, showed up.
City Manager Good fired the officers Friday.
Neither officer has a criminal record in Florida. Neither did Brack, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The domestic violence charge was dropped.
Magill said it took eight months to discipline the officers because the state attorney working the case was promoted and the case was given to someone else; the Tasered man, Brack, left South Florida; and Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma took up city police resources.
Every Hallandale officer who carries a Taser goes through a four-hour training session by in-house instructors, said Assistant Police Chief James Kirchoff. About 70 patrol officers carry the devices.
More than 7,000 law enforcement agencies, including the majority of the police agencies in South Florida, use the devices. Critics point out that more than 100 people nationwide have died shortly after being shocked by a Taser.
In Florida, at least 24 people have died since 2001 after being zapped, more than in any other state. Medical examiners attributed most of those deaths to other causes, such as the presence of drugs, including cocaine.
Kirchoff said that the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Police Executive Research Forum recently put out new Taser guidelines, which the city follows.
After the April incident the department put out a memo telling officers not to "dry tase" a person as Cirilo did when Brack was arrested, Magill said. During a dry tase the electrified darts are not fired; the Taser is pressed against a person's body and activated.
News researchers Barbara Hijek and Bill Lucey contributed to this story.
Chris Young can be reached at ciyoung@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7916.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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