Waldo FL Police Department Disbanded (Gainesville, Brandon: attorney, tenant, cost)

[the searchers]

We have had conversations in here about speed traps.

Waldo is one of the most famous speed traps in the nation.

I thought some might enjoy this news item.
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Good things come to those who wait. And undoubtedly, some of you have been waiting for decades... Believe it or not, the Waldo City Council has voted 4-1 in favor of disbanding its department, effective Oct. 1.

According to the Gainesville Sun, the Mickey Mouse police department that has been allowed to operate in Waldo for decades, doing little beyond operating speed traps and writing tickets as rapidly as possible, is finally coming to the end it has earned. Waldo has long carried the notoriety as a speed trap with black and white patrol cars working busy stretches of U.S. 301 and State Road 24, but that began to change last month when its last police chief, Mike Szabo, was suspended pending the results of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation.
On Aug. 26, five Waldo officers revolted against Szabo and Cpl. Kenneth Smith with a presentation before the City Council that was rife with allegations that included an unlawful ticket quota, deceptive court appearances and unethical evidence storage.
Shortly after the presentation, Waldo City Manager Kim Worley also suspended Smith, with the launch of a second FDLE investigation. Both Szabo and Smith later resigned.
In the absence of a chief, Worley signed a monthlong contract with Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell on Sept. 3 to receive the temporary services of her training lieutenant, Steve Maynard, whom she temporarily promoted to captain for the assignment.
Last week, Darnell told Worley she would not extend the contract, which apparently left Waldo with little option but to close its police department.
During the Tuesday night meeting, Worley said an audit of the department conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement determined that the city would need to drastically update its storage facilities and computer systems to keep up with standards required for criminal investigations.
"The cost is just too high," Worley said.
Waldo City Councilwoman Carolyn Wade was reluctant to vote in favor of the police department closure, but said she understood it was inevitable. Conversations with State Attorney Bill Cervone led her to believe it was the only decision to save the city from more bad publicity, she said. Wade said Cervone told her that if the city chose to keep the department open, he would bring a case before the Alachua County grand jury, and it would return with a humiliating presentment.
"Too much has gone too far, and I don't think we can recover," Wade said.
After the meeting, Waldo police Officer Brandon Roberts — who led the Aug. 26 presentation that unveiled the unlawful ticket quota — unpinned his badge and smiled.
He said that the resignations of Szabo and Smith were worth the loss of his own job.

[az99]

That was long overdue.