The Orange County Sheriff’s office announced that their Professional Standards Section would undertake a review of the actions of Sheriff’s Office personnel during what has become known as the “Barbershop Detail”, a series of raids on barbershops this past summer in Orange County.
The planned internal review by the OCSO Professional Standards Section comes after a separate review by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Office of Inspector General (OIG), of the three “barbershop raids” conducted jointly between DBPR and OCSO, and which was completed on December 3rd.
The proposed internal review by the OCSO Professional Standards Section, also comes at a time when there is heightened unease between members of the African-American community and the Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier this month, the Florida Civil Rights Association (FCRA) requested the U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder to launch an immediate federal civil rights investigation against DBPR and OCSO for “targeting African American and Hispanic owned barbershops in a series of warrantless drug raids conducted under the pretext (police ruse) of administrative licensing inspections.”
Sheriff Jerry Demings admitted in a mid-November media briefing that the operations undertaken by DBPR and OCSO were “not perfect”.
While it is not clear when the planned internal review by the OCSO Professional Standards Section will be completed, a release from OCSO said that its findings would be made public.
