In what seemed to be a hastily called media briefing on Friday afternoon, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings and his team, principally, Captain David Ogden, Lt. Ron Chapman and Corporal Keith Vidler, sought to get out front of a story that has created much angst, particularly within the Pine Hills community–the recent “raid” of barbershops in that area.
The way the Sheriff’s Office tells the story is, at the request of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), joint “inspections” were undertaken by officials of that department and OCSO earlier this year, to ensure that barbershops were adhering to regulations in having licenses to operate. The Sheriff’s Office said DBPR had informed, they were having problems enforcing barbershop regulations and their officials had “expressed safety concerns when enforcing such laws”.
According to OCSO, after much research and a series of meetings with DBPR officials, a joint operation to ensure compliance with the law–possession of barbers’ licenses–was planned. It was intended to be a low-keyed operation, OCSO said.
Forty-five (45) barbershops were identified for “inspection” by DBPR, OCSO said, thirty (30) of which turned out to be non-Black, non-Hispanic and several are located in areas other than in Pine Hills, including, Winter Garden, Sand Lake Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard.
A document entitled “OCSO/DBPR Barbershop Detail-Media Conference Information 11/12/2010“, distributed at the press briefing, states that thirty-three shops had no violations relating to barbering licenses. Interestingly, the only shops that turned out to be problem businesses were nine barbershops located in the Pine Hills area where barbers were found to be operating without licenses, a misdemeanor violation of state statutes.
But here’s where things get murky.
The OCSO document states that, 37 persons were arrested on the misdemeanor violation of barbering without a license in the nine barbershops in the Pine Hills and surrounding area, and most had criminal histories ranging from battery and marijuana possession to traffic violations.
We understand the importance of being in compliance with the law and state statutes. But, we must ask the question, what is the connection between barbering without a license and a past traffic violation or a misdemeanor marijuana charge for which we presume individuals might have served their time or paid the appropriate fines?
Were these barbershops targeted because of persons with a criminal past?
The “inspections” found, in addition to turning up 37 barbers without a license, in two instances misdemeanor amounts of marijuana and an additional arrest of an individual was made for cocaine. That’s it! Indeed, while according to the OCSO document there was evidence of other activities taking place at some of the barbershops during the “inspections”, for example, the making of illegally-pirated DVDs and CDs and illegal gambling, no other arrests were made as a result of these activities.
We use the term “inspections” advisedly, because it is not clear at all that OCSO deputies did have search warrants to undertake these searches. Perhaps search warrants are not required!  OCSO also claimed that, they were not necessarily searching for drugs or illegal substances.
Added to this, there is the manner in which the “inspections” were undertaken. Conceived as a low-keyed operation, there are differing accounts on the conduct of the “inspections”.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that “barbers and witnesses said that deputies shouted and cursed during the raids, demanding the location of illegal drugs, which they searched for extensively.” At one particular shop, Strictly Skillz, it has been reported that barbers sat on the ground in handcuffs and customers, including children, were removed from the store, as deputies searched workstations and checked for licenses without explanation.
The OCSO/DBPR Barbershop Detail document contradicts the above account and states that, “The deputies involved acted appropriately during the inspections and never used any profanity towards anyone during any of the operations, they did not have anyone sit on the floor handcuffed, nor were any patrons removed from the businesses even if dealing with an unlicensed barber.”
Sheriff Demings said at the media briefing, “things were not perfect with this operation” and that, “if we had to change anything, OSCO would have issued more notices (to persons) to appear and would not have done custodial arrests.” Demings also went on to state that the Sheriff’s Office has not received any formal complaints regarding the conduct of the “inspections”. He suggested that if any person feels that their rights were violated during the inspection, then a formal report should be made and the matter will be investigated.
We fully concur with this and urge anyone who believes that their constitutional or civil rights were violated during the conduct of the “inspections”, to formally file a complaint with the Sheriff’s office.
Over the years, some in the Sheriff’s Office have worked hard to build strong community relations with persons in Pine Hills and surrounding areas, the results of which are evident in the reduction of crimes in these neighborhoods. Indeed, it would be regrettable if a not sufficiently thought out operation that appeared to target minority barbershops, which in the main are viewed as “safe places” within the community, were to undermine the trust that has been built between the Sheriff’s Office and this group of people.
We understand the Sheriff’s Office has a job to do and that is, to ensure the safety and security of the citizens of Orange County and we do not want to interfere with this. However, going forward, we urge Sheriff Demings to be mindful of not squandering the hard won trust which has been built between his office and the African-American community, due to a lack of cultural sensitivity and understanding of minority issues, on the part of some within his ranks.
