Florida Sentinel Bulletin

BY LEON B. CREWS

Sentinel Staff Writer

Retired educator and coach, Billy Reed, said he’s disgusted with the rise in Black-on-Black crime, and feels the problem lies with the families of the perpetrators, and the need for young people to attain some kind of status.

“”We are shooting our own people, and I can’t understand why. It just doesn’t make sense why a young man would want to kill another young man his own age, and for no reason.

“When I was growing up we had what they would call a gang, but it wasn’t about status or violence. It was about identifying with your neighborhood.”

Coach Reed said today, you have babies having babies, and families disconnected from the church.

“The reason there are so many churches in the Black community is because it has always been our foundation. The church is a part of our history, and has always been our refuge and a place to go when we are troubled.

“Families don’t worship together anymore, because they either don’t care, or don’t think it makes a difference.”

Coach Reed said the gun violence makes no sense, is for no reason, and are all senseless.

“It’s not just confined to inner-city communities as some would have you believe. Now, we have professional athletes doing it, and that really bothers me.

“I’ve always wanted to know, what makes a person fire shots into a crowd of people and not care who gets shot, even a small child?”

Coach Reed said there is a lack of accountability by young people today, and not only do they want to do whatever they want, they rebuke all authority figures.

“They carry guns all the time, because they are cowards, and when they go to clubs or other places to have a good time, they hang outside and wait for a reason to pull out their gun and shoot someone. It doesn’t matter who.

“There are so many things that have gone wrong with our young people, and until more is done to get the guns off the streets, it’s not going to stop.

Coach Reed said outsiders aren’t trying to kill us, but they bring us the tools of our own destruction.

“There are people who bring guns into our communities, sell them to our children, and just wait for us to kill each other.

“Going to prison means nothing to them until they go. That’s when they revert to the immature little boys they really are. I think they are afraid to grow up and assume real responsibility for themselves, and the people who count on them for support.”

Coach Reed says he will continue to do what he can to help turn lives around, but he also expects others to step in and do their part.

“It’s supposed to start inside the home. No young person should seek help outside of their family, unless they feel the family can’t do anything for them, or they have no respect for the family.”

BY IRIS B. HOLTON

Sentinel City Editor

Last week, Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor announced the promotions of 23 officers. She promoted one person to Major, one person was elevated to Captain, two people became Lieutenants, seven people were promoted to Sergeants, and 12 people were reported to the rank of Corporals or Detectives.

Five African Americans were among those promoted. They are: Eric Ward, Garfield Neal, Otis Calhoun, Kimberly Hill, and Kanyon Rodriguez.

Major Sophie Teague has retired from the Tampa Police Department. Captain Mike Baumaister will fill the vacancy of Major created by the retirement. He will be assigned as the Major of the Special Operations Division.

Newly promoted Captain Eric Ward has been assigned to District III.

Captain Ward has served as the department’s Specialty Teams Commander for the past 4 years. He has also been the recipient of the department’s Officer of the Month Award twice.

Sergeants Michael Flynn and Kimberly Plourde-Torres were both promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Individuals promoted to the rank of sergeant are: Terrence Covais, Edward Croissant, Patrick Headen, Charles Massucci, Martha Murillo, Garfield Neal, and Kelly Spanglo.

John Angelakopoulos, Marcus Bailey, Sarita Baker, Benjamin Brown, Otis Calhoun, Marc Cholnik, Kimberly Hill, Janise Man-Son-Hing, Michael Meyer, Robert Partner, Kanyon Rodriguez, and Joseph Susteck were promoted to detective/corporal positions.

Early Sunday, St. Petersburg Police reported that a woman waiting in her boyfriend’s car as several men were fighting nearby, was shot in the head when the fight escalated into gunfire.

Police said Rubi Rosado, 18, of Riverview, was reported to be in stable condition, and expected to recover.

At 3 a. m., police said they received calls about shots being fired in the area of 66^th Avenue, North and 14^th Street, North. Officers later got word a victim had shown up at a nearby Checker’s Restaurant.

Police said they discovered Rosado had been with a group of men who had driven to an address on 14^th Street, North in an ongoing dispute with residents at that location.

As Rosado sat in her boyfriend’s car, several men began fighting outside the home and gunfire erupted.

Rosado’s boyfriend drove her to the Checkers to call for help. Investigators have not yet determined who fired the shot and no arrests have been made.

BY IRIS B. HOLTON

Sentinel City Editor

Several months ago, Brooks Charities selected several dates in which to host a community forum to address issues in the community. However, a series of violent crimes changed the focus of the first planned meeting.

Darrell Daniels, of the Derrick Brooks Charities Youth Programs said, “The Florida Consortium of Urban League Affiliates and Derrick Brooks Charities scheduled September 5 to host a community forum on education and school choice.

“When Councilman Frank Reddick and I talked about hosting a community forum, I suggested that the Hillsborough County Black Elected Officials participate in the September 5, forum and address preventing crime in the Black community as a part of the forum. The education forum was rescheduled and we continued with the crime prevention forum because the issue of crime in our community is equally as important. Studies have shown that areas with the highest amount of crime are usually areas with the highest amount of high school dropouts and illiteracy.”

Last month, after 49-year-old Horsley Shorter, Jr., a manager of an East Tampa Family Dollar Store was shot and killed during a robbery of the store. Demetrius Parks, 23, was arrested and charged with the murder.

City Councilman Frank Reddick was one of the individuals who spoke out against that crime as well as several others involving African Americans. At the time, Councilman Reddick stated planned to meet with community activists, police, individuals, and organizations who shared his desire to end the murders that have seemingly reached epidemic proportion.

On Thursday, September 5, beginning at 6 p.m., Derrick Brooks Charities, and local Black elected officials will host a Community Forum at Middleton High School, 4801 N. 22^nd Street.

The purpose of the meeting is to address the systematic problems in the community and focus on the unusual number of Black males being killed by another Black male without reason or justification in the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County.

Councilman Reddick said, “Black elected officials have been invited to share their concerns, visions and remedies for reducing the high number of Black on Black crime in the African American community.

“In a recent article written by City Editor of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Iris B. Holton, she stated that ‘during the first six months of this year, law enforcement has investigated more than 40 violence-related deaths of young Black men. Twenty-eight (28) of those deaths took place in Hillsborough County.’

“Each day, more and more of our young Black men are dying of senseless and violent crimes. We must not be afraid to address this problem in the Black community,” he said.

Several members from the community have been invited to participate as part of a panel of professionals. Some of those include: State Senator Arthenia Joyner, State Rep. Betty Reed, County Commissioner Les Miller, Jr., Major Diane Hobley, of the Tampa Police Department; Walli Shabazz, of National Trust for Black Men; Dr. Keith Berry, Hillsborough Community College; Rechi Butler, of the Get It Straight Foundation; Bennie Holder, former Tampa Police Chief; Grief Advocates Elliott and Darla Saunders; Deacon Clarence Fort, retired Hillsborough County Deputy; Ernest Coney, Jr., President of the CDC, of Tampa, Inc.

Anyone wishing to obtain more information can contact Councilman Frank Reddick, at (813) 274-8189 or Darrell Daniels at (813) 241-1415.

BY LEON B. CREWS

Sentinel Staff Writer

On Thursday, Tampa Police Captain Michael Baumaister made a presentation to the City Council on the use of the RNC cameras.

Capt. Baumaister said he’s happy to report that the cameras have been very effective in reducing illegal dumping, especially in the East Tampa community. He also explained how it is determined where the cameras are installed.

“The District Majors determine where the cameras are going to be placed, and we react to their request. They have primarily been used in areas of high crime, and we’ve seen a reduction in crime in those areas.”

Councilman Frank Reddick asked if the cameras were really playing a significant role in reducing cr“Using what’s happening in Chicago as an example, cameras were put everywhere the violent events have occurred, and if anything, the crime rate has increased. I also know that prostitution in Chicago has increased.

Capt. Baumaister said covert cameras were used in Rowlett Park to monitor activities, ad alleviate the need for an officer to be present.

Councilman Reddick said in his opinion, that’s an invasion of privacy, and people don’t want to be spied on when they are doing something recreationally or as a family.

“The cameras are put in the public areas, not where the rental shelters are,” said Capt. Baumaister.

“We’re trying to create a safe atmosphere. It’s a summer initiative, and we ask our commanders to come up with hot spots. The cameras are not permanent fixtures, ad have also been used to try to capture other illegal acts.”

On the issue of an invasion of privacy, City Attorney Rebecca Kirk said if you’re in a public park, you don’t have an expectation of privacy.

“When you’re out in public, people shouldn’t be surprised to see cameras.”

Councilman Reddick said as far as the cameras being put in parks, he does consider that an invasion of privacy, and he also said the act sounds like “a police state at our parks.”

The cameras have predominantly been used in the downtown area and in Ybor City. Some of the cameras are fixed, and others are mobile.

“The Majors ask about the high profile crime areas, and that’s where the cameras go,” said Capt. Baumaister.

“Any footage the cameras capture is kept for 30 days, then erased.”

  Earlier this week, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office ended a year-long investigation into the theft of lawn equipment. Four men were taken into custody and charged and more than $300,000 in property was recovered.

Police have arrested and charged Anthony Jerome Woods, 25; and Frank Edwards, Jr., 51, are being held at the Hillsborough County Jail without bond; Kenneth Javon Pride, 31, is being held in the Polk Correctional Institution on unrelated charges; and James Julius Fluker, III, 27, is being held in the Pinellas County Jail on unrelated charges.

So far, the group has been linked t0 56 thefts of lawn equipment from 15 different law enforcement jurisdictions throughout the state.

Police have recovered 25 trucks, 31 trailers, 17 mowers/tractors, 23 blowers, 22 weed eaters, and 16 saws. Police also recovered edgers, trimmers, ladders, rakes, shovels, pitchforks, a pressure washer, lawn vacuum, stone, tamper, and other miscellaneous equipment. The property recovered was valued at $302,575.

The investigation began in August 2012 when detectives recognized a pattern in the theft of lawn equipment that also related to stolen trucks and trailers. The trucks and trailers were later discovered abandoned along the Interstate 4 corridor.

The trucks were pulling trailers that contained commercial lawn equipment in each case. The majority of the thefts had also occurred in residential areas within other police jurisdictions. Some thefts were reported in Pinellas, Pasco, and Sarasota Counties, police said.

The property was sold to some identified as well as unidentified people, “by an organized group of prolific offenders.” The group would steal the trucks and trailers containing the lawn equipment from other counties, remove the equipment, and then store it until it was sold.

One the equipment was unloaded, a selected site was chosen and the truck and trailer was abandoned at the site. The trucks and trailers were normally recovered within 2 days of the theft, police said.

In November 2012, police executed a search warrant and recovered property that had been taken during 12 different thefts between 2009 and 2012. They also recovered more than 20 stolen items from a location in Dover. That property was linked to 9 separate reported thefts.

Police said the victims in most of the cases were small business owners who were uninsured. As a result of thefts taking place in several counties, the cases will be prosecuted by a statewide prosecutor from the Tampa Office.

Tampa Police report that on Tuesday at 11:30 p. m., Latisha Moore, 27, was smoking crack cocaine inside her home in the 1000 block of 21^st Avenue.

According to the report, Moore was using a glass tube fashioned into a pipe with a pot scraper pushed in at one end.

Police said as Moore used a plastic lighter, it exploded and sprayed fluid over her body. The lighter fluid ignited and caught fire. Panicked, Moore reportedly poured bleach on herself to put out the fire. She suffered burns to her face, arms and chest, and was hospitalized.

Police said Moore’s injuries are not life threatening.

BY IRIS B. HOLTON

Sentinel City Editor

On Wednesday, August 28, 2013, the celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the “March On Washington” will culminate with speeches from several people including President Barack Obama. Fifty years ago, people from all walks of life gathered to join the nation’s minority leaders demanding jobs, justice, and equality. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands once again flooded the Lincoln Memorial in celebration of the historic anniversary.

This reporter traveled to Washington, D. C., with the Hillsborough County Branch of the NAACP to attend the event. Hundreds of thousands of people made the pilgrimage to be a part of history.

There was no sense of urgency in the air as the crowds made their way from the Marta to the Lincoln Memorial where speaker after speaker took to the podium. History tells us that the original marchers called for jobs, they called for civil rights, an end to violence, peace, and justice in the courtrooms.

This time, those in attendance called for the end to gun violence that has reached epidemic proportions taking place across America. It seems that the age range of those injured, killed or charged are males under the age of 30.

As I stood listening to the cry to end gun violence, I thought about history. The original “March On Washington” took place on August 28, 1963, the 8^th Anniversary of the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American youth from Chicago, who was visiting his uncle in Money, Mississippi. Till was dragged from the home of his uncle, beaten to death, his body was weighed down and thrown into the Tallahatchie River.

Americans cried for justice and Roy Bryant and his half brother, J. W. Milam were charged with Till’s murder. He was accused of whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who was married to Roy Bryant.  Both were acquitted of the murder by an all-white jury.

Fifty-eight years later, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, parents of Trayvon Martin, addressed the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial. George Zimmerman, 29, a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood watch volunteer, shot and killed their 17-year-old unarmed son on February 26, 2012. Martin was guilty of walking back to his father’s residence in the rain while wearing a hoodie. Zimmerman was also acquitted of the February 26, 2012 murder by an all-white jury.

A comparison of photographs of those gathered around the Reflecting Pool east of the Lincoln Memorial gives the appearance that less people attended the event on Saturday than the original March. However, I believe that there were more in attendance. The photograph of Saturday’s March is misleading because they do not include the people who went ahead to the King Memorial, which didn’t exist 50 years ago. They also do not include the hundreds who gathered on the lawns to avoid the blistering sun.

While Rep. John Lewis is the only surviving member of the original organizers, those in attendance included some who were there 50 years before. The crowd also included people from all nationalities, and all age groups. Some were in wheelchairs, some on crutches, and some walked with canes. One woman, in her 90s was in attendance as well as several small children. The crowd seemed to represent every ethnicity, every age, and every cause.

It was 50 years ago, that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous, prolific speech, “I Have A Dream.”  Today, this reporter realizes that while many advances have taken place, (including the fact that America’s first African American president is in his second term).

It appears that Dr. King’s dream remains a vision with only portions of it having made the transformation from dream to reality; there still remains much to be done.

BY GWEN HAYES

Sentinel Editor

A young woman with Tampa area ties served as the Visual Effects Senior Production Coordinator for the popular movie, Fruitvale Station, which is currently showing in area theatres.

Fruitvale Station, which opened in July, is based on a true story of Oscar Grant, 22, who was killed at the Fruitvale Area Rapid Transit Station (BART) in Oakland, CA. on January 1, 2009. The film tells the story of his life leading to this date.

Lauren F. Ellis, was born and raised in Maryland. Her connection to Tampa is through her parents – Ricky D. Ellis, a 1974 Plant City High graduate and Rhonda D. Smith Ellis, a 1978 Hillsborough High graduate. And, she has a sister still in the area, Farin A. Ellis, and several other relatives in Plant City and Tampa.

Ricky Ellis is a retired Marine who currently works for an electric supply company, and Mrs. Ellis (FAMU grad) is employed in Washington, DC as a legal assistant.

Lauren, 28, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Print Journalism from Hampton University. After working briefly in advertising in Atlanta, Lauren headed to the West coast in 2010.

“I didn’t feel that I was meeting my potential; I wanted to be more creative,” she explained. She went to San Francisco to study Animation and Visual Effects and received the MFA degree in December, 2012.

It was her final semester at the Academy of Arts University that she had an opportunity to work on Fruitvale Station, (“working through New Year’s celebrations”).

The film, considered a low budget film, was written and directed by Ryan Coogler. This was the second of Coogler’s films that Lauren had worked on with other students. Her job was to manage, in conjunction with the VFX producer, a team of artists and artists leads to complete visual effects shots for the film. Forrest Whitaker is one of the producers.

“I knew it was something special after reading the script,” Ms. Ellis stated.

Lauren recently landed a job with VFX Studio and she’s very excited. “My goal is to shed light on this field for young African American kids who love art. Art is a very practical, exciting and fulfilling career.”

The encouragement from her mother and the challenges from her father keep her going. “She never seems taken aback or sad about my long distance life…He preaches the gospel of entrepreneurship and pushes me to not conform to any bar set before me,” she said.

Lauren has 2 brothers, Craig A. Ellis (Miami area) and Cedric A. Ellis (Orlando), who also has film and creative aspirations. A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she enjoys running, drawing, writing, international traveling, cooking and eating!