BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Sergeant has asked Judge Donna Keim to issue a Writ of Mandamus ordering GPD Chief Lonnie Scott to hold a Compliance Review Hearing, as required by the Officers’ Bill of Rights. A Writ of Mandamus is used to command public officials to “perform ministerial duties that they have a clear legal duty to perform.”
Florida Statute 112.534 requires that if the person conducting an investigation of a law enforcement officer refuses to comply with the statutory provisions, and then the officer provides notice of an intentional violation but the violation is not cured, the officer can ask that the agency head be advised of the intentional violation–and the investigation “shall cease” at that point. The statute states that a Compliance Review Hearing must be held within 10 days after the request for the hearing is filed.
The petition, filed by Attorney Bobi Frank, is similar to the petitions filed last year against former Sheriff Clovis Watson; Judge Keim ruled in favor of the deputies in all three of those cases.