Scared Straight...That is for sure!!

So Tuesday, we all took a trip down to the Orient Rd Jail, and boy o boy was it "interesting" to say the least.

We learned a lot of really neat facts that day. Why the jails use wooden doors now, how many inmates does the jail house, what facilities the inmates can use and not use, and how the jail is broken up into different sectors called "pods."

Throughout the entire tour, I found myself with just wondering eyes. Everything just amazed me; from the security precautions taken to keep everyone in line and safe, to the organization kept throughout every part of the jail.

I was surprised to notice that no officer in the jail carries a gun with him or her. The officer told us that the main weapon used throughout the jail was that person's brain. Being able to make the right choices at the right times to keep everyone safe.

My favorite part of the tour was the booking room. Although at the time I felt very uncomfortable standing there being watched by all of the soon to be inmates, afterwards I was very happy to be put in that situation. It opened my eyes FULLY to what can happen if you make the wrong decisions in life, and where you will end up. That, my friend, is something I do not every want to have to experience, and will avoid it all costs.

After the trip, I went home and looked up on the internet some of the people we had been standing in the booking room with that day to see what they had been charged with. I was surprised to find that me and my classmates had been standing in the room with drug addicts, homeless drunks, child porn addicts, and domestic abusers.

I chose the topic "Scared Straight" because of the fact that this tour of the jail really opened my eyes to something that I think everyone out there should see. To see how miserable those people were and how I would take all measures to make sure I did not end up as one of them. I want to end on a somewhat humorous quote that the officer of the tour had told us "We do not discriminate, everyone gets arrested."

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Visit

Tuesday our class took a field trip to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office to talk with public information officer J. D. Calloway. This visit was not only informational, it was very interesting as well.

I know Mr. Calloway had to kill a lot of trees in order to pass out his handouts to us, but I am glad he did! Every single packet he gave us was very helpful and provided us with a lot of information. My favorite packet he gave us was the "Standard Operating Procedure" packet. I know for sure that I will hold on to this packet for future reference. I love how it shows which information the police is allowed to give the reporters during certain situations and how they can obtain the information.

Besides all of the information gathered from the packets, Mr. Calloway was able to share some wealthy information. I was very surprised to find out that police departments are allowed to put a hold on traffic accident records for 6 months after the accident has occured. The reason why they do this is to keep "ambulance chasers" from pursuing clients who need representation. This surprised me very much because it shows me that police really are protecting the public not just from harmful sitations, but afterwards from nasty situations that can occur afterward.

I was also surpised to find out that police officers and fireman are exempt from having personal information on public records.

I was also very happy that we got to see where we need to go to pick up public records from the sheriffs office. Of course we can just go online and search for ourselves, but in order to obtain the in depth information we may need as journalists, we needed to know exactly where to go.

Overall I really enjoyed the information we were able to gather from this field trip. Mr. Calloway and his assistant did a great job preparing for us, and I really learned a lot. I did some researching on the Hillsborough County Sheriff's website and found this link that may help some students and others if they have forgotten anything they need to know to obtain a public record.

http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/hrd/records_section.htm

Chris Davis Visit

On Tuesday, Chris Davis from the Sarasota Herald Tribune came by my class to talk about some of his investigative reports that he accomplished with the help of public records.

I was very impressed by Chris and all the work he has accomplished. The most interesting thing I found to be was all of the information Chris had gathered in order to make his render of the 1950's murder of a Sarasota family. Chris explained that since the murder case was so old, he and his colleges had to rely on public records to report his findings. Although their ultimate goal was to find the person who brutally murdered this family, they ended up using the information from the police records to render the crime scene. From finding where certain fingerprints were located, to finding how and exactly where a hat had fallen off a head to land 3 feet from a door. Public records break down crime scenes so that the media and journalists can make a picture for viewers and readers.

Another thing I found to be very interesting was the work that Chris and his co-workers researched for his story on teacher abuse. He explained to us that it took years to gather all of the information about every public school teachers and the incidences that occurred whether it be sexual abuse, or a drug and alcohol related incident. It amazes me that they were able to created this amazing databases for people to search and see who is teaching their students. All of this is thanks to public records that Chris said was just stored in a warehouse somewhere.

Overall, I very much enjoyed Chris's visit. To be honest I never knew that journalists would go to such great lengths to show the public a side they have never seen. To have such patience to wait for all of these public records to be sorted in a way that they can use them is amazing. I have to say kudos to Chris and the investigative reporting staff at the Sarasota Herald Tribune. I have already saved their website to my favorites and plan on watching them in the future to see what they can uncover next!!

Mr. Nickens Visit

I can honestly say that I have learned something new and very useful every day I have come to public affairs reporting, and I really learned a lot from Mr. Nickens from the St. Pete Times.

One of the most shocking tings that I learned from Mr. Nickens was that the main reason autopsy photos are no longer public records are due to the Earnhardt family and the death of Dale Earnhardt. That is just mind-blowing to me. If this one family with a lot of money, can change a law like this just because they didn't believe in it, then what is stopping other rich families from doing the same thing? Why can't the Hogan's ban jail conversations they had with their son from public records? I'm sure if they were willing to spend a little bit more money, they could have easily done that!

Another surprising fact I learned was how much it actually cost to obtain some public records. Before entering this class, I thought it was just going to be looking up records on the Internet or going places to search for things on my own. I guess that I never thought that someone would have to do the work for me, and then I would have to turn around and compensate them on the time he or she had lost.

Mr. Nickens also talked about the incentives and tax breaks that are given to some businesses are not public records. Which makes me wonder what Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Pasco County and others would do to bring a certain store to their area? It seems to me that these counties must go to great length to bring these stores, and it would probably make the average tax payer angry to find out what is going on behind this closed curtain.

All in all, I would say that I very much enjoyed Mr. Nickens visit. He offered a great deal of new information to the class that I am sure we can all use for the future. He taught us a lot about certain public records, and what we need to do to obtain them, and I was extremely happy with his presentation. It would be of great interest for him to come back and speak with future classes.