City refuses to provide information about the reason for pulling GPD’s K-9 unit out of service
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The City of Gainesville has declined to provide any more information about why Gainesville Police Department’s K-9 Unit was suddenly pulled out of service this morning.
According to the press release sent out today, the decision was made by City Manager Cynthia Curry; her letter said the decision was “based on recent information,” so we contacted Curry by email, asking one question: “Can you say more about the ‘recent information’ that caused you to remove the K-9 Unit from service?” A spokeswoman for the City responded: “Ms. Curry politely declines your request for an interview.”
GPD is also declining to provide more information, stating that the decision was made by Curry.
The situation has been building since at least the Terrell Bradley apprehension on July 10, 2022, and tensions ramped up even more after the November 16 City Commission Special Meeting to discuss the use of K-9 teams in the department.
About a month after the city commission meeting, on December 20, Sergeant Charles Owens submitted his resignation as K-9 Unit Supervisor and asked to return to a shift sergeant assignment. Owens wrote, “I have made this decision after recent events have shown it is not the desire of GPD Command for me to continue to supervise the unit.”
As a result of losing Owens, and also, we were told, as a result of staffing shortages, all of the K-9 handlers were assigned to patrol shifts as of January 9. The handlers continued to drive marked K-9 vehicles, and the dogs accompanied the handlers during their shifts, but handlers were told that they could not deploy the dogs.
On January 20, another member of the unit, Corporal Rob Rogers, resigned from the K-9 unit “due to unforeseen personal circumstances,” and Corporal Joshua Meurer resigned from the unit on February 3, leaving the unit with two teams.
In mid-January, Acting Sergeant Dylan Hayes-Morrison was named as supervisor of the unit, and the unit began training with Alachua County Sheriff’s Office last week. Just two weeks ago, GPD Chief Lonnie Scott, Sr., announced that the K-9 Unit was returning to Regular Duty Status. At the time, Chief Scott said, “We are dedicated to the future of the K-9 Unit and the safety of our employees and neighbors. With all that said, I’m proud to return the K-9 Unit to Regular Duty status. I have every confidence that they will not only maintain, but exceed the standard of service that has long been established by the GPD K-9 Unit.” At the time, GPD also announced that five candidates had applied to join the unit and that a selection process would be taking place in March.
Chief Scott told Alachua Chronicle last week that he hoped to have the unit up to at least five teams this year, which would require purchasing two or three dogs at about $10,000 each, along with training expenses, but the City is now re-evaluating all its spending following an ultimatum from the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee that the City Commission needs to take “drastic action” to reduce Gainesville Regional Utility’s debt or face removal from office.
The City Commission’s new Public Safety Committee met for the first time last Monday, and they scheduled a discussion about the K-9 Unit for their March 27 meeting.
Whatever the problems are, they won’t go away by refusing to talk about them.
Don’t you worry your simple little minds about this. The Government will take care of you. There is nothing to see here because we won’t tell you! Na na na na na na.
Anyone who watched the JLAC video could see and hear that Curry sucks, to put it bluntly. It’s no wonder Ward wanted to keep her, considering how bad he sucks at his job, too. I think Chestnut has probably had just about enough of Cynthia Curry.
Poe sucked as well, maybe Ward is just hoping she is up to the task.
Sorry, Curry was sent by Xi O’Biden!
That piss ant Ward can’t get rid of her!
She works for George Soros and Xi!
With Chestnut, DW and Sucko on the Safety Committee, you can kiss the police force goodbye! There will be Chinese Police Stations here soon!
You’re 100% right. There should be No vagrants sleeping around downtown, there should be no panhandling in street medians…I should see no graffiti anywhere….she’s a terrible city manager…Russ Blackburn did a good job…I wish they would invite him back and he is worth the pay.
A win at the moment for Hell on Earth, against having Heaven on Earth. For the “Woke” MF generation that ain’t actually woke. ROFL 😀
Follow the money. $$$$$$$. City has to cut back.
Don’t call ASO or any nearby LEA for a K-9 when a criminal shoots/stabs etc. someone or when your elderly relative goes astray or you cannot find your small child, or a criminal breaks into a house, hurts someone or all your “valuables” are taken don’t call for K-9 from adjacent LEA because the “woke” city officials and citizens of Gainesville don’t care if criminals take over the city of Gainesville as long as the CRIMINALS don’t get hurt. I am hoping that the Gainesville city officials are unable to get out of the debt of GRU that the State officials are demanding they decrease and that the State fires everyone one of the commissioners and that the new city commissioners fire the city manager, the chief of GPD and every worthless city official.
The city manager needs to clean up the city of litter, vagrants, & panhandling…shouldn’t that be a priority? Parents send their children to GNV to receive an education, not be the victim of a crime. GPD needs k9. Give law enforcement what they need to protect and serve the city. Criminals beware: we will arrest you if you break the law. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Buck Curtain is doing a good job!
Bradley deserved what he got. If he had followed police orders, he would not have been injured. The dog acted appropriately.
One dog is worth 10 woke politicians. Get rid of Curry and hire more dogs.
FLG: Agreed.
No one deserves to lose an eye, I DONT GIVE A DAMN WHAT ORDERS HE DIDNT FOLLOW! You are a POS
Thug took a chance, did not give up, and thug lost an eye!! Good dog and you are a POS
Actions have consequences. People cannot simply do whatever they please and expect no consequences. It is called accepting responsibility. It is tragic that he lost an eye, but it did not have to happen.
He should be glad that’s all he lost! You calling someone else a pos is hilarious!
Of course the city cuts the police budget first. Wokesters pandering to the blue public. Oh my those bad dogs have no place in this town…meantime at ASO the K9 unit operates just fine, making apprehensions and assisting patrol.
I think the Bully , Prejudice Interim or whatever City Manager just check the ” Remove Law and Order” Box. The State will make a note of that on her report card.
DeSantis needs to purge all city gov’t soon.
But…you didn’t ask for an INTERVIEW…funny how one woke woman gets to make an important “EXECUTIVE ” decision on her own. Speaking of which, can ANYONE make an executive decision?? You would think executive actions would be at least limited to mayoral level and no lower.
Managers are different from decision makers. Managers are only supposed to enforce policies they have been told to enforce.
New Public Safety Committee, Black on Black, Cynthia Curry & Lonnie Scott! This has all the ingredients of a B- horror movie.
If the younger members and others are able, they’d be real smart to apply to a department that will support them as valued members, not under the bus everytime a ‘Committee’ member or city hall gets a call about what a cop did.
Seen it there more times than I can count. It will only get worse until Clovis Watson gets annexation passed.
As part of the upcoming bankruptcy, I submit that GPD and ACSO should be combined for cost and operational efficiencies. The City Manager should not be involved in policing.
The amount of butthurt in here is amazing. Bunch of tantrum children. Also considered the author of this wrote a decently long article, the information that lead to this decision is right there. Don’t be so thick.
She must think she is being clever by blaming the JLAC. The problem is those guys very much believe in law and order (not to mention Respect, which Curry doesn’t seem to understand the concept of). Shut down the diversity department headed up by the grossly overpaid Erkle/PeeWee Herman guy. If she knew HOW to make decisions, that would be an obvious one. I foresee the Gainesville government getting its kneecaps figuratively broken and being replaced.
One must read between the lines for a more logical reason for the unit being cut. If the story about Curry’s salary being cut is part of the debt reduction the city is attempting, it would make sense for her to want retribution against a unit that she never believed was of use to the police department. She’s angry and she’s going to take it on anyone. There will be others…wait for it.
Unfortunately, as in most city decisions, it’s the residents of Gainesville who have the most to lose.
She may think it’s time to move on. If she is fired, she can throw a fit and cry racism, misogyny, etc., hoping for a big payoff. She knows how to work the system; that’s how she got the job here in the first place. Too bad we didn’t hire someone actually qualified instead of a former diversity officer for a company for the prior six years.
Peabody, that would put her right down there with the former Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago fame. No wonder Curry is turning Gainesville towards that direction.
Didn’t Lightfoot have a policy of not wanting to talk to reporters of the wrong color? It’s probably the same with Curry and Jennifer. Although everybody says she’s too worthless and lazy to ever respond to their emails.