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HomeCrimeHigh Springs Police Chief addresses concern over handling of trespassing call

High Springs Police Chief addresses concern over handling of trespassing call

November 2, 2023

Staff report

HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. – High Springs Police Chief Antoine Sheppard has released the following statement:

By now, you may have seen a video circulating on YouTube involving High Springs Police Officers handling a trespass service call with a well-known First Amendment auditor with thousands of followers nationwide.

These followers, a vocal minority, inundated our office and other city staff with vulgar hate speech and messages, phone calls, and emails. Many of these foreign constituents are unreasonable and extremists who live outside of our state, and they do not support any form of law enforcement.

Brief Summary of Incident

On September 28, 2023, HSPD patrol officers responded to a local children’s daycare center concerning a disturbance between a citizen and the daycare employees. Reportedly, the citizen kept walking near the daycare where children were present, and a verbal altercation began. The auditor started video recording the incident and was subsequently issued a trespass warning from the property.

Initially, the auditor praised the agency on how the matter was conducted but later found a discrepancy with a statement by HSPD officers that he was recording children at the daycare. The citizen also had displeasure with another officer being captured on body camera after the service call, saying, “What a Whacko.”

This Matter was Corrected and Cured Immediately

  • The property owner was contacted and updated on the accurate sequence of events, and the property owner reaffirmed the trespass. There was no intent to deceive the property owner on the recording of children, just miscommunication during the transaction of the service call. The accused officer is a veteran police officer with an exemplary record with our agency.
  • The Secondary officer was counseled and reminded to deactivate her body-worn camera system after the service call. The officer’s statement was inadvertently captured on video footage and limited to her opinion and shared with her colleagues in a private setting and not directly to any member of the public. The statement was not egregious or derogatory.

Afterward, I verbally apologized to the citizens on behalf of the agency for the oversight, and I reinterned the continuous training that we have incorporated within our agency to recognize the First Amendment Rights of our citizens.

In closing, I am so grateful to live and work in a community that is pro-law enforcement, and what I mean by that is community-based law enforcement that is transparent and held accountable by a balanced approach. We are not perfect, but we strive for perfection, and we will continue to serve selflessly.

Chief Antoine Sheppard, High Springs Police Department

The video can be found here.

  • Well Chief, show us the hate speech and vulgar messages. People can be thankful there are video experts out there keeping us safe from officers who often don’t even understand free speech laws.

    • Why don’t you public record the information, if you really want it. I be these crazies have said all kinds of things.

  • There is a numerous first and second and fourth amendment auditors. You have to give these guys credit they do a fantastic job, exposing law-enforcement, who don’t know the laws. A few months ago in Columbia County. A blind man was arrested because he had a walking stick in his back pocket. They wanted his ID and he was totally correct. They did not have reason to stop him and asked him for.

  • Alachua Chronicle thank YOU for featuring this story. There is much justice in the court of public opinion. One can only imagine what the outcome was intended to be.There is much stigma associated to police and government accountability. The sad allegations I make are directed to those attachments to the police and government. They are the facilitators of retaliation & illplanned retribution. The facts are such that this was a false report/911 call. The HSPD did not act in good faith and revealed yet another moment of injustice, earning the hate and incurring public distrust. I say blue/blew isis showed their ugly hand as it was like their nose bitten off to spite HSPD”$ face. Do better HSPD.

    • Wow. You could really stand some actual education, instead of the agenda of mis information you seem to feed on. Let’s see:
      1. The court of public opinion has nothing to do with true justice.
      2. The only stigma attached to police and public accountability is false, hyped sound bites by ill informed people led by people trying to make a name for themselves.
      3. To quote you, “They are the facilitators of retaliation & illplanned retribution.” A perfect description of the anti police, anti society movement.

      • The good fight fought & won, HELP IS NEEDED TO PUBLISH, THE CONQUEST. WHERE ARE OUR CONTACTS? SOMEONE, ANYONE MAKE NETWORK CONNECTIONS IF YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING MORE. WE ARE CLEARING THE TRENCHES OF THESE DUG IN ENEMY. IT IS DANGEROUS BUT NECESSARY, NOW START A LIASON WITH THE PRESS. START EMAILING YOUR LOCAL PRESS OF THESE HEROIC DEEDS PERFORMED BY OUR VARIOUS CIVIL WARRIORS. THE WHOLE PARADIGM TO THIS CAUSE IS DIGITAL WARFARE MAKES UP FOR THE LACK OF BODIES WE HAVE IN THE FIGHT. YOUR INTERACTION IS THE ROOT FORCE MULTIPLIER. INTERACT, EMAIIL YOUR NEWS MEDIA, FORCE THIER HAND, DEVELOP THE SITUATION, STRIKE HARD, STRIKE DEEP. I’LL SEE YOU ON THE HIGH GROUND!!!

  • We are fortunate here in High Springs to have such a fine Chief and Police Department!

  • With all due respect to Cheif.. the officers clearly was in the wrong, the disconnect with the citizens here is the problem, 1st officer Avery should have never said what she said regardless of her body camera, the fact you discipline her for that is a problem, she should javelin been reprimanded over her mouth and ignorance towards a citizen, second the reaching out to get a trespass from a property owner is illegal, you can not ask for a trespass actions, so you can take illegal action against a citizens rights. Stop and retrain yourselves, these actions are happening because you condone the behavior. Never illicit a trespass against someone,you will lose your immunity.. incoming lawsuit.. be prepared

    • Impressive lack of basic English grammar and spelling.
      Chief is not spelled Cheif…”officers WAS clearly in the wrong” should be officers WERE clearly in the wrong. I could go on, but the whole post is an assault on the English language.

  • As one of our remarkable City Commissioners loves to input into the meetings, “We can do better than this”!
    Certainly defines this situation perfectly.
    I can only hope the national news doesn’t pick up on this story. Tourist will be flocking here for not only the “Wall Dog Murals” gracing our Historic district but to take photos in front of the police station. Chief Shepherd put out an excellent statement took full blame of an overzealous department that normally does phenomenal work.
    I known the City Attorney can tell them all about the 1st Amendment and numerous examples for at least an hour.

  • I know all about the wonderful HSPD. I was arrested for something I did not do after being told by the officer I was a liar. Went to jail for 9 days. You are guilty until proven innocent. I was released after they found nothing against me. I had never even had a ticket of any kind in my life. I was telling the officer the truth and he called me a liar and took me to jail. Great work HSPD.

  • Now this changes my entire view on my local law enforcement officers. What a shame. God forbid you challenge, record or question any of these officers. I do not agree with how this was handled. You all can do better than this.

  • Can obviously see from the commenters that every single one against LEO’s is just here to perpetuate the injustice against them. Nobody cares about your opinions OR your comments. These “auditors” need a healthy dose of street justice.

  • The chief’s statement is so opaque that it’s hard to understand what happened. (Plus I’ve never encountered the verb “reinterned.”) The video helps somewhat. These days, it’s understandable that daycare operators may be hyper about potential voyeurs etc, but she may have been overzealous unless there were some prior events that put her on special alert, and the police on the spot may have over reacted given her concern. Anyway, it sounds like the Chief has made a good-faith effort to defuse this small-town kerfuffle that has been needlessly inflated on the internet.

  • What if the police were lax on this guy and he was a pedo? Better safe than sorry. Use common sense and do not loiter around daycare centers or schools.

  • The guy was on private property. He has no constitutional rights vis a vis the owner of the property. The owner can disinvite and trespass him from the property any time the owner wants, and for almost any reason. The owner did that in this case. The cops simply enforced what the owner wanted. They did nothing wrong for those of you who fancy yourself “legal experts.”

    The fish store wasn’t anywhere near the playground. The guy wasn’t parked anywhere near the playground. So, why does he need to walk the fence line of the playground? And why would good, responsible child care workers not be concerned about such behavior?

    Contrary to what this moron claims, he’s not on “public” property, he’s on private property as an invitee to do business. He has not been invited to walk the fence line of a child playground and has no right to do so. The cops simply did what the owner asked them to do. They did nothing wrong.

    • Why exactly was this guy creeping around near little children in the first place? The wacko doth protest too much, methinks.

      • Nobody was creeping. I was with my kids waiting for the pet shop to open and the Karens called the fuzz

        • If you cared about kids, why did post the name of that daycare on your video? Putting all of those kids in danger with your crazy followers.

          And why did you name drop that cop’s children name at the end of your ?

          You talk about accountability but that is LOW.. Why don’t you move to San FRANCISCO, we will foot the bill. Can you tell us about your military service ???? You aren’t only that can do research.

      • And why did he record everything else except for the fence-walking?

        It’s almost like this self-appointed hall monitor baited these child care workers so that they would call police and he could have something to put on his dumb you tube channel for all his dummy viewers to watch.

    • I agree. These dudes are attention seekers and button pushers, and they make me cringe.

  • This is a privately owned property. The owner has the right to trespass or ban anyone from the property he sees fit. The same rules rules apply if there was a traffic crash in the lot. No police report or citations issued on private property. Unfortunely because of bad statements on body cams and given Chief Sheppards norm of wanting everything to go smoothly his department swallowed the bait, hook, line, and sinker. Given this guys YouTube page he makes it a habit of going around trying to bait people. It probably is this guy`s only goal in life. Sooner or later he will meet that CITIZEN who will take the troll’s camera and stick it where there is no sunshine. As far as these other idiots with their racist and B.S. agendas come to High Springs and find out the meaning of “Not in this small town!”

    • Search inward for the source of your misplaced anger. I love this small town and I wasn’t recording or baiting anyone but rather was there with my kids a little early to buy a fish but one thing we won’t stand for is corruption and lies. I only recorded after they called the police but I wish I did record before that to show that some people call the police away from fighting crime just to enforce their irrational feelings.

      • If you love this town, why did you disclose that police officer’s kids name in your video? I saw from other videos that you have kids, how could a father do that to another father. So un-American, that is LOW. You owe that officer an apology and we are waiting.

      • I am going off your videos. You seem to want to be in everybody’s business but your own. And of course you can’t do any wrong. If your feelings get hurt that quickly, when you are told “No” and get characterized as a `wacko”, you need some help. As its stands you will need to travel else where wasting gas, to get your rats until the owner decides you can go back onto their property. Until then it looks like you got served a big turd sandwich.

    • He was trained by Jim. He was the worst. My husband had issues with Jim over 15 years ago. I don’t know where Jim lived at the time, but about 3 months ago my husband came across him when he (my husband) was working and Jim’s son ordered a pizza from Domion’s in Gainesville. Of course we didn’t know it was his place till he got there. Jim’s son came out to get the food and Jim walked out and said get the F off my property and made threats to his life if he didn’t get off his land. Needless to say he went around the corner and called ACSO about him and they came out. He got back to the store told them about it and marked in the system that the address cannot get pizzas taken to them they have to come get them. He messed with the wrong person LOL

  • I do not see anything wrong with the officer’s comment. Your response to the situation was prompt and courteous..

    • In NORMAL times and settings there was nothing wrong with the comment because there is something wacko about screwing with the police. But we no longer live in NORMAL times. Everyone is ultra sensitive and have amped feelings that get hurt at the slightest wind being blown in their direction. I got a chuckle out of the video since the real KAREN is Rice Kristy.

      • All I want to say is, Do YOU know of WALDO, FLORIDA? How about COFFEY, TEXAS? How about OAK HILL, FLORIDA? ROBESON COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA (operation tarnished badge)? How about Stiegmeister the D.A. for the Florida, SAO3 ( jurisdiction of seven fla counties for seven years)? Former deputy Zach Wester? Lee County Florida blue/blew isis still don’t have BWC. If YOU still don’t believe go watch dirty IA director Durst video on my channel on YouTube @bluesteel7199.
        Catch a clue in review. Alachua county deputy R.Williams spouse is attached to daycare. Upon her actions she brings all too knowing exactly the course of her actions. So her sorry deputy husband was the focus of phone held sideways in the performance of his dereliction, wifey retaliation occurs, I could file a complaint but I want Sheriff’ Gainey to settle in. Besides I have several other local agencies that are my focus as well as the SAO8, standby and brace for impact. Meanwhile troll on with ur sophistry.

    • Yep, he has a mysterious military history. He doesn’t like it when people talk about his military jail time overseas. He likes to tell people he was in the marines but it seems a little like false valor, given the brig time and quick discharge. He has also been arrested in the past in florida for interfering with anofficer in pinellas county. Sooner or later it will happen here.

      • The good fight fought & won, HELP IS NEEDED TO PUBLISH, THE CONQUEST. WHERE ARE OUR CONTACTS? SOMEONE, ANYONE MAKE NETWORK CONNECTIONS IF YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING MORE. WE ARE CLEARING THE TRENCHES OF THESE DUG IN ENEMY. IT IS DANGEROUS BUT NECESSARY, NOW START A LIASON WITH THE PRESS. START EMAILING YOUR LOCAL PRESS OF THESE HEROIC DEEDS PERFORMED BY OUR VARIOUS CIVIL WARRIORS. THE WHOLE PARADIGM TO THIS CAUSE IS DIGITAL WARFARE MAKES UP FOR THE LACK OF BODIES WE HAVE IN THE FIGHT. YOUR INTERACTION IS THE ROOT FORCE MULTIPLIER. INTERACT, EMAIIL YOUR NEWS MEDIA, FORCE THIER HAND, DEVELOP THE SITUATION, STRIKE HARD, STRIKE DEEP. I’LL SEE YOU ON THE HIGH GROUND

    • I hope YOUR working so I can revel in the support i receive in regular increments from ur mandatory benevolence as my “minimal” service dictates by law. All things being equal, one minute post prerequisite reached by terms of service of contract makes it such being that all rights and benefits SHALL BE bestowed upon any, every and all veterans who qualify. Those that don’t DOD allows discharges upgraded after 6 mos. for benefits purposes. That makes one eligible for veterans benefits key word being VETERAN/$ERVICE MEMBER.
      PLEASE, do tell of any YOUR sacrifices, undertakings or enrollments/commitments that compare & contrast that bolstered the defence of the American People? Don’t ask don’t tell are YOU one Clinton’s Queen Beret? Maybe a dirty nasty LEG? Ever been ordered to ride the HARLEY , DO FLUTTER KICKS UNDER A DOWNSPOUT IN THE POURING RAIN (really waterboarded) or do the DYING COCKROACH? YOU are one, I would have bend at the waist & spell run as fast as YOU can when YOU quit on me so as to be compassionate & let YOU catch ur second or third wind. Front, back, go, roll left, roll right, front, back, go catch up. The country is full of YOU but very few of U.S. D.ie O.n D.emand AKA VETERANS. I am government surplus just as our PROTAGONIST.

      • Sooo..tell us you’re on heavy meds without telling us you’re on heavy meds. It seems it’s about time to take your next round. Oy vey

      • Someone forgot their crazy pill today. Your silly threats and thoughts just justify a self defense plea.

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