Why, how did hullabaloo start over Vero Beach police? What can we learn from happy outcome?

What was Monday’s meeting regarding the Vero Beach Police Department really about?

I’m no Amazing Kreskin and don’t have subpoena power. Instead, I reluctantly spent several hours listening to some of the principal players in the matter and others with purported connections, then reviewed numerous documents.

Reluctantly, because when I first heard about the controversy, I wrote it off: Claims, in part, that Police Chief David Currey was a detriment to his agency, which was in bad shape (yet fully staffed), seemed specious.

That City Manager Monte Falls felt he had to end community whispers and present his facts to the City Council was perhaps unprecedented ― as well as a matter of desperation and transparency. Falls has been juggling massive projects ― $125 million wastewater treatment plant, Three Corners, downtown master plan and marina renovations, for starters — with limited staff and time. He didn't have time for extraneous nonsense.

He-said, she-said wouldn't cut it

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Before calling the meeting, Falls said a well-connected resident pushing for further investigation of the police told him (and Mayor John Cotugno) he had the City Council votes to fire him if he didn't fire Currey. Falls, who, like Currey has worked at the city for more than 30 years, wants to work a few more years to see the major projects completed.

That was only one side of the story. I’d have to get the other from that well-connected resident, Lanse Padgett, founding partner of Sebastian’s Gorilla Ammunition, whose website says he is committed to “working hard to bring innovative defense solutions to the military and commercial markets.”

Initially, I didn't see how I could write anything useful other than reporting he-said, she-said allegations and defenses. Then, after being asked countless times what really was going on and hearing all sorts of rumors, I figured I should step in.

I’d listen to as many people as possible to figure out what happened and how, in the end, the community could benefit.

From cordial to combative

I met with Falls and Currey — I’ve known both for decades ― and they were as transparent as always. Padgett was candid, too. Their stories were pretty consistent (except Padgett told me he didn't say he had the votes to fire Falls). Their viewpoints, however, often were diametrically opposed.

Things started last September when Padgett and Tom Corr met with Falls for lunch following an early morning shooting in Humiston Park across from Corr’s office building.

As Falls told the council Monday, the men, supporters of law enforcement, said they wanted to have as good a relationship with city police as they did with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office. They wanted to help improve the police department, which they thought needed help reducing and investigating crime.

Falls said he was told the agency had a hostile work environment, didn’t work well enough with the sheriff’s office and that Currey was responsible. Padget and Corr suggested sheriff’s Capt. Milo Thornton would make a good replacement.

Padgett, a former assistant state attorney in Polk County, where tough-on-crime Grady Judd is sheriff, asked specific questions about cases he felt police were not investigating properly. Eventually, Padgett thought he was getting the runaround.

So he pushed harder, filing public records requests and sending officers emails. Sources, he said, most of whom wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, confirmed some of his concerns.

When I spoke to Padgett, affable and open, I sensed he could be pushy to the point of making Falls and/or Currey defensive ― and finally, they’d stop listening to him unless he provided a smoking gun. After you accuse people of lying, which Padgett admittedly did, it's tough to have any kind of relationship.

Ending the rumor mill

Falls said he has spent at least 65 to 70 hours beyond his regular schedule this year on the police issue. At Monday's meeting, Currey supporters packed chambers and the council supported the chief and police. Padgett, reading the crowd, said he decided not to take the three minutes of speaking time he was allotted.

It was time to stop the Monday morning quarterbacking, public records requests and personal attacks.

What was Padgett’s motivation?

Rumors have abounded about his, Corr's and Gorilla’s support of Sheriff Eric Flowers, who told me his agency spent about $57,000 (peanuts, to me) with the ammunition company last year. Vero Beach spends none.

Padgett said the vast majority of Gorilla's revenue comes from Department of Defense contracts. He plans to donate guns to top officers of the year in the county.

Police contracts are not the issue.

Would getting Falls to hire Thornton, who has raised almost $307,000 for the August 2024 sheriff’s race against his boss, get him out of the election? Would that give Flowers ($122,000) a better shot against Fellsmere Police Chief Keith Touchberry ($131,000), a former Vero Beach officer?

No. An incumbent is better off running against two other candidates. And, Thornton told me, there's no way he'd leave the race. When Padgett called Jan. 1 to ask him whether he’d take the chief job, Thornton said he gave him a three-word response: “I’m not interested.”

Flowers agreed such a theory was ridiculous.

Problems at PD?

I think Padgett — I could not reach Corr for comment — armed with information from some unhappy officers, wanted to help, and had a fall guy. As the former prosecutor pushed hard to make his case, he felt stonewalled ― then burned any bridge he'd originally had.

Does the police agency have problems?

Probably no more than any other 83-person agency ― a healthy number for a city of 17,000 people. Maybe I'm biased, but I've found the agency to be as professional as any city's on the Treasure Coast.

Could things improve? Certainly, they always can. Currey said he appreciated the tough feedback he received from some officers in 2022 about morale and other issues. He cited several things command staff has done to communicate with and serve officers better.

Getting the facts on city crime

Maybe, as many companies do, the city could hire an independent firm to survey employees anonymously to learn how to become a better workplace.

On Vero Beach crime, is it bad? Despite what some politicians might tell you — and what you might be led to believe by high-profile crimes in your backyard — it’s not.

I trust data the agency reports to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Currey has cited publicly. FDLE data suggests Vero Beach has among the lowest crime rates of cities reporting.

Could the city work better with the sheriff’s office? Flowers and Currey disagree on various matters, from brands of license plate readers to whether the city should retain its dispatch center. But having watched police-sheriff relations for almost 40 years, they’ve been worse. When crunch time comes, folks work together effectively and professionally.

With all the accolades Currey, slated to be president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association, was given at Monday’s meeting, two stood out.

One came from the head of a city police union; another from the lawyer in charge of the State Attorney's Office in Indian River County.

"There is not an agency I would rather work with," said prosecutor Bill Long, who had nothing to gain from attending the meeting.

But a political mystery remains.

Who, using the email address VOTEMT (gomiloin2024@gmail.com), sent the city public records requests seeking information about Touchberry and making other accusations against Currey?

Thornton said he didn’t do it, and would love to know who did. He asked Currey to find out.

It looks like standard election-season dirty pool.

As ugly as this entire scenario has been, let's hope we learn something from it.

This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach police meeting much ado about zilch? I tried to understand