126 sex offenders, predators arrested in Osceola County, sheriff says | #childpredator | #kidsaftey | #childsaftey

Before I discuss the results of Operation Silver Spur, I want to recognize the outstanding coalition of law enforcement and government leaders with us today. You just heard from US Marshal Bill Berger, whose partnership has been Instrumental in this operation. Thank you, sir. And Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins for demonstrating Florida’s unwavering commitment to public safety. Florida is *** law and order state, and we will continue to enforce the law to protect our citizens, especially our children. When I became sheriff in Osceola County, I promised this community we would protect our most vulnerable. And just over 2 weeks ago, we stood right here and had *** press conference and discussing the exploitation of elderly residents in illegal assisted living facilities. Today, sadly, we’re delivering on that same promise by protecting our children and families from these predators that walk amongst us. Osceola County sadly is home to 667 registered sexual offenders and predators. Protecting our community requires constant vigilance, which is why I expanded our sexual offender and predator unit by adding *** detective and *** sergeant. Our team now consists of 4 detectives, 2 clerks, and *** crime analyst focused on 1 mission accountability. Florida law requires increased address verification of registered offenders and predators. We didn’t just meet that requirement, we exceeded it. Throughout June, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the US Marshal Service and the Florida Department of Corrections to conduct Operation Silver Spurs, *** countywide compliance operation targeting registered sexual offenders and predators. We verified addresses, located absconders. Inspected Offenders on and off probation and reviewed registration records to ensure full compliance with Florida law. The results speak for themselves. During the operation, we conducted 149 enforcement actions and made 126 arrests. Among those arrested were 5 absconders who believed they could just disappear and 2 individuals who knowingly provided false information to law enforcement. Many violations involve the offenders’s failing to register their vehicles, cell phones, and social media accounts. Those are not minor paperwork violations. Unreported phones or hidden online accounts. Can become tools to locate and exploit new victims. We will not tolerate it in Osceola County. This operation would not have been possible without our partners. I want to thank the Florida Department of Corrections for outstanding collaboration and Chief Neely of the Osceola County Jail, who professionally processed 126 arrestees for us. That’s *** lot to process in one month. To Marshall Berger, Lieutenant Governor Collins, and all of our local, state, and federal partners, thank you for standing with us. To the registered offenders and predators living in Osceola County, let Operation Silver Spur be your warning. If you violate the law, Hide *** phone, conceal *** social media account. Or attempt to disappear, we will do everything we can in our power legally to find you and put you in jail. Once again, the hunters will become the hunted. And the residents of Vossola County know this, please, your sheriff’s office is watching, working, and taking proactive action every day to keep your neighborhood safe. We are bringing the full weight of local, state, and federal law enforcement against anyone who preys on the vulnerable. Let’s this message. Echo across Osceola County. If you break the law across Osceola County, we will find you. If you threaten our families, we will stop you. The watch never ends, and neither will our commitment to protecting this community. At this point I’m gonna turn it over to Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins. Thank you, Chris. Well, it’s great to be here today. And uh first off, I just wanna say thank you to the marshals. Thank you for your dedication, your collaboration, your cooperation. But more than anything else, I wanna say thank you for doing what protects our people every day that matters. Uh, Sheriff Blackman and the entire team assembled around us, incredible leaders in the community. You are very lucky to have Chris here. You really are. And, uh, I think it’s always worth saying that when Governor Ron DeSantiss appointed him, we knew where his moral compass was. We knew that he took the job seriously. We knew, we knew he prioritized people. And you see that result playing out here. He has held the line, he’s inspired people and you see the community becoming safer. As *** lieutenant governor of the great state of Florida, I get to serve 23.5 million people every single day. It’s not something we take for granted. Governor Ron DeSantis and myself are the only team that are both combat veterans. Why is that important? Because we understand our job is to protect our people, our way of life, and make sure we maintain this for the next generation. Everything in our community starts with safety, and the men and women you see assembled behind us and everywhere in our 67 counties who hold that line, who keep our community safe, they’re community heroes. And I want there to be no equivocation whatsoever when you hear this. We stand alongside our men and women of law enforcement, federal, state, and local. We have your back hard stop. What you see here is incredibly hard work, detailed planning and follow through, holding people accountable. When you heard Sheriff Blackman talk about this, when he got appointed, he said his job was to take care of those who are at risk, who are vulnerable children and the elderly, and he’s followed through on that and so much more. But let’s talk about sexual predators for what they are. This is not *** small issue. It is *** very bedrock of *** strong, safe community, and I applaud everybody here. To our state probation team and corrections, you often don’t get enough credit for what you do. And I know that, uh, you work very hard. And I just want you to hear it from me. We have your back again without equivocation. You put in the long hours, you do incredible things. And under our watch, this will never wane. Now, I have the opportunity to introduce Colleen Brady. She’s with the, uh, state probation team. And, uh, we’ve met her in the back there just *** little bit. Multiple decades of experience out there doing this job. She is *** subject matter expert. I want to close with one simple thing. Our principles guide our policy in Florida. Our policy doesn’t make our principles sway. What you see is *** result of standing up principles, values, and the dedicated people behind us. Take time out of your day to thank our men and women of law enforcement every day. We live in *** great state largely because of how they protect us and keep us safe. Miss Colleen, the floor is yours. *** second. Good morning. I’m again, Colleen Brady on behalf of the Florida Department of Corrections. Um, the highest priority is protecting the citizens of Florida through our commitment to public safety. Our continued partnerships with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and the United States Marshals Service Service demonstrates what can be accomplished when law enforcement agencies work together. Toward *** common goal. I want to personally thank my office manager Lisa Barker and her staff of probation officers for the commitment, the dedication, professionalism, and collaboration efforts they did. Their commitment to this partnership plays *** vital role in enhancing our public safety and helping keep Osceola County community safe for all who live, work, and visit here. Thank you. That concludes the actual press conference. You have guys have any questions for anybody up here for Marshall Berger, Lieutenant Governor Collins, or Ms. Brady? Were there any individuals that received help from people in absconding or evading compliance in this 126 people, are there any instances where someone may have received help from? Yes, yes, can you tell us? No, still under investigation. I can’t go there. So you mentioned it’s like 126 arrests and my, my numbers rather about 600 and some in the uh in, in the database in in Oscila County. That comes up about 1 in 5. Is that *** number that, that uh concerns you or anybody else that’s up there? I mean, that’s like 20%. 1 concerns me, but 667 of them out there. Walking around amongst us is scary. And again, that’s our job as *** sheriff’s office and other agencies in the marshals Service is to do our job, find them and remove them from society. If they can’t comply with the restrictions that are placed on them by the courts, then we’re going to do our job.0% of them had to be arrested. They were in violation of the law, so we had to arrest them on the charges that are there. This isn’t *** one-time deal. We’re going to continue doing this again and again. We’re mandated by law to do this every quarter. We have to check the predators. We also have to check the offenders. So this is something that’s going to be an ongoing process and we’ll continue to do as the law requires us to do. But the number is ridiculously high. I wish I could report to you it was 1, but 667 in Osceola County is *** high number. Anything else? OK, thank you.