Swope Attacks Gualtieri on Warrant Issue

It appears that Scott Swope, trailing in the race for Pinellas County Sheriff, is talking out of both sides of his mouth regarding the agency's failure to serve an outstanding drug charge warrant on Gregory Johns.

Swope has long advocated that sheriff's resources should be focused on serving more serious warrants for crimes against citizens involving public safety rather than a lower priority charge of something like obtaining oxycodone by fraud. This subject was brought up by Swope earlier in Sheriff Forums and the July Debate when he criticized the effort the agency spent on observing and shutting down grow houses. He just can't have it both ways... unless he's running for sheriff!

If a warrant doesn't include the entire criminal history of the subject and merely states the "reason" for which the warrant is issued, be it "failing to appear, trespass, shoplifting," etc., then I would think the sheriff must prioritize his efforts to serve the warrant based on the seriousness of crime(s) given the shortage of personnel due to layoff’s.

Again, the question Swope should be asked as a "Monday Morning Quarterback," is how he would manage the ongoing budget cuts and what exactly would he cut to accomplish all his goals?

Criticizing the PCSO for not doing the exhaustive paperwork and investigation required to match every warrant with all previous criminal data on a subject is like asking why the IRS cannot get a handle on tax refund fraud or the U.S. Government cannot secure our borders and deal with waste in Congress.