Sheriff's agency rebounding 1 year later

On Feb. 27, 2009, Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris got up early, put $5,000 in his pocket and stepped out of his hotel room at Caesar’s Palace casino in Las Vegas.

He walked into the waiting arms of FBI agents, who arrested him on charges of theft, fraud and money laundering.

Morris’ arrest sealed his legacy.

“Nobody’s ever going to remember any of the good things he did,” said Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tony Wasden.

Morris had been sheriff since 1996. He was nearly universally respected locally and highly enough regarded statewide to have been elected president of the Florida Sheriffs Association for 2009.

His arrest, followed by the arrests of five others in his administration, devastated the agency and stunned voters who had elected him four times.

But a year later, from several accounts, the Sheriff’s Office is better run and its deputies better equipped than they were during Morris’ tenure.

Deputies of various ranks credit Ed Spooner, the man Gov. Charlie Crist brought in to replace Morris, with holding the agency together and solidifying it internally.

Spooner, his chief deputy Larry Ashley and Wasden praise the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, and a public that stood behind them for helping the agency weather a tumultuous 2009.

Under Morris’ leadership, the Sheriff’s Office had come to be highly thought of, said George Collins, the agency’s director of homeland security.

“The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office was starting to be seen as a very progressive agency that took a leadership role in projects and programs,” he said.

Collins arrived for work as usual at the Sheriff’s Office headquarters in Shalimar on Feb. 27 last year. He said he saw people he recognized as federal agents and others he assumed were federal agents.

“It was kind of surreal, being on the other end of a search warrant,” Collins recalled.

Federal agents arrested Sheriff’s Office Administrative Director Teresa Adams and searched for evidence of a bonus kickback scheme.

They found enough to convince Morris and Adams to plead guilty rather than go to trial. Both are serving federal prison sentences.

When the FBI announced Morris’ arrest to the employees at the Sheriff’s Office “at first you could have heard a pin drop,” Collins said.

“Then there was a gasp, and then people broke out crying.”

Collins said James Stewart, the FBI agent who broke the news, assured the employees that Morris’ arrest could not be seen as a reflection on them. Collins said he didn’t see it that way.

“We had a pretty good reputation, but then in one short period you felt like that reputation went down the toilet,” he said. “You can’t help but feel tarnished.”

Crist had been notified of Morris’ pending arrest, and he told Spooner — a lawman with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement — on the evening of Feb. 26 that he was needed to head the Sheriff’s Office.

“Frankly he couldn’t have picked anybody better,” Collins said.

Spooner met with employees early on. He and Ashley, then a major, urged deputies to work as a team and show the public that one man’s sins did not tarnish an entire agency.

“There’s a question of loyalty versus integrity,” Ashley said at the time. “We will not lose our integrity. We are loyal to the citizens and loyal to this agency, and not to any individual.”

Deputy Jeremy Gilbert said that he “didn’t know what to think” when he heard Morris had been arrested, but that he and his fellow deputies have worked together to overcome adversity.

“All of us on the ground level have pulled together,” he said. “We’re proud of what we do. We’re proud of who we work for.”

Wasden said “people make the agency, not Charlie.”

“The men and women under me still maintain their professionalism,” he said.

In the days following Morris’ arrest, “I believe some of us felt we had something to prove to the citizens,” Wasden said.

He said the outpouring of public support made things easier.

“People come up to me every day and pat me on the back and say, ’Thanks for what you do,’ “ he said. “They’re tapping me on the shoulder and letting me know ’we’re with you, we’re behind you.’ “

Administrators left to clean up after the kickback scandal discovered “a huge mess.”

Ashley said the Sheriff’s Office, under Spooner’s direction, has become “solvent and fiscally sound.” He said there’s greater accountability and better accessibility, too.

“We’re in a much better position than we’ve ever been in,” he said.

Collins, who handles many of the federal grants that come to the Sheriff’s Office, said Spooner has personal oversight of every dollar.

Spooner’s tenure with the Sheriff’s Office was extended from an expected six to eight weeks to until a new sheriff is elected in November. He said the Okaloosa County Commission asked for the extension so that he could oversee the 2009-10 budget.

Spooner cut $2 million in spending. That meant no raises and the elimination of some overtime, Spooner said. Twelve jobs were cut and the Sheriff’s Office’s fleet was reduced by 30 vehicles.

Gilbert, a field training officer, said his unit is better equipped technologically than it’s ever been.

The Sheriff’s Office also has been pursuing state accreditation, which will require the agency to codify policies and procedures and open itself up to state scrutiny.