Sheriff Texts Three Commissioners: Expect Patrol Cuts In Your District

Less than two hours after the Escambia County Commission passed a budget short of the demands made by Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan, the sheriff texted at least three commissioners letting them know that patrols would be reduced in their district.

“I’d like to say I was surprised by the timing of the message, but I was not,” Commissioner Steven Barry said.

The text sent to Commissioners Barry, Jeff Bergosh and Grover Robinson said, “Your district is one of those that will see a reduction of patrol coverage”. Commissioners Lumon May and Doug Underhill have said they did not receive the text Tuesday night.

“I get an unsolicited text saying, ‘Your district is subject to reduced patrols,’ yeah it was unsettling,” Commissioner Jeff Bergosh said. “The timing wasn’t good. The optics don’t look good.”

The commission passed a $455.8 million budget Tuesday night that included a 3 percent across the board raise for all permanent county employees…including those at the Sheriff’s Office. Morgan fought for pay raises and changes in the pay structure in his department in order to retain deputies. He said he will appeal the budget to the governor because it did not nothing to help him retain deputies that are leaving the department due to pay that is lower than surrounding departments.

“The timing of this text, right after the meeting where we attempted to compromise with Sheriff Morgan (where we bumped his budget up to give all his men a 3% raise) could be construed by some as retaliatory or worse yet…..threatening,” Bergosh wrote Wednesday on his blog. “All because, apparently, we did not fund him an 8% year over year budget increase…What a disappointment.”

Morgan sent an email to commissioners, and a text to at least one commissioner, inviting them back in July to attend individual meetings over his “realignment of our limited resources”. He also posted a public video on YouTube and social media in which he said deputies would be reassigned from unnamed low crime areas to areas with higher crime.

“For some reason, that doesn’t seem to get through to anybody and so now we’re at this juncture of where it’s time to make these moves and people are acting like there’s a revelation,” Morgan said. “‘Oh my God, the sheriff is actually going to reduce these things,’ Of course I am, I’ve been telling you for months.”

Morgan said the text messages were in no way retaliation.

“Hurl the allegations if you’d like, this is the new norm in Escambia County until we can correct it,” Morgan said.

Barry said Tuesday’s text from the Morgan was not the first he had received from the sheriff during the summer budget battles, and he did not respond to any of them.

“I received several text messages from Sheriff Morgan this summer, and upon the advice of our board counsel, I archived each one. As only one of five board members who need to work together collectively, responding to the messages did not seem particularly prudent. However, I did have a very informative hour long meeting with Chief Financial Officer Henrique Dias and Chief Deputy Haines last week.”

Both Barry and Bergosh said they are disappointed that Morgan will cut patrols in their districts.

“To say I am disappointed that the sheriff is telling District 1 that we will receive a reduction of patrol coverage is an understatement. We have had big issues with crime in West Escambia, Myrtle Grove, Avondale, Bellview, and other areas of District 1. We have had murders in Beulah…residents in Logan Place have endured a rash of car burglaries–and to say these areas are going to receive ‘a reduction of patrol coverage’ is astonishingly disappointing,” Bergosh wrote.

“In each of my five years as a county commissioner, we have included 3 percent raises in each budget for every employee at the Sheriff’s Office, so I will be very disappointed if there is any further reduction in patrols in District 5,” Barry said.

Morgan has said the patrol reductions will occur October 1.

Pictured top: Screenshot from a Tuesday night text from Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan to Escambia County Commissioner Stephen Barry. Pictured below: Screenshots of texts Barry received during the summer from Morgan. Barry said he did not reply to any of the texts. Click any image to enlarge.