So Zimmerman is charged with 2nd degree murder.

[03trubluGT]

Curious about what Matt? Do share.

I don't have a clue.

Just wondering why someone would have done what seems to have been a good job on the initial investigation and then have it go to political shit and then request to leave your position as a detective for lowly patrol.

Patrol is the backbone of any police department, but officers get that "I'm better than patrol" attitude and rarely return. I seriously wonder what prompted this.

[Forever_frost]

So it's a demotion? Interesting. Does bring up questions then

[BradM]

So it's a demotion? Interesting. Does bring up questions then

Lateral move.

[03trubluGT]

So it's a demotion? Interesting. Does bring up questions then

Not necessarily.

We have patrol Corporals that are the same pay grade as Detectives.

But patrol is commonly looked down on by people who think they are better than the rest. I'm not saying everyone that goes to a specialized unit or promotes thinks this way, but it is very common.

[Forever_frost]

I'm trying to figure out how to put this into a coherent question so bear with me.

Why would he go from detective that advocated prosecution on possibly the most racially charged case since the LA riots, to patrol. His words are being used to stir up hatred and anger against Zimmerman and he wants to go on the street?

[naynay]

I'm trying to figure out how to put this into a coherent question so bear with me.

Why would he go from detective that advocated prosecution on possibly the most racially charged case since the LA riots, to patrol. His words are being used to stir up hatred and anger against Zimmerman and he wants to go on the street?

blend in/keep pension? for $300 Frost

[ceyko]

Could be anything from lack of motivation, found evidence contrary and is being strong armed, to he was dead wrong and they see that....etc...etc

[03trubluGT]

The Today Show just reported that the detective supported a manslaughter charge because Zimmerman had 2 opportunities to tell Martin who he was but failed to do so.

Serino contends that this is what led to the deadly confrontation.


?????????????????? Zimmerman was under NO obligation to tell Martin a damned thing. It was Martin's violent response that led to this, and the blame should not be put on the guy who was following Martin.

This is typical flawed mentality of putting the blame on someone else instead of putting the responsibility on where it belongs.

[2011GT]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/12/more-documents-released-in-trayvon-martin-case/?test=latestnews

ORLANDO, Fla. – Ex-neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman called police at least six times in the months before he shot Trayvon Martin to death, reporting activity as benign as kids playing in the street to detailing the description of a suspected burglar.

The documents and recordings released Thursday point to Zimmerman's growing frustration with suspects getting away with petty crimes in his gated community, though they do little to clear up what happened on the night of the shooting.

In August 2011, Zimmerman called Sanford Police's nonemergency line to report a man in the neighborhood who his wife thought was responsible for an earlier burglary.

"If you'll let the officers know they typically run away quickly and I think they head to the next neighborhood over," Zimmerman said in the call.

When asked by a dispatcher, Zimmerman said the suspect was black. His wife, Shellie, is heard in the background telling Zimmerman not to go outside to follow the suspect.

In a Feb. 2 call, less than a month before the fatal shooting, Zimmerman described a suspicious man at a neighbor's house. When asked, he said the man was black, wearing a black leather jacket, black hat with ear flaps and black pajama pants.

"He keeps going to this guy's house. I know him. I know the resident. He's Caucasian," Zimmerman said. "He is going up to the house and then going along the side of it and then coming straight and then going back to it. I don't know what he's doing. I don't want to approach him, personally."

On Feb. 26, Zimmerman's response was different. He spotted Martin walking through the gated community in Sanford. Martin was walking back to a house he was staying at in the community after a trip to a convenience store to buy Skittles and a can of iced tea. Zimmerman started to follow him. Despite a police dispatcher telling him "you don't have to do that," Zimmerman gets out of his truck to pursue Martin.

"These a------s, they always get away," Zimmerman said on the call.

The calls were among close to 50 that Zimmerman made to Sanford police over the past eight years.

Prosecutors and Martin's family believe the teenager was racially profiled by Zimmerman. Martin was black. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Peruvian.

The lead detective investigating Martin's death told FBI agents that he believed Zimmerman followed Martin because the teen was wearing a hoodie and because of previous burglaries in the community, not because Martin was black, according to the documents released Thursday. Local gang members were known to wear hoodies and the gated community had had a rash of break-ins, many by young black men, neighbors told police.

Detective Chris Serino described Zimmerman as overzealous and as having a "little hero complex" but not as a racist, according to the FBI report.

The FBI has been probing the handling of Martin's death for any civil rights violations, but the agency hasn't released any findings.

Zimmerman's ex-fiancée told FBI agents that he had never exhibited any prejudices. She "observed Zimmerman as he socialized and played basketball with white, black and Hispanic men," the FBI report said. "Zimmerman's friends were from all of these racial groups."

The unidentified woman, who was engaged to Zimmerman a decade ago, told agents he had a temper but added she thought it was exacerbated by his use of acne medicine. During arguments, he would sometimes threaten to kill himself by driving into a lake or taking pills but the ex-fiancée believed he was only trying to generate sympathy and wasn't serious.

The ex-fiancée described a tempestuous relationship that culminated with her filing for an injunction against him after a breakup; Zimmerman also filed one against her.

Also released were police officers' descriptions of cuts on Zimmerman's head and print outs of what is described as Zimmerman's MySpace page.

"I don't miss driving around scared to miss Mexicans, walkin on the side of the street, soft as wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around," one entry said.

Zimmerman, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in the February shooting. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.

A neighbor in the gated community who heard shouts outside her townhome told an investigator that "the bigger" of the two men got up after she heard moans for help and then a gunshot. She told an investigator for the special prosecutor handling the case that the lead detective investigating for Sanford police had told her that the person who had been crying for help was alive and that he was "really beaten up and scratched."

Who cried for help is a point of contention. Martin's family claim it is their son in background of 911 calls neighbors made. Martin's cousin, in an interview with the prosecutor's investigator, said "without a doubt 'on a stack of Bibles'" that the cries were those of Martin.

Zimmerman's father testified at his bond hearing that he was certain the shouts for help were his son.

[stevo]

A neighborhood watch person actually watching the neighborhood, imagine that.

Stevo

[ceyko]

"little hero complex"

Is that what it is called when neighborhoods are going downhill and residents try to make it safer, w/o police intervention? Granted, he called them like he was supposed to do - but apparently they were not making a difference. Would he just be a normal person if he just stayed inside, scared and HOPING the police help?

We all know the million reasons why cops cannot or will not be around when needed.

What should he have done to be a concerned and protective resident? What exactly qualifies police/detectives to protect a neighborhood and not a citizen? Policies and procedures? I'm sure there is some training, but even cops acknowledge they are not responsive enough, due to no fault of their own.

That comment sort of pissed me off when I read it.

[Chas_svo]

But you understand why is was in the media right?

[KBScobravert]

But you understand why is was in the media right?

Bait and low level character sabotage tactic.

[Big A]

Bait and low level character sabotage tactic.

It is no secret that this is in the media primarily because of the race of the perpetrator.

<- character intact

[347Mike]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPcIwzT0Mq8[/ame]