Why wasn't cop wannabe Zimmerman a cop?

[NNN0LHI]

You just know this guy had to apply for the job of a cop at some point.

Why was he turned down?

We are not seeing the entire picture here.

Don

[yardwork]

1. Record of violent assaults, including assault on a police officer.

I would assume that police departments frown on that kind of thing.

[NNN0LHI]

2. Yet they pass out concealed carry permits to idiots like this?

That doesn't make sense either.

Don

[X_Digger]

4. Charges were dropped.

Some have speculated that his father, the ex-virginia magistrate judge had something to do with that, but I think that's a stretch.

[yardwork]

7. I have a feeling that charges like that get dropped a lot. Drug possession not so much.

Our prisons are full of people arrested for possession and "intent to sell" while people like George Zimmerman walk around with concealed carry licenses despite a history of violent assaults.

[Cirque du So-What]

15. What, then, do YOU think is the reason

why charges were dropped? The average Joe doesn't get a pass on charges that serious.

[X_Digger]

20. I think he's buddy-buddy with some of the cops, which would also explain their action in this case..

We know he was a criminal justice major (the degree he was seeking at the local college is a pre-requisite).

I wonder how many 'ride-along's he's done.

[yardwork]

21. That would also explain why he was allowed to abuse the 911 call system.

I have a feeling that if I called my local 911 46 times in a year to report potholes and 7 year old children I would get pushback.

[X_Digger]

23. Do we know if it was actually 911 or was it the non-emergency number?

I've seen it referenced both ways, so I'm not sure.

In any case, he was also 'trained' in the neighborhood watch by Sanford PD.

[yardwork]

26. I've seen the same confusion. Have no idea if it was 911 or non-emergency.

Apparently this varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In my area, we're encouraged to call 911 if we see anything suspicious. Other places you're supposed to call another number.

[obamanut2012]

32. It was 911

As per the printouts in the Mother Jones' article.

[yardwork]

38. Thanks. I thought it was 911.

All kinds of information points to the Sanford police department knowing Zimmerman and supporting his actions leading up to this shooting. His HOA also seems to have known, approved, and supported his behavior, to the extent of kicking another resident out of a recent HOA meeting when that person complained that Zimmerman was harassing him.

[Cirque du So-What]

22. Still

felony assault upon police officers is not exactly the best way to win their friendship. IMO it would take an insurmountable number of doughnuts to make up for such a transgression.

[X_Digger]

24. Or.. and this is just another guess..

Was the narcotics officer black?

eta: The narcotics officer in the 'assault on an officer' case, that is.

[yardwork]

27. Was that assault in a different place? Was it in Miami?

I'd have to go back and reread the articles, but my impression was that the assault on the officer didn't take place in Sanford. I could be wrong, though.

[X_Digger]

28. Yeah, I'm fuzzy on those details, and don't have them close at hand. n/t

[yardwork]

29. I looked and couldn't find info on where the previous assault took place.

Googling this case is horrific this morning. The astroturfing has begun.

[X_Digger]

30. *sigh* I hear ya. n/t

[jwirr]

46. That is especially worth asking because the local people did not run a background check on him and

they called him "squeaky clean". If his assault on an officer took place in Virginia they may not have known about it. Also if charges were dropped is it even in the records?

[11 Bravo]

44. His old man is a retired judge. That might have something to do with it.

[Cirque du So-What]

45. That was my contention all along

The person to whom I was responding was suggesting otherwise.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I'm glad he wasn't allowed to be a cop.

[WI_DEM]

5. What is his occupation? other than neighborhood watch captain?

[monmouth]

9. He was a student (5 years) at a college in North Florida....n/t

[yardwork]

10. I've been wondering the same thing. No employer has stepped forward.

I've read in news reports that he worked for Carmax at the time of the previous assaults. I've read that he had his own pressure washing business at one time. No evidence that he has a job.

Daddy parked him in this little town and hoped he would stay out of trouble, is what I think.

[barbtries]

12. i read somewhere that he was working somewhere

like a brokerage, or as an insurance underwriter. according to the article he had not shown up for work since he murdered Trayvon. i wish i could provide the link but i have read so widely i cannot recall where it was. google should help

[yardwork]

14. I sincerely doubt that he was an insurance underwriter. That requires a college degree.

He may have been emptying trash cans at a brokerage.

[barbtries]

16. the link is in this thread.

underwriter.

[yardwork]

18. I see it. I don't believe it. Edited to add - wait. This is Florida. Real estate scams.

Now I believe it.

[obamanut2012]

33. He did loan forensics at a firm in Orlando

He has not been back to work since the killing.

This was an article in an Orlando publication I read online yesterday. The article included his suit-and-tie cleancut employee photo.

[Fawke Em]

13. He was/is an underwriter for a mortgage risk management firm

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/os-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman-job-20120323,0,7163107.story

[yardwork]

17. ...according to anonymous sources. I don't believe that he was an underwriter. He had no experience.

If he really was an underwriter, then somebody pulled serious strings to get him that job. OR he was employed by one of this scummy companies that is responsible for all the real estate scams in Florida in recent years.

[Fawke Em]

47. My husband is in insurance... he'd like to know his qualifications, too.

Hubs has been in insurance for years and still can't qualify for underwriting.

[leveymg]

6. A felony assault on a police officer charge & 2 domestic assaults in '05, to start

Yes, from the beginning, we've been shown a slanted, incomplete picture that downplays this guy's history of violence and racial animus. This story is being treated by the corporate media as fuel on long-smoldering, unaddressed racial and class tensions. They've tried their damnedest to water it down.

[chelsea0011]

8. And I wish the media would stop referring to him as a "Watch Captain".

[izquierdista]

11. Too violent? Probably not -- compared to other cops

Too stupid? Probably not -- compared to other cops
Too fat? Maybe -- recruits have to be in shape, it's after they are on the force they can pack on the donuts.

I have to think it is a combination of the three, plus coming off as a creepy, nosy, busybody. But you are right, we are not seeing the entire picture, and I, for one, have absolutely NO desire to have the details of the picture filled in for me.

[obxhead]

19. As a cop he might have to face a real criminal that might also be carrying.

He's a coward.

[Ganja Ninja]

25. Just guessing but they must have determined ...

he was a dangerous idiot and would be a menace to the community if allowed to carry a gun and a badge.

[yardwork]

31. Yet they "trained" him to be the volunteer captain of a neighborhood watch.

[obamanut2012]

34. He wasn't an official community watch volunteer

He did it on his own. It makes me wonder if he had any training at all, except for his CCW permit and his paranoia.

[yardwork]

37. Articles state that the Sanford police department "trained" him and his buddy.

[Bluerthanblue]

39. articles state a lot of things- many of them gross distortions.

there isn't much 'training' involved in being part of a "Neighborhood Watch".

There is an overview here:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:EKT33aAju0kJ:www.sanfordfl.gov/police/flyers/Neighborhood_Watch_english.pdf+sanford+florida+neighborhood+watch&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShI4DPkujSRzssqTBwytkJ1A0mNDokfM2vfBtY3cLYn8awva0Ws3M0zhC6OEw7LAhmSl6e-Zb-6QAtp5WVqxMyuIPrkWH4lmXwsTT-qRnBjk6HY31erOa1MPc-lyQxwkFHBjhN9&sig=AHIEtbQrWXoOwZS7JnaUzZ5QpjkkpLO5aw

[yardwork]

40. I don't think we disagree. His training was poor and he didn't follow common sense, much less rules.

My point is that the Sanford police department was apparently aware of and supportive of George Zimmerman's actions.

[Bluerthanblue]

42. I don't think we do either,

didn't mean to make it sound like I did, but I can see how you get that.

I was amazed at what little training is involved in the Neighborhood Watch program. Especially the way the media and Zimmermans supporters harp on the alleged ... authority.. or legitimacy... that title is supposed to infer.

I'm also blown away by how many false statements are made by the media. I read an article which stated that Zimmerman's lawyer said he'd recieved stitches on the back of his head. Yet no where in the full article did they quote anything by the lawyer which actually said that.



It's difficult to filter the gossip from the facts.

[LiberalEsto]

43. Sit. Speak. Lie down.

Back off... not so much

[Ganja Ninja]

36. I'm not sure how extensive his training was.

He maybe got a pamphlet and took a few classes. What ever he got from them it didn't stick with him because he ignored rule after rule after rule that night.

[Iggo]

35. Too stupid.

[opihimoimoi]

41. +99999.09 Much too lolo....even the cops have their standards....most Departments do