ABC has Zimmerman's application for citizens law enforcement academy

[grasswire]

http://www.scribd.com/heidi_vries/d/87064208-George-Zimmerman%E2%80%99s-application-for-the-Citizens-Police-Academy-in-2008

I can't copy it here, but it is full of interesting information. The officer reviewing the application tells George that his account of arrest for assaulting a police officer is "unusual."

[GopperStopper2680]

1. In my state assault on an officer is a felony

And it carries a manditory jail time.

[cynatnite]

3. The charges were dropped in this case. n/t

[monmouth]

2. I believe he was rejected twice...psych examination failure...n/t

[Kingofalldems]

4. Reminds me of Phil Hendrie character Jay Santos, Citizens Auxiliary Police

[grasswire]

5. ABC link

more info at that link:

http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/crime/zimmerman-dad-worked-as-magistrate

There's good info on that page for those who are following the leads and the evidence.

A statement from Virginia Magistrate's office on Robert's tenure as magistrate and the limitations of that office.

For some reason I can't copy and paste from this ABC page.

Also on this page is George's cell phone number!

[PA Democrat]

8. Info on Robert Zimmerman:

“Robert J. Zimmerman served as a full-time magistrate from 2000-2006. Please be advised that in Virginia magistrates are judicial officers, but they are not considered "judges" and do not possess trial jurisdiction. More detailed information on the role of the magistrate in Virginia is available on Virginia's Judicial System Website .”

Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/crime/zimmerman-dad-worked-as-magistrate#ixzz1qXTSuPxj

[PA Democrat]

6. Seems like Georgie likes to let people know who daddy is.

He made it a point of mentioning in his application that daddy was a "retired Magistrate Judge for the supreme court of Virginia."

[onenote]

12. Like George, you're making a mistake thinking that being a Virginia magistrate matters to anyone

Last edited Thu Mar 29, 2012, 05:12 PM - Edit history (1)

A magistrate in Virginia is not a judge. Its the bottom rung on the judicial ladder. At the time George's father was a magistrate, you didn't even have to be a college graduate (and even today you don't have to be a law school graduate). It doesn't pay particularly well either. George may have thought it would somehow impress the sheriff's department. I doubt it did. Of course, a number of DUers also think that his father wields influence and power in Sanford by virtue of his having been a lowly magistrate in Virginia. They're wrong too.

[vaberella]

13. I disagree with you.

I don't think many DUers actually think the father has much power, but many of them do think (and I am one of them) that his father has connections and friends with power. And considering his line of work and how many years he's been there, he might have.

[onenote]

16. His line of work?

He was a lowly magistrate in Virginia from 2000 to 2006. How does that translate into his having "connections" in Florida in 2012? Again, I think you misunderstand what a magistrate in Virginia is and does.

[vaberella]

22. Oh no, I'm not.

This episode on Lawrence O'Donnell seems to show that some of us might be right. He could have close relationships with some police officers and the dad could have pushed his former post around---even if by and large the title is not that important.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-last-word/46887730

[onenote]

28. I don't know if you are from Virginia or not

but I am. Indeed, I've spent pretty much my entire life here except for a few years away for law school. Being a magistrate is a bottom of the barrel position -- it pays less than most legal secretaries make. Its often a "second career" for retirees, which appears to be the case with Zimmerman's father, who retired from the military and then took a low paying job as a magistrate for a few years. (How low paying: well, a judge in Virginia makes between $160K and $180K; a magistrate makes between $35K and $50K).

As for O'Donnell, he got it wrong in describing Zimmerman's father as a judge, but even then he acknowledged that it was unlikely that Zimmerman's father would hold any sway in Sanford FL by virtue of his having worked in the judicial system in Virginia. (There seems to be some confusion as to when and for how long Zimmerman's father was a magistrate. Some reports say he was a magistrate from 2002-2006; other reports indicate that he moved to Lake Mary FL in 2002, which means he may not have been a magistrate for very long in Virginia and that if he was able to parlay his experience as a magistrate in Virginia into some sort of influence/connections in Florida, wouldn't it be with the Lake Mary police department (which is separate from the Sanford PD).

Look, my point isn't that nothing out of the ordinary took place here. Quite the opposite. The Sanford PD appears to be up to its collective eyeballs in something and its important that questions get asked and the Sanford PD be made to answer for its mishandling and apparent cover up in this case. But focusing on Zimmerman's dad strikes me as heading down the wrong rabbit hole.

[PA Democrat]

19. PA magistrates don't need a law degree & make about $76,000 a year.

The thing about magistrates... they know every local cop, prosecutor and defense attorney because they work with them on a daily basis. There are all sorts of deals and favors worked out. I would imagine that in a place like Sanford, it is a veritable good ol' boys club.

[onenote]

20. But he wasn't a magistrate in Florida. It was in Virgina from 2000 to 2006

So I doubt he had "daily" contact with every local cop, prosecutor and defense attorney.

Pennsylvania magistrates are well paid. Even today (and I'm not sure what it was in 2000-2006) a full time Virginia magistrate (and there are a lot of them that serve part time) makes betwee n $35K and $54K. Even the "Chief" magistrate makes less than $65K, I believe.

[PA Democrat]

21. I realize that Robert Zimmerman didn't have daily contact with the cops in Florida.

What I am saying is don't discount the respect that Florida cops would give a retired magistrate from another state. Cops and magistrates generally have very good working relationships.

[WolverineDG]

25. All he has to do is introduce himself as "Judge Zimmermann"

The rest takes care of itself.

[onenote]

27. Magistrates aren't called "judges" in Virginia

I suppose if his father was a retired cab driver he could introduce himself as "Judge Zimmerman".

Look, I have no doubt that the Sanford PD has a lot of questions to answer and that the answers are going to reveal a lot of things they will have to answer for. But focusing on Zimmerman's father as a key to the mystery is probably barking up the wrong tree, which helps the Sanford PD out.

Even if Zimmerman's father's year's ago service as a lowly magistrate in Manassas Virginia somehow could translate into a position of influence in Florida today (which is really stretching it), my understanding is that Zimmerman's father lived in Lake Mary, which has a separate police department from Sanford.

[WolverineDG]

29. Do the cops in Florida know that?

Because I'm guessing "no."

[onenote]

30. Do they know whether some guy claiming to be a judge might just be a former cab driver

or a truck driver or a magistrate?

Nope.

But chances are they don't know any thing about some guy who lives over in the next city.

[yardwork]

7. "I would never have touched a police officer." Except you did, George.

The man is a pathological liar and something else I can't describe.

So he was accepted into the law enforcement academy. In my area, that means that he got to ride around with police officers, learn to shoot a weapon, and sit in classes about law enforcement. It's a public relations program designed to encourage citizens to learn more about the police and the work they do. It's not a license to kill.

[appleannie1]

9. Gee, everyone assaults him first. He must have a face that everyone wants to hit.

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. He didn't identify himself and he hit me first

This from a guy who was fired from a job as a security guard for ILLEGAL parties ( ) because he threw some woman around after losing his shit. How shitty do you have to be for the illegal party promoters to say "this guy is too much of a liability." They're holding raves in abandoned airport hangers, but George Zimmerman is, like, way too dangerous.

[oldhippie]

10. To be clear, this is NOT an application to a Police Academy .....

... like to become a LEO. This was a "Citizen's" Police Academy. The one I attended here in Texas was modeled after the one in Orlando. Ours was a ten week course of three hours each Thursday evening teaching a group of regular citizens about police procedures, investigations, animal control, juvenile procedures, crime scene procedures, etc. We spent a Saturday morning on the range shooting their Glocks and MP5 machine guns. The course is designed for concerned citizens to learn about their police departments, not for an entry into law enforcement.

[grasswire]

14. right, I meant to make that point

Citizens Law Enforcement Academy.

Rinky-dink. Not police work.

[itsrobert]

11. Looks like they left his phone number

Phone Number home and cell
Address at the Time
and email address on the letter.

[grasswire]

15. that's his dad's address

...and the house phone is probably his dad's number.

[itsrobert]

17. most likely

n/t

[HockeyMom]

18. I have read the Orlando PO Civil Service questionnaire

Zimmerman would have been rejected simply on the Domestic Violence Injunction against him if he applied after 2005. There is also a list of Misdemeanors that could also disqualify him. Yet, he was still able to legally own a gun under Florida law?

[Oilwellian]

24. Did you know...

even after shooting someone and having his gun confiscated, he can go out today and buy another one?

Mother Jones decided to check with Sanford PD after receiving a press release from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence stating that "One month after Trayvon's tragic death, George Zimmerman still has his gun and his license to carry and use it." The release was only half-right: Zimmerman's handgun is in a police impound, though he could replace it easily enough under existing Florida law.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/03/george-zimmerman-gun-trayvon-martin-police-evidence

[HockeyMom]

26. That is good though from a purely prosecution

aspect, and interesting. That means that the gun could not have been wiped clean of any blood, and can still be tested. Did the police think maybe a crime may have been committed and kept the gun for that reason?

[Evasporque]

23. So Zimmerman was security at a underage drinking party and punched a undercover cop...

Sounds like criminal activity to me....

And he plays the Mommy Daddy card....

[onenote]

31. For a retired next to nothing, his daddy seems to have a wide sphere of influence

Daddy lives in Lake Mary FL, but has influence not only over the cops in Sanford FL (which is part of the same county as Lake Mary but is a separate city with a separate police force) but also over cops in a completely different county (Orange County, the county in which his idiot son got arrested for punching a cop and had domestic violence charges against him). For a guywho made less than $50K as a lowly magistrate in another state several years earlier, and whose name is virtually invisible on the Internet outside of references relating to this case, the guy is Superman.

Seriously, something is rotten with the Sanford police department, but I doubt it has squat to do with Georgie's daddy.

[alcibiades_mystery]

34. Agreed...his father's a glorified paper pusher

The State's Attorney's election troubles seems more relevant than the silly Zimmerman clan and their so-called connections.

[DevonRex]

32. ATF underage drinking sting? HaHahaHA!!

Unusual? understatement of the century.