QUESTION
The Sheriff Dept refused to execute a Baker Act order to take my kids sad to a mental health hospital. The next day he ran us off Rd. Do we have a cas
Asked on Jul 06th, 2017 on Police Misconduct - Florida
More details to this question:
February 7, 2017 Escambia County Sheriff’s Department Internal Affairs P.O. Box 18770 Pensacola, Florida 32523 Re: Notice of Intent To Sue To Whom It May Concern: This letter serves as a formal notice of our intent to file a lawsuit against the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department (Pensacola, Florida) for negligence, injuries and damages due to several sheriff deputies (Officer Peter Gallion-Ofc# 408/Officer Kevin Haddicks-Ofc#345 and Officer Stephen Brown-OFC# 288 )failing to act on an order( approved and signed by Judge Linda Nobles) to pick up Derrick Hemphill for a Baker Act Commitment. On December 5, 2016 I (Tania Palmer) completed a petition to have Mr. Derrick Hemphill Baker Acted to a mental health facility. I was notified later that afternoon that Judge Linda Nobles had approved and signed off on the order and that I needed to contact the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department. I then contacted The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch Department to let them know
1 ANSWER
Consumer Debt Collector Harassment & Abuse Attorney serving Tampa, FL
Partner at
Tischhauser Law Group
2 Awards
Not inherently for several reasons. First, Baker Act does not typcially involve an individual swearing out an affidavit and entry of a court order "picking them up and take them to a mental health hospital" without some form of professional assessement as to the mental capacity and threat level of the individual at issue before they are ever subjected to being institutionalized. There is likely much more to this that was not provided as LEO don't typically disregard a court order. Moreover, you will hhave soveriegn immunity issues to overcome, and as such unless you are willing to pay the legal fees out of pocket to retain counsel on such a complicated case, there would need to be substantial injuries sustained from being "run off the road" to justify the expense and effort financially. You probably need to have a lawyer review ALL the facts BEFORE you start sending out statutory claims notices to the Sheriff Department.
Answered on Jul 07th, 2017 at 5:13 AM
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