MARION COUNTY, Fla. — New information was released Friday afternoon about the grand jury investigation involving former Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair and allegations of excessive force within the Sheriff’s Office.
In a 13-page court document, the grand jury said that during the past three months, it met eight times to look into six incidents of alleged excessive force.
READ: Grand jury investigation
The jurors heard from 35 witnesses, but their names were not released in the report. The witnesses said they were concerned there would be retaliation if it was known they had testified.
The grand jury released a list of recommendations for the Sheriff’s Office. They suggested the Sheriff’s Office create a separate internal affairs division, require everyone to report excessive force, prohibit changes to reports, create a citizens review board and change state law to punish deputies who violate civil rights.
The report called Blair’s leadership lax and incompetent. It went on to say under his watch, he pushed deputies to get arrests and chase down suspects, in some cases, by any means necessary.
"We read it and needless to say, I found myself disappointed, discouraged and quite frankly, angry that men in our profession would tarnish the badge,” said Emery Gainey, interim Marion County Sheriff.
The report said Blair “took no responsibility” for any the problems that happened on his watch, such as excessive force and creating rogue units that had "free regn" to act as they pleased.
Blair is accused of pushing deputies to be aggressive and to “kick ass and take names.” He also directed deputies to make as many traffic stops and arrests as they could to fill the quota he set.
The report also detailed how Blair rewarded deputies who made the most arrests and punished others who did not and sent them to the Marion County Jail to work as corrections officers.
Although the Sheriff’s Office has a chase policy in place, the grand jury said Blair ignored it and made it clear to deputies that if a suspect took off, chase them until "the wheels fall off.”
The grand jury said he created an environment where "excessive force was inevitable.”
Gainey said he's working to address all of the issues that were raised and admits more deputies could be under the microscope.
"Obviously we will be initiating some internal investigations as a part of that grand jury being finished,” Gainey said. "There have been some issues this organization has dealt with those and if there are others we will deal with those swiftly and quickly."
Blair, along with his top three commanders are all out. Blair was removed from office, while the others retired.
Gainey said he’s working to create a review board and that allegations of excessive force can be reported anonymously even though state statute said that’s not allowed.
"What happens if someone comes back and says I want to find out who reported this, who made this report about me?” asked Channel 9’s Myrt Price.
“We'll deal with that in the course of the investigation,” Gainey said.
Contact Myrt Price for more on this story.
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