The Great American Senior Show

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey Is Dedicated to Protecting Seniors

April 12, 2022 Sam Yates Season 2 Episode 53
The Great American Senior Show
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey Is Dedicated to Protecting Seniors
The Great American Senior Show +
Help us continue making great content for listeners everywhere.
Starting at $3/month
Support
Show Notes Transcript

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey is a no-nonsense, Constitutional Sheriff when it comes to protecting the seniors and all citizens of Brevard County, Florida. That stance has hundreds of thousands throughout the Space Coast Region and throughout Florida and the nation cheering his law enforcement practices that have reaped a whopping 51% reduction in the crime rate since he took office.

Sheriff Ivey took the Great American Senior Show's host Sam Yates to the Principals Office while sharing his secret for naming Major Junny, an award-winning Bloodhound (the only Command Level K-9 in Florida) and how God may have intervened in the name selection.

This is the first of a dozen exclusive interviews with Sheriff Ivey and other members of his Department. 

To make sure you DO NOT miss any in this series of Special Reports, sign up to subscribe FREE to every Great American Senior Show podcast. 


Support the show

The Great American Senior Show podcast is produced by Yates & Associates, Public Relations & Marketing. This podcast is part of the network of podcasts streaming under the umbrella of the Pod National News Network. For more information about Yates & Associates or the Pod National News Network, contact Sam Yates at (772) 528-5185 or Sam@Yatespro.com. Sponsorship opportunities are available. The Great American Senior Show is ranked 3rd Best in Senior Podcasts to Follow for 2023 in all podcasts for seniors in a comprehensive survey by feedspot.
30 Best Senior Podcasts You Must Follow in 2023 (feedspot.com)

Yates & Associates is a full-service Public Relations and Marketing company serving select clients throughout the United States and abroad. For more information visit www.YatesPRO.com .

Sam Yates:

Hello, everyone and welcome to another exciting edition of The Great American Senior Show. I'm your grey haired host. And in the background, you hear something going squeak, squeak squeak. And we will explain that in a moment because today I am in Brevard County and I'm in the office of Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Sheriff, It's not like I'm being sent to the Principal's Office. I'm here of my own accord. And I am voluntarily here because I want to interview you because you are well known and our seniors need to know about you.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

Well, thank you, my friend, glad to be with you. And it's funny what you say, you're not being sent to the principal's office. Our administrative building is actually an old middle school. And where you're sitting was the principal's office

Sam Yates:

I knew it!! Some things you just can't escape. That's right. Yeah, that never changes back into Principals Office!

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

It's good to be with you, man. And I appreciate all you do to help get information out to help protect communities and, and also to support law enforcement. We're blessed.

Sam Yates:

Tell us about yourself. I always like to let our audience know about my guests. Tell us about yourself. Sure. So

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

I was born and raised in a little small town called Green Cove Springs, Florida, up near up near Jacksonville and St. Augustine area. And I've been a law enforcement officer for just right now going on 42 years. And it's it's an absolute blessing. And I say that sometimes when people say Oh, you mean serving the sheriff? No, I, I mean, being a law enforcement officer. It is without question. Other than my family, it is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me in my life. And I get to I get served today as the Sheriff of Brevard County, and hopefully for a much longer time. Hopefully the citizens in the agency will keep me but I will tell you that. I never thought I would get to serve as Sheriff. And now that I have the opportunity. I'm just so proud and humbled to wear the same uniform as the 1700 men and women of this agency. And in addition to that, I'm married a beautiful wife, Susan, and we have four children. And we have three dogs, two German shepherds that own the inside of the house. And Junie our 150 pound bloodhound that actually works for the sheriff's office that owns everywhere. He pretty much runs things.

Sam Yates:

Well, and I understand he goes everywhere with you. And as I'm seeing that today. He is here with us today.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

He does. Judy is 150 pound bloodhound that we got when he was 10 weeks old through the sheriff's office. He he is assigned to me. He goes everywhere I go, he lives with us. He goes on vacation with me. He's been to Washington DC with me on immigration matters. goes all over the state with me everywhere I go. He goes,

Sam Yates:

Well, my dog Scout who is a about 120 pound Walker hound gave me strict instructions not to return without a photo of Juni. He's not.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

I'll tell you why he picked a good room because God just was voted in as the top dog for the Florida Sheriffs Association, knocked out 40 Some other dogs on the way to the title and and had great support from his community. But he's a special dog. And I know we're going to talk about him a little bit later. But he's, he's a good boy.

Sam Yates:

Indeed we are. When I looked at your very impressive background, I mean, it was page on page and you've done a lot of things. What in your career so far stands out is probably one of the proudest achievements.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

You know, I would say if you look, if you look back in my career, historically, the first thing would be just just serving as law enforcement officer serving as, as a deputy sheriff as an agent with fdlp. I tried to not get caught up in the fact that I'm sure if I try and always remember that I'm a cop. And that's the greatest job in this business as being a cop being out there serving your community protecting citizens protecting those that protect you. And so, you know, that would that would absolutely be but as I as I look deeper into it, without question, one of the things that I was blessed to be involved in that I think changed the landscape changed the game was creating the child abduction Response Team. And when when we started that it followed the abduction and murder of Karla brucia. That happened over on the West Coast. And we sat there and we looked at how that case had unfolded. And we looked at the dynamics of that when a child is abducted and murdered. 44% of them were killed within the first hour. And in all likelihood, mom and dad probably don't even know the child's missing within that hour. So we started looking at what's our window of success, what's our window of time that we can function. And so we created this team that was pre trained, pre organized, pre just ready to go. It was a it was an investigative team in a box if you will, and we actually called it a The toolbox and you know, in some investigations, you need this tool and some investigation need that, but they were all there, pre trained ready to go. And it changed the the way that child abductions were investigations were conducted across the country. We didn't know that when we started it. We were just trying to be prepared if we had one in our area. But what ended up happening was it so it became such an amazing tool, such an ability to re rescue children that had been abducted that it was adopted as the model across the country on how child abductions are investigated today. So I would have to say being the CO creator, that was myself the guy by the name of Jay Etheridge, I would say that, when I look back on my career, it'll be one of the things that I know, without question, save lives.

Sam Yates:

Let's switch gears to seniors. Here in the Brevard County area, we have a percentage of seniors that is not low, not the highest but slightly above average. And you have programs that are protecting our seniors each and every day.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

We do and you know, some of that mindset comes from when I worked for the floor Department of Law Enforcement, I was blessed to start the first ever, in fact, the first in the country, Identity Theft Task Force. And, you know, in running that statewide Task Force, I realized the depth of damage that can happen to our seniors, whether it's through identity theft, credit card fraud, or just scams that target our seniors. So when I became Cher, the first thing we did literally within the first week was we started an economic crimes unit that focuses on those things, identity theft, credit card fraud, scams against our seniors, construction scams, everything that possibly could target our seniors. We partnered with our state Attorney Phil Archer, who's just a great guy and understands that our seniors are perhaps the most vulnerable of our population, along with our children. And so we focused on not only going after those that target them, but and also trying to prepare them and bring awareness and education to them, to keep them from becoming a victim of crime.

Sam Yates:

When we talk to anyone in the community cybercrime, seniors, identity theft, if I were to say the word to you, legit, you know, you have that nailed?

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

I do. It's a law enforcement getting identity thieves. And that's when you know, if you work for FBLA, and you come up with the greatest program in the world, if you don't have an acronym for it. It doesn't go anywhere. And so when we took it to the commissioner in the statewide Task Force, we had the acronym law enforcement getting identity things attached to it. And it became again, a big part of my life. We, we did a grand jury that lasted for 18 months, a statewide grand jury, and we marched, if I remember correctly, $44 million worth of fraud in front of that grand jury. It actually changed the way that identity theft was prosecuted, that changed the way identity theft was charged. In fact, the statewide prosecutor, gentleman by the name of Tom sadhika, who was with the statewide prosecutor, then I watched him on a napkin in a Ryan's restaurant in Tallahassee, right? The state statute eight 17.558 17.586 I think it is. It's been a long time now. But I watched Tom write that statute and the the fundamental development of it. Now, I will be honest, we were in a Ryan's restaurant, which was a buffet. So I didn't want you to write all of it. Because, I mean, I had to do my work at the buffet. But Tom wrote that, and then we, through the grand jury, were able to convince the legislature and the governor to sign that into law.

Sam Yates:

And that impacts everyone. For our seniors. I want to say that we have Generation Next we have millennials, and who knows what is coming up next. But I think from a senior standpoint, and I'm getting a little on the gray side, hence the gray haired host, but I think seniors can appreciate it more than anyone else that you are a constitutional law enforcement officer. Explain that and why it's important.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

Sure. So yeah, and you're right, that that age group of our seniors, I think they understand the value of our United States Constitution, more than our younger generation, that doesn't mean that the younger generation won't grow to understand it and appreciate it and value it just as much but it takes takes a little bit of wisdom to understand the significance of our Constitution and it is the four corners of that document that define us as a nation that that truly make others want to come join us in our great country. It's also the four corners of that document that if we do not protect it, if we do not stand for it, and make sure that it outlast all of us, our country will fail. And so serving as a constitutional sheriff is, is the most important role I've ever had in law enforcement. It's not more important from the aspect of what a deputy sheriff does or what a corrections deputy does, or a telecommunicator. It's not even more important than what the person that does our computers here does, because all of that there are no support components in law enforcement, every one of them is equally important to the mission. But for the importance of protecting the Constitution, serving a sheriff is the most important because you stand as the first and the last line of defense for your citizens if, if the Feds decided they were going to come here and and try and take our guns. It's not happening in Brevard County, we are going to stand for our citizens. In fact, a lot of times people will say what would you do if the feds came take your guns and always say, Well, first I'd hide all of mine, and especially the little pink 380 My wife has, I would never want anybody to know that that was in our house. But you know, we're going to stand and we're going to say no, you're not coming here to violate these citizens rights. And it's, it's easy to say you're going to do that. It's another thing to stand and do that. And an example of where I've taken the position in doing that is during COVID-19. The every beach in the state of Florida, closed to its citizens, except for the beaches of Brevard County because I refuse to close them. And I refuse to close them because those aren't my beaches. Those beaches belong to the citizens of this great state in this great country. And who am I to tell them you can't go to the beach? Who am I to tell him you can't go out and stand in the sunshine that you home. And so I refuse to do it. And I am very proud of that stance. And Governor DeSantis actually came here to our beaches because he was proud of that stance. The cities within Brevard County closed their beaches, but the unincorporated beaches of Brevard County were open. At the same time. We had the return to space of astronauts and NASA at the federal level was saying stay home and watch it virtually. I told people Brevard County's open for launch business and we're open for launch business because who am I to tell you you can't come watch a great piece of American history that your taxpayer dollars paid for by the way, and that you must stay at home and watch it come here experiencing. I also looked at it from the aspect of it was an opportunity to regenerate our businesses to get our restaurants back going to get our hotels back going to get our T shirt vendors back. Well, whatever it was, I just look at it from this is this is your country. This is This is America. And I'm here to protect your rights, not take them away from

Sam Yates:

for our audience. You're hearing what we're talking about. And occasionally I like to pause and give you from my past journalist life a words I view. Sheriff was just describing constitutional Sheriff activities, law. The reason it's important, and ladies and gentlemen, if you had seen his face, smiling, beaming the way that he was saying it, if you could hear the emotion in his voice, then you are experiencing what he was saying as an absolute, powerful, powerful belief that you have

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

I do. I would venture to say that I am probably the only sheriff in the country that has the Constitution tattooed on his shoulder. And I do if I if I could roll my sleeves up, you would see it i i I live it. You see in my office. Behind you is the constitution with a display of when it was signed, on my walls is the constitution. We the People mean something to me. And it doesn't just mean something to me, it means something to my children that will be here long after I'm gone. And you you look at the attack on our constitution that's taking place at many levels in this country. And we need we need brave men and women to stand guard. And we need we need brave men and women to get off the sofa and come out and say enough, enough's enough. We're not going to tolerate it anymore.

Sam Yates:

That's one of the reasons that strong belief and conviction that Governor DeSantis recently gave a special appointment to you. Yes, sir.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

Yeah, just I was just blessed to be put on the criminal justice Standards and Training Commission. A very important role in, in law enforcement in the criminal justice community. Because it comes in your your assignment, there has several different roles, several different components, you are responsible for oversight of the curriculum that our future law enforcement officers are going to be taught. You are responsible for oversight over the academies that are teaching it and the funding that goes to those academies. They are also responsible, and perhaps one of the most critical roles for doling out discipline to law enforcement officers that don't follow the rules that don't follow the policies that don't follow the Constitution. And I take that very serious, I have a mantra here in our agency, that I never missed the opportunity to get rid of a subpar employee, I owe it to the other employees of this agency. And now in this new role on the criminal justice standard training, I owe it to the citizens to make sure that those law enforcement officers that are wearing this badge, are wearing it proudly, and are protecting it so that it doesn't get tarnished by some of the incidents like we've we've seen. And so when it comes before us, I've made it very clear. If you, if you your investigation, everybody has due process, that's important to keep in mind. But once due process has been applied, if it's been sustained, I'm gonna hold you accountable.

Sam Yates:

I think that's important to hear coming from you, especially because a lot of people may see Sheriff IV and think, Well, he's not for everybody, but what you just said, was setting the standard, which is what you're going to do for getting rid of or disciplining those who are not to the highest standard. That's

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

exactly right. One of the worst mistakes that we as law enforcement professionals can make and certainly as agency heads is to kick the can down the road. If you have somebody that's a bad officer or a bad deputy for you, they're going to be a bad officer or a bad deputy for somebody else. And so it's important to hold them accountable, pull their certification, so that they can never put somebody else's life, somebody else's reputation, anything at risk. And so I take it very seriously. I'm honored that the governor chose me to sit on that. And we actually have our first board meeting coming up in May. And I'm looking forward to it. Although I'm told that two weeks before you get a banker's box filled with documents that you have to digest beforehand, so I'm not necessarily looking forward to that part. But as part of it, you

Sam Yates:

make me proud when I hear you say that without saying where he is. Here in Florida. My grandson is a state corrections officer about two years into his role. Following in some of the example about my father set in a booth. My father had a brief career in law enforcement before heart issues, but he wants to follow in those footsteps. So when I hear you say that, I'm

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

all for it. Yes, sir. And I, you know, again, it's about protecting our future I have, I have two of my son's two of my four children are law enforcement officers. One is a state trooper in Tallahassee, and the other is a deputy for Seminole County, our neighboring county here. And, you know, I want to make sure that the people that are working next to them, wear that badge with pride as well. And really, truly we owe it to those that workforce. I have 1700 men and women that look to me to make sure I'm protecting this agency in the image that we project. I've got 600,000 citizens that demand, I protect this agency in the image, we protect our project. And so it's, it's really not, I'll use this term as a space journalist you'll take, it's really not rocket science, it's it's really common sense. We recruit the best of the best. If you recruit mediocre, you get mediocrity. And so we recruit the best of the best and make sure we provide retraining and make sure that we're holding them to the level we expect them to man.

Sam Yates:

Before I go much further, would you be able to come back for another episode of our program,

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

I would love it. I always love talking about our Constitution and the great things that we do here at the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. So you telling me anytime and I'd love to do

Sam Yates:

it. I'm going to hold you to that. And on the same token as that if you ever have a special topic that you would like to share with the residents and visitors and citizens of Brevard County, the entire state of Florida, the United States and were heard in 23 Different countries call me I will be here. All right. I'm

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

gonna take you up on that. So

Sam Yates:

now in our in one of our future episodes, and probably the very next Next one, I want to talk about some of the things that you are doing with fishing for felons. And I'm not going to go into them now, fishing for felons, and another is the Wheel of Fugitive. And you have some other things that are very, very unique, but one that that jumped out at me recently, because I was looking at your Facebook page. And people were, by almost said, bitching and complaining. But I that I'd edit that out, they were noting that you had photos of those who had been arrested for DUI is what's the message there.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey:

So you know, the message with you, we do a DUI poster, anybody that's arrested by our agency we do, we don't pull those that are arrested by the local police departments or the Highway Patrol. It's just those that we specifically arrest. And even though somebody might be arrested by the Highway Patrol ends up in our jail, we're just pulling the ones that we've arrested. And driving under the influence takes literally 1000s and 1000s of lives. Every day, those those are the lives that it takes. But it impacts millions of lives on both sides of the house, it impacts the life that you have the person who crashed into and killed or their child, it also impacts your family and your own life. So we put strong emphasis on driving under the influence education and awareness and enforcement. And the DUI poster. You know, some people complain that it's public shaming, I don't care what you call it. If it keeps somebody from getting behind the wheel of a car, and putting their life and somebody else's life at risk. I call it education and awareness. I agree with you and I and I, I put it out there. Some people get get upset. There are those that say it's public shaming there. And if you guess what, if public shaming works, then call it what you want. If if there are others out there that say, What about innocent until proven guilty? Well, to them, I say this, first of all, public records law, Florida Statute 119 says that that is a public record, anybody can get it. What's ironic is the the people that and it's very small percentage that come on our page. And, and I'll just call it what it is in wine. They, they never wind when the media for decades, was putting mug shots up. They never they never wind when even today the media will share the picture of somebody who's been arrested long before they've been convicted. So you know, don't worry about this. Look at it for the messaging it is. And if it saves one life, I promise you, the mom and dad, that son or daughter that we just saved will appreciate what we've done. And so I don't apologize for targeting criminals. I don't apologize for hurting feelings. I'm not here to protect feelings. I'm here to protect citizens and lives. And if that upsets some people, well, I don't know what to tell them. But I can tell them this, I am not going to change my ways. I am blessed to have a great agency around me, a great community that works together, we have a great partnership with our community. And collectively, we have lowered our crime rate in the past nine years since I've been Sheriff by 51%. That's almost unheard of. And to think that we had fewer victims of crime last year, in an area that has thrived in population and growth. To think that we had fewer victims of crime last year than anytime in the last 44 years is the most awesome thought that I could have. It's when you're protecting that many lives. Whatever it takes, I'm going to do awesome parting

Sam Yates:

comments and I promised everyone that we will have you back again and I am here for you as well. Until that next episode. I'm Sam Yates, your gray haired host of The Great American senior show. And that's the way our program ends