Greg Stout

Henry can't run for office. That would entail too many questions being asked.

So we have greg stout. His main interest is SOME MORE PUNISHMENT. Just dumb.

Tampa detective pushes stricter gun sentencing
By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
Jessica Vander VeldeTampa Bay Times In Print: Sunday, March 4, 2012



TAMPA — Two officers fatally shot in Miami. Three in Tampa. Three more in St. Petersburg.

Tampa police union president Greg Stout was disgusted.

So a year ago, he took his concerns to his friend Rep. Jim Boyd, a Bradenton Republican.

Together, they worked on a bill that's sailing through the Florida Legislature. It increases the minimum sentence for a violent felon caught with a firearm from three to 10 years.

Three years, Stout said, "seemed a little bit skimpy."

Stout, a detective with the Tampa Police Department, hopes the increase will persuade those who have used guns during a crime not to try it again.

If it doesn't, at least these offenders will be off the streets for seven more years, he said.

"You'll be yanked away from society," Stout said. "We won't have to deal with you."

Stout and Boyd's initial purpose was to look out for law enforcement.

Many of the people accused of shooting Florida officers, they noticed, had previous felony convictions.

By law, they shouldn't have even had guns.

That includes both Hydra Lacy, who shot and killed two St. Petersburg police officers in 2011, and Dontae Morris, who's accused of killing two Tampa police officers in 2010.

"These officers were killed in the line of duty by what I'd consider thugs — felons with guns," Boyd said.

The bill would impact the Florida Department of Corrections' budget, so to save money, lawmakers added a requirement that the previous felony conviction must have included the use of a firearm.

On Wednesday, Stout watched the votes come in on the House floor. It passed unanimously.

Now it's in the Senate's budget and will likely be heard this week.

Though Stout regularly travels to Tallahassee on union matters, this was his first venture into bill-writing. It felt good to get the backing from lawmakers and state law enforcement groups, he said.

And though Boyd doesn't have a vote on the Senate's budget, because the bill has fared so well this far, he can't imagine it not passing.

"With the tragedies we've seen in the Tampa Bay area, hopefully this will be a sign that we're serious about taking a firm stand," he said, "and protecting those who protect us."

Times staff writers Jamal Thalji and Steve Bousquet contributed to this report. Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3433.



[Last modified: Mar 03, 2012 11:11 PM]

Copyright 2012 Tampa Bay Times



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Viewing 1 - 16 of 16 comments Oldest First Newest First Top Rated

FatherGuidoSarducci Mar 3, 2012 9:15 PM Yesterday Should be MANDATORY 10 years with option of more
Reply Report Abuse 3 4
mycountry Mar 3, 2012 9:38 PM Yesterday what should be 10 years? killing a cop? is that 10 years in addition to life in prison? or following the death sentence? why do we need this law? do you really think the three years sentence is really an issue. the offenders mentioned in the story will never see freedom again. so again i ask, why do w need this law? why are cops writing laws? what happened with the people we elect? are they unable to do these things on their own? what happened with the separation of powers and the check and balance system legislators write laws, cops enforce laws and judges apply the law. why are cops, the enforcers, doing the work of the law writers? because its a war in this country. the government against the people. we are searched at courthouses, airports, and in our neighbors by cops waging war on citizens in the name of safety. THE BIGGEST THREAT TO THE FREEDOMS OF A FREE PEOPLE IS THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT. WE DO NOT NEED THIS LAW FOR COP KILLERS SO REALLY WHY DO WE NEED THIS LAW? Reply Report Abuse 7 5 Marywilson01 Mar 3, 2012 9:29 PM Yesterday The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

Oh boy. Lets just have tougher sentences.

Sorry folks. More prison time will not stop shootings and killings.

The only answer to stopping crime is to return our nation back to a moral society. Family, Church, Education.

How do we do this. Put prayer back in school. Even if it takes a constitutional ammendment. Do away with no-fault divorce, stop the violence and vulgarity in movies, tv, and video games, again with a constituional ammendment if necessary.

Knee jerk "lock 'em away longer remedies haven't worked and won't work. They are strictly a useless feel good response.

Sincerely.
Reply Report Abuse 8 6
Tampa Jim Mar 4, 2012 2:45 AM About 6 hours ago Sure, praying in schools and cleaning up language on TV shows will solve all of society's problems - not. Get real. I grew up praying in school and we still had murders, robberies and rapes occurring. When I was nine or ten years old, I had two friends who were brothers. About 30 years later, I ran into a mutual friend and asked him about the brothers. He told me that one was serving 15 years for bank robbery and the other was serving a life sentence for murder. Instead of prayer, we need to provide better and more relevant education in our schools so that kids will graduate, go on to college and get good paying jobs. We also need to decriminalize drugs so that kids who get caught with small quantities of a substance don't wind up in the criminal (in)justice system or have a record that will keep them from being hired. I agree with you that knee jerk "lock 'em away longer remedies haven't worked, but prayer and stopping vulgarity is also not the answer. Reply Report Abuse 5 0 Dave in St Pete Mar 3, 2012 9:32 PM Yesterday Sounds good but it should be set up so that it cannot be bargained away by the lawyers. Felon caught with a gun gets 10 years, period, no deals.
Reply Report Abuse 0 6 mycountry Mar 3, 2012 9:52 PM Yesterday Please think about the actions of government. Please ponder this question? Its September 12, 2001. Yesterday four planes were hijacked and crashed into three buildings and it appears the final plane was set for that same plan. Today, again its September 12, 2001, five men with case cutters and hobby knives grab five passengers/crew members and insist on gaining entry onto the flightdeck of the aircraft. How long do you think these five men will live? 10, 15, 20 seconds? I suspect, Todd Beamer, demonstrates the take charge mentality of most people. Realizing that the plane he was on was on its final flight, he along with fellow passengers attempted to retake the plane. The very next day, had the story been, five men with case cutters and hobby knives took five passengers hostage, I suspect there would been five dead hostage takers who HAD knives and case cutters. No need for TSA. No need to restructure the government at hundreds of billions of dollars.
Reply Report Abuse 4 2 Spring hill nurse Mar 3, 2012 9:53 PM Yesterday Today they are all for the law. in 3 years when their budget gets stripped another 20% because we now have to house x number of inmates for an additional 7 years, he will be whining and belly aching.
As in most cases, we need to enforce the laws we already have. we dont need to make tough new ones to replace what we already dont enforce.
Reply Report Abuse 0 7 elainec Mar 3, 2012 10:01 PM Yesterday I could have sworn I saw commercials and billboards that said 10/20/Life. My bad, I guess they didn't mean it.
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Marywilson01 Mar 3, 2012 10:24 PM Yesterday Dear Elainec, The new law is not about 10/20/Life. 10/20/Life is mandatory sentencing for commiting a crime while having a gun 10/ using a gun 20/ firing the gun or shooting someone/ Life. This new law is just for a convicted criminal beging found in possesion of a firearm. Not having it or using it in a new crime. Maybe in his house or car. 10 years. And the way the law is written it doesn't even have to be a firearm. It can be just one bullet. Found in the floorboard or in the garage. Sincerely, Reply Report Abuse 2 2 Havok Mar 3, 2012 10:25 PM Yesterday I saw those too, along with the posters in store windows, now it's like Probation, 10 months, 2 years. It's sickening that these laws have been created and not enforced. Reply Report Abuse 0 4 mycountry Mar 3, 2012 10:15 PM Yesterday Todd Beamer wanted to take back that airplane, not to be a hero. No it was a more selfish reason. He wanted to live. I suspect there was no one more concerned with Todd beamers life than Todd Beamer. No screener at an airport, no cop on the street, no official in an office, there is no way I will be convinced some government employee, neither elected nor hired, cares more about my and my families health, education, retirement, and well being more than me. To them its a job. Government it TOO BIG, TOO POWERFUL, and TOO INTRUSIVE AND SECRETIVE. Give me the information, I will take care of myself and my family. In 1998, the government had chatter from the intel community of hijacking planes. I guess those on the planes wished they had known of this information. Maybe with this information, Todd Beamer and other passengers on other planes would have foreseen the impending doom and reacted sooner. SMALLER GOVERNMENT AND MORE INFORMATION IS NEEDED.
Reply Report Abuse 3 4 doubletap Mar 3, 2012 10:36 PM Yesterday The NRA has been begging for this for years
we have to many felons on the streets that
would be in jail had they served their full
sentence. Why release them to go right back
to doing more crime?
Reply Report Abuse 0 6
imacdaddy Mar 3, 2012 11:05 PM Yesterday Ditto. I am a gun owner and believe it is a right, not a privilege. Break the law, go to jail. Reply Report Abuse 0 5 Shiek Yerbooti Mar 4, 2012 6:53 AM About 2 hours ago I just don't think that the message of deterance gets out well enough. Make it a part of scool curriculium, a reality tv quiz show, I don't know but it sure would be nice if people would slow down and think before they do that dumb thing. Yeah, I know, keep dreaming. Reply Report Abuse 0 0 troofytroof Mar 3, 2012 11:21 PM Yesterday Thank you, mary wilson. So sick of this over police officers. IF the police were doing their jobs properly in the first place they wouldn't have left their own to be gunned down nor would they have set up mike roberts.
Reply Report Abuse 6 2 Observations and analysis Mar 4, 2012 4:05 AM About 4 hours ago Don't see that long mandatory sentences have ever been shown to be a deterrent. Once a commitment has been made, and it has been made, to allow easy access to guns, well, everyone will have them.
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hardraada Mar 4, 2012 7:34 AM About 1 hour ago Sadly, that commitment... to allow easy access to guns was made back in 1791. Reply Report Abuse 0 1 vdogg29gs Mar 4, 2012 5:00 AM About 3 hours ago my question is this.....why try and create NEW laws & punishments or revision them when the majority already in the state law book DONT GET ENFORCED NOW......ARMEGDON IS COMING
Reply Report Abuse 3 1 inspector Mar 4, 2012 6:48 AM About 2 hours ago This is partly about the sentensing, but more about prevention. I am a gun owner and carry permit holder. I am not a gun nut. In 20 years, I have had to pull my gun 3 times to thwart a robbery attempt. Never had to fire.
I would not have a problem with anytime that an officer has to approach a car or an indivdual,even in a traffic stop, to unholster his or her weapon. I know there are good and bad cops. Most are good and in a tuff situation I want one of them there.
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hardraada Mar 4, 2012 7:31 AM About 1 hour ago Three times in 20 years? You have probably drawn your gun more than most cops. Reply Report Abuse 1 0 hardraada Mar 4, 2012 7:30 AM About 1 hour ago I appreciate what Greg Stout is doing, what ALL the police do for us generally. I'm for anything that makes their job safer.

This bill is about previously-convicted felons caught with firearms. It's not about punishing people who shoot LEOs. Some posters here seemed confused on that.

Most of these felons ARE felons because they haven't the education or intelligence to be anything else. This law won't stop them from carrying guns. But if caught, as Greg Stout points out, at least they'll be out of our hair for longer.

I can see one unintended consequence: If the felon knows about the ten-year-rule (and most wouldn't; they're too ignorant to read) he MAY be tempted to shoot it out with an officer rather than submit to arrest. But I'm sure Greg Stout has considered that and if he's comfortable with the bill, so am I.
Reply Report Abuse 0 0 justme2 Mar 4, 2012 7:49 AM About 1 hour ago Punishment has very little to do with crime. Criminals do not committ crime pondering whether or not they'll end up getting caught. People will still carry illegal guns, rob people, and shoot/kill humans. The 10 yr sentence will keep the criminals locked up longer, but, it certainly wont stop the criminal element from doing what they do.
Reply Report Abuse 0 0 Fubar62 Mar 4, 2012 8:05 AM About 25 minutes ago Good job Mr. Stout and Mr. Boyd. Hopefully, you can get at least a ten year sentence pushed through as quickly as possible and anyone who opposes it is either a very questionable politician or He/She has no "cahoonas"?
Reply Report Abuse 1 0 Fubar62 Mar 4, 2012 8:11 AM About 19 minutes ago I would like to see 1st time child molesters, 10 years, 2nd time, death.
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troofytroof Mar 4, 2012 8:31 AM Less than a minute ago Good to know that a tampa cop has friends in high places. I guess we'd know the same of tampa cop/drug lord henry duran and his yard(S) of porsches.
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troofytroof Mar 4, 2012 8:32 AM Less than a minute ago You see this guy Stout's name WAY too much. He has an agenda.