A Discussion About Knock and Talks

Police usually use Knock and Talks to talk their way into a residence with lies, manipulation, and coercion. However, this tool in the law enforcement toolbox is not always to gain entry and can be used to intimidate a suspect into making a statement that would give the officer(s) probable cause to arrest.

The one thing that you can be sure of is that if law enforcement agents are attempting a knock and talk, it's because they do not have the evidence they need to make an arrest. I can guarantee that they do not want to talk to you for any reasons that could be beneficial to you. In fact, many law enforcement careers are based on lies and the manipulation of anyone they choose to target.

As my father taught me long ago, the police are not there to help you. Arresting people is their job. There is nothing in a law enforcement officer job description that even alludes to helping people. It's all about arrest and obtaining evidence to eventually arrest.

So why on earth would anyone ever speak to a cop or investigator that knocks on their door? Well, I think back to my own case when the infamous agent Brant Rose and another agent knocked on my mother's door wanting to discuss me. Unlike me, my mother used to care about what they neighbors think. The agents at the door got louder by the minute in their attempt to get invited in. She did invite them in so no one could hear the hallway conversations. The coercive knock and talk technique worked on her. Not that she said anything at all to them once they entered, but still... they did get to have a look around.

I, on the other hand, do not give a flying crap about how loud they get in the apartment building hallway and that is where they stayed when a similar attempt was made on me around 10 days ago. No cop will ever enter anywhere I live without a search warrant. As a matter of fact, when MBI agents came to arrest me in the false and created case back in November 2001, at my home in Orange County, the first thing I stated to them at the door was that they did not have my permission to search. They screamed that I was under arrest and shoved me back inside, but they sure as hell did not get the benefit of searching!

So to conclude here: Knock and talks can be utilized by law enforcement to gain entry to a residence or just to talk to a person or a suspect to get information they will later use to arrest. What we do know for sure is that cops do not bother with knock and talks if they have evidence (probable cause) to arrest - they simply arrest and then attempt to manipulate the party into a statement while in custody - because in-custody manipulation is so much easier for them.

If law enforcement officers ever show-up at your door attempting a knock and talk, call an attorney. After all is said and done, we have few rights left in this country, but we always have the right to shut-up and not hand them what they need to get an arrest warrant. Words can be twisted and conversations manipulated and they're definitely not stopping by to help you.

Scary Bad Cops in Hernando County Florida

This was previously posted with the title, "Overzealous Scary Cops in Hernando County Florida" and is being reposted due to several requests. I removed it in my big post purge in August 2012. It was originally an early (March) 2011 post, so this did not actually happen last night. Back by popular demand: (UPDATE at the end on January 8, 2014)

Last night my son and a friend had a frightening encounter with several (4) Hernando County Sheriff's Office deputies out in the rural area referred to as Ridge Manor, Florida. Either three or four patrol cars arrived at the scene with a total of 4 deputies. My son was driving a Toyota Prius and had the vehicle papers and his valid driver's license to hand the deputy and was puzzled as to the reason for the stop as he is ever so careful not to commit any sort of traffic infraction whatsoever.

Alex has learned to just stay a smart distance from cops and has been taught to understand that a police officer is more powerful than the POTUS. One must fear that a cop could plant drugs or shoot them dead as the result of a simple traffic stop in Florida.

The only time I shake is if I am being pulled-over by a cop as there is no telling what will happen next. No one wants to die at the hands of a whacko cop that later claims to have seen a weapon and trust me, it happens too often in Florida. And we aren't even Black. I fear for the Black motorist in this lousy state – refer to my posts on former officer Frank Carter of the Melbourne Police Department.

Alex was driving at a speed of 52 mph and the speed limit before the stop was 60 mph, so he knew the pull-over had nothing to do with speeding. The car is almost new and sure didn't have any light out or faulty equipment issue. Knowing that he had done nothing illegal or even incorrect, he had his friend dial me the minute that he heard the siren and had the brights in his face as the cop turned around to come after him. The second that police vehicle #1 got behind my son, vehicle #2 and vehicle #3 (and possibly a #4) appeared from nowhere and were also behind him with flashing lights on.

Alex pulled to the grassy area on the side of the road right next to the intersection of Croom Rital Rd. and Kettering Rd. in Hernando County, Florida. I was on the phone with his friend at that point. This is exactly what happened next and Deputy #3 and Deputy #4 remained in the background throughout never saying anything to them. [my thoughts and Alex's descriptions are in brackets]:


Unknown Deputy #1: License and registration

Alex: Yes sir. May I ask why we were pulled over?

Deputy #1: We received a complaint of objects being thrown out this window at the vehicle behind you.

Alex: I don't know what you're talking about. We didn't throw anything.

Deputy #1: I'm going to be real with you. I'm a dickhead who doesn't give a fuck about anything. I don't have time for fucking games. If I find out one of you is lying I'm going to seize this vehicle and everything in it and you're both going to jail. The vehicle behind you has a witness, the vehicle behind them, that is willing to write statements. [took driver's license and car paperwork and walked back to his vehicle] [I heard the entire conversation - the deputy was loud, but not screaming like an angry Marine as some do]

[within a couple (3) minutes]

Deputy #1: Passenger out of the vehicle. [brought my son's friend to side of deputy's car]. [I heard this].

Friend described: [The deputy asked what happened here and friend told him the story]

What really happened: We were behind a car driving about 15 mph under the speed limit. There was no lane to pass him, but two other vehicles went around both of us. I waited until there was a second lane to pass and went around the slow driver. The driver attempted to run me off the road by speeding-up as soon as he saw I was trying to pass him. I passed him anyway by speeding-up. He was right on my rear and turned on his brights and this went on for about five minutes. He pulled-off and about 10 minutes later I am being pulled-over, but have no idea why.

The friend thought the cop asked him to empty out his pockets and was starting to do this when 3 deputies went for their weapons and 1 grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him against the car. The deputy told him to place his hands on the car and then patted him down, placing his hands in friend's pockets, and searched him. Scared him to death.

Deputy #1: Mr. -------

Alex [got out of car and walked towards deputy #1]

Deputy #2: GET OFF THE PHONE! [I heard this]

Alex: It's my mother. What...

Deputy #2: GET OFF THE PHONE NOW! You're 18. Hang it up.[I heard this]
[I had instructed my son to ask the deputy's name and where/what police department he was with as my son had no idea where they were specifically at that time]

Alex: Yes sir. [he hung-up on me]

Deputy #1: Your buddy over here admitted everything so you want to be smart as well and go ahead and confess to what happened.

Alex: [repeated story of what actually happened]

Deputy #1: Do you have any weapons, guns, drugs, hand grenades [?] paraphernalia?

Alex: No sir.

Deputy #1: PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE CAR! [deputy starts going through Alex's pockets and searching him and looked through his wallet]

Deputy #1: Do you have any drugs, weapons, guns, paraphernalia, hand grenades, or dead bodies [?] in the vehicle? So then I have permission to search, right? [exact quote]

Alex: Yes sir.

Deputy #1: Turn around and face my partner. [Alex no longer had any visual of vehicle] [deputy searched for about 4 minutes]

Deputy #2: [starts asking both Alex and friend questions]. [He pointed at a vehicle and asked both at the same time if they recognized it and both responded “no it doesn't look familiar”.

Deputy #2: What are you doing way out here?

Alex: Visiting a friend.

Deputy #1: [pulls out posters and flyers from back seat]

Deputy #2: Why do you have all of those?

Alex: I do some promoting for Club Firestone.

Deputy #1: [walks to his vehicle] You might want to stay in Merritt Island boys and don't come around here again. We are a bunch of fucking pricks who don't give a shit and will cause you some fucking problems. [Deputy threw Alex's driver's license in the grass]

Alex: [we got back in our vehicle and noted Deputy #1 walked to the vehicle that we couldn't identify].


So what in the hell is going on in Hernando County? Apparently they sure do not want anyone that doesn't live there entering the area. My son has had many traffic stops for no reason whatsoever, but none as scary as this one because they really do not know the area at all and even though he has met cops that were screaming like Marines throughout the encounter, they do not normally threaten to seize a vehicle and take the driver and passenger to jail – this is the unique issue here. Of course the search demand was because they expected to find drugs.

I have since dialed the non-emergency number for the Hernando County Sheriff's Office and the operator was helpful. She stated that the deputy that made the stop (deputy #1) is Deputy Genovese. She was unable to locate any information for the other deputies or did not offer the information if she did.

To Deputy Genovese with the Hernando County Sheriff's Office:

I have taught my son to always fear cops as truly you are more powerful than the POTUS and capable of absolutely anything. You prove my point. I also taught him to never give a police officer permission to search, no matter that there is nothing illegal or even incorrect in the vehicle. However, when I heard your threat of seizing the vehicle and taking them both to jail, I knew (from your own words) that you are indeed a total prick capable of anything and since we all knew there was nothing illegal in the vehicle, I told my son to agree to any search prior to him hanging-up the phone.

This is the United States and no one should be coerced into a search and threatened as you did to these two late last night (1am). Do you think you own Hernando County? Do you believe that you actually have the authority to tell any motorist to never return to Hernando County? Guess what prick – you don't own shit and I'll drive through Hernando County any fucking time I want to.

My son really feared that you would plant something in the vehicle (drugs). Why did you instruct him to turn around and face your partner so that the vehicle was no longer in his line of vision? That is something I have never run into and it shouldn't be considered legal.

I will offer a short scenario of the events to follow if you had taken them to jail last night:

Of course I would attempt to bond them out immediately, but not knowing anything about how it all works in Hernando County, well, I may or may not have been successful. No matter what, I would have them out on Monday before the morning was over. Each of them would then be filing a false arrest suit against you, the unknown deputies that joined you, and the Sheriff of Hernando County.

This is not a lawsuit worthy encounter and this is the last you'll hear of us Deputy Genovese, but someone needs to take some of your power away. Cops like you are why I have instilled it in my son's mind that he should never trust any cop anywhere for any reason. You really are a fucking prick – you said it.


Added on 26 December 2012:

I must wonder if Deputy Genovese is stil employed by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. If he is, I also blame the sheriff and the county - they have had almost 2 years to get rid of his bad cop ass.


UPDATE on 8 January 2014:

Apparently the Hernando County Sheriff's Office do not discipline or fire Deputy Louis Genovese as him and his gang of thug cops attacked this poor man in his own home long before the traffic stop discussed in this post. I hope the Hernando Sheriff and these pigs (literally) pay this man every $ he's filed suit for!

I had such a sinking, uneasy feeling that night. Glad my son said "yes" to his coerced demand to search. This article is about a gang of criminals and here's to hoping their police toys are taken away forever. Where's the DOJ criminal civil rights division? Get these thugs off the street and cage them like the rabid animals they are:

Brooksville man sues Hernando deputies for $10 million

You can't even imagine the sinking feeling I had when I heard this freak accusing my son and threatening both him and his friend out in the middle of nowhere Hernando County, Florida. You just can't imagine. Where is the DOJ??? Read this poor man's Complaint against the Hernando County Sheriff's Office and 4 thugs that parade as cops:

Michael Pratt Civil Rights Complaint

Every single one of these deputies must face criminal charges!

Bad Cops an Epidemic in the US

A police officer has more power than anyone, including the President of the United States (POTUS). This is a statement that I first read in Marshall Frank's book, Criminal Injustice in America: Essays by a Career Cop. Marshall Frank spent 30 years in law enforcement in Miami and is a retired captain from the Metro-Dade Police Department. He would know. If you are interested in the thoughts of a man that spent 30 years in the trenches, buy the book from Amazon or from: Marshall Frank

From the time I entered this country to date I have encountered so many bad cops that I considered this a U.S. epidemic. Sure, I know that there are some good cops out there; I just drew the justice card and rarely meet any. We all draw different cards in life and mine all relate to justice, or rather injustice.

Most people go through life and never encounter bad cops. This doesn't mean that I did anything wrong and they did everything correct; it means that they didn't draw the justice card in life. Most people remain clueless as to the inner workings of the criminal justice system in the US, though I am not so sure that clueless is a preferred state of mind so I'm happy that I am enlightened regardless of all the problems involved.

I watched a CNN special a few nights ago: Race and Rage: Rodney King 20 Years Later

Rodney King stated that he did forgive the officers that beat him on that unforgettable night in Los Angeles. You may be thinking, why can't you forgive if King can Vicky? Well, I thought about that myself when he made the statement; however, the huge difference is that King's bad cops paid – two officers were convicted on civil rights violations and then King received $million + for his suffering. No one would even let my bad cops get to the point of a trial. None of the bad cops that I have encountered in the last 25 years have paid, yet. So, my state of mind is still that of an angry victim.

I do not know if there is a God and a Heaven and a Hell. I often have doubts and consider believers to be no different than idol worshipers. We all need a crutch in life, but that has never been my crutch. For the first time in many years I prayed to this unknown God the other night. I did this while my son and his friend were in the clutches of the scary and dangerous bad cops referred to in my last post (now removed). I do not know if prayer helped or not, but they went from intent to seize the vehicle and arrest my son and his friend on some unknown charges to a short don't come back here again speech. Maybe there is a God after all. Maybe deputy bad-ass #1 had second thoughts for another reason.

A quick search in the Inmate Locator on the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website reveals that former Chicago police commander Jon Burge is finally serving his sentence. If you are not familiar with the deranged Chicago police commander that ordered and/or participated in torturing over 200 African American men between 1972 and 1991 to force confessions, view this video: Survivors of Jon Burge's torture regime speak out

Let's not pretend that the charges that Burge was tried on and convicted of reflected his actual crimes against humanity. Burge is the poster child for bad cops.

What ever happened to Lake County Florida Sheriff's Office Detective Ralph D. Fiorenza? The information that I located says that he is retired. He receives a pension for his years of service, no matter that those years included falsifying reports and other criminal acts committed against Mario J. Bassignani and uncountable others, no doubt. This piece of shit, like so many others including Jon Burge, is actually allowed to retire with a pension. Not familiar with Mario Bassignani's story? Read on the website that Mario's brother has had online since 2002.

Mario was an engineer at Kennedy Space Center until bad-ass detective Fiorenza entered his life. Mario blew his brains out on the courthouse steps in Lake County, Florida on February 6, 2001. May Mario Bassignani rest in peace and know that if there is a Hell, well, Fiorenza will be going there when he finally croaks.

Bad cops are rarely held accountable for their criminal acts in the US, so is it no wonder that cops like Frank Carter, former Melbourne P.D. officer, and the asshat Deputy Genovese of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office that my son and his friend encountered over the weekend run rampant as they do? No wonder at all as most (defined as more than 50%) of Americans love to see people in cages and suffering.

We live in a country in which most of the population loves to see others suffer, whether guilty or not. Toss that bullshit line innocent until proven guilty right out your proverbial window, because they do not give a rat's ass and consider anyone a cop approaches to question or anyone arrested guilty. We don't need trials here; not in the US. Cops decide innocence or guilt and cops get away with anything and everything in this corrupt nation.

But eventually all bad cops pay for their dirty deeds and crimes against the people.

The Bingo Racketeering Case

Bingo parlors used to be another target of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI), but it looks like the agents of the State of Florida had their fill, and bit off more than they could chew, in the biggest of the bingo cases. I referred to the case briefly in my book, and had one important part incorrect: The two defendants and several corporations that took the criminal case to trial were acquitted on all counts by the jury. It is the civil case that they originally lost, was overturned on appeal, won, and is now once again in appeal status, according to the file. The bingo case began in 1995 and continues today.

Back in 1995 when the criminal case was filed there were 17 defendants, and 8 of those defendants were corporations. One of the acquitted defendants was Pondella Hall for Hire, Inc. – Pondella was in Orange County (Orlando), but this was a large-scale commercial bingo operation comprising 15 bingo halls in 12 Florida counties. Leave it to the overzealous MBI to be the investigators to pursue a racketeering (RICO) case. The criminal case is Case Number 95-CF-0012838, and it is an Orange County case. I have never seen so many filings on a case as this one, except in the civil case that continues. The civil case was also filed in 1995, as the state sought to forfeit all of the property of the bingo halls and the defendants. Today the victims also seek damages and losses from the State of Florida. The civil Case Number is 1995-CA-006890-0 and it is also in Orange County.

The two defendants that didn't plead guilty to the lengthy list of felony counts are Roy Killingsworth Jr. and Philip Leroy Furtney. I recall Furtney being in the news in leg-irons well over a decade ago, and must believe that it was during the criminal trial when he was being taken to court, but it may have been right after his arrest. Furtney was the one connected to Pondella, and the man is a legend – he fought these abusive overzealous whacks until he died in September of 2007. His brother Bruce, on behalf of his estate, carries on in the civil case today. The last filing on the case was on May 28, 2009. Can you imagine a 13 year fight over a bingo hall case and then to die before it's resolved? Well, it is resolved in that the state lost and has pay for all the forfeited property – today it's about how much they have to pay for property value changes and specifically what state office is paying.

It should be the end of the MBI for twisting the Florida racketeering statutes to the point of obscurity in a case that has cost Florida taxpayers an unknown sum of money that has yet to be revealed. But hey, it gave all the attorneys and agents something to do, right? I still have the MBI Governing Board minutes from meetings in 1994, and forward, wherein Pondella is discussed, so the board was well-aware of this abuse of the statutes. May Philip Leroy Furtney of Ontario rest in peace – eventually they will pay for all that they did.

Operation Plastic Empire (MBI)

Operation Plastic Empire was the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) strategy to file state charges at the heels of the IRS Operation Out Call. The operational strategy was a failure, at least at the state level and in respect to the credit card processing. It wasn't a failure in relation to its accompanying toolbox – obtaining the client names from the credit card transactions and intimidating and coercing every defendant to the point that each accepted a plea deal. And then it certainly succeeded in scaring every escort service owner in Orlando that wasn't involved, with the exception of yours truly and two other operators. By the middle of 1996, this place was almost abandoned, in part due to the Amnesty Program, and by January 1997, no escort services remained in the area yellow page books, due to the Yellow Pages Fiasco, as I refer to the MBI setup of advertising representatives.

The many cases involved in this operation were separated for reasons unknown to me. One case had five defendants, several cases had one lone defendant, and another case had nine defendants. There may be additional cases that I'm not aware of with any number of defendants. As my example here I'll use Case Number 96-CF-0011913-0. This is the case with nine defendants, A through I, and it's an Orange County, Florida case that can be found at the Orange County Clerk's Office or the basic filings can be viewed online. The last time that I viewed these files in person there were six volumes, each close to 12 inches thick, and that was without all of the depositions.

The defendants in the case:

Maritza Cascante Bobber – 26 counts
Trevor Banks Campbell – 12 counts
Rhonda Liphart – 6 counts (Rhoda in my book)
Debra Watson – 2 counts (Diana in my book)
Elizabeth Helen Clifton – 12 counts
Christopher Batura – 12 counts
Robin Janeen Dickinson – 20 counts
Joseph Formosa – 14 counts
Steven Voss – 8 counts

Each defendant was charged with Racketeering, a 1st degree felony, and Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (RICO), also a 1st degree felony. Each first degree felony is punishable by up to 30 years in a Florida prison – that's what these statutes accomplish. The MBI uses them in most prosecutions. Beyond this, every defendant except Debra Watson had at least one count, and most had many counts, of the following:

Unlawful Transport of Currency
Illegal Factoring of Credit Card Transaction
Money Laundering

Each charge, and every count, that these defendants faced, is a felony. There were no misdemeanors charged in this case. Maritza Cascante and Joseph Formosa still have a capias (warrant) for their arrests – neither showed for sentencing and both jumped bond. Debra Watson left town the minute that she heard the MBI was looking for her, and was therefore never arrested. Her charges were finally dropped in 2003. The defendants that remained made deals that included probation, jail time, years in prison – it varied, except in each case there was eventually probation. The Violation of Probation (VOP) charges began in 04/1998 and the last VOP was filed in 02/2002. I did know several of these defendants, but one that I did not know contacted me from jail while awaiting trial: Trevor Campbell related much of the information I know about the case that is not findable in the files. He was looking for help to fight the charges and had no intention of pleading guilty to anything. I felt sorry for him, and I did speak to his court-appointed public defender, but the attorney had no real clue how to fight the case and didn't sound like he intended to. At the time I was law-ignorant and there was nothing that I could do to help Trevor.

In the end, statements from the clients of the credit card transactions, including many from out-of-state that I read in the file, convinced these defendants to take the plea deal. As the appeals continued through the Florida court system, pleas to anything relating to signing-up for a merchant services account were tossed out. These files are mixed-up because of this – a judge stated that a defendant could not know that the merchant services operation handled offshore was not legal. This is a fact – I remember Debra Watson's story well. She signed-up and received a package that looked absolutely legal. I saw it. Several defendants had extremely high bonds because of the number of felonies charged and they couldn't get out of jail. Beyond this, it was the intimidation, threats of decades in prison, and court-appointed public defenders that had no clue. This was one of the biggest operations in escort service history, considering the many defendants in the list of cases and the extensive list of felonies charged to each, yet few people have any idea that it existed.

Next: The Amnesty Program