The Sheriff’s Debate Was a Fascinating Discussion on Police Leadership
ANALYSIS: The 2024 Sheriff’s Debate
The evening began with ceremonial introductions, first being the Taxpayer Association of Indian River County’s (TPA) executive board who have done a tremendous job this year in showcasing candidate forums for the commission, school board and sheriff races. They have truly served the community. The atmosphere of this debate was electric with over 500 in attendance.
After the President of TPA, Lance Lunceford, introduced Sheriff, Eric Flowers, he introduced the first challenger to the incumbent, Deborah Cooney, the progressive write-in candidate. Standing at the entrance of the auditorium, Ms. Cooney looked flustered by her cue to proceed down the center aisle. She was definitely prompted by organizers to be ready. She finally began her procession after hearing her name called a second time. She offered a nervous wave to a packed house of county residents who had awaited their chance to witness the only Sheriff’s debate for 2024. At the end of the evening, Mr. Lunceford asked for candidates to remain for a group photo with him and the moderators. Ms. Cooney would not stand alongside the other candidates. She jumped in front of them, giving a big grin. Mr. Lunceford attempted to herd the cat-like candidate. She walked away and returned with a chair for an attempted sit-in pose. The woman who spent almost every question accusing the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO) of selling drugs and murdering people, often referring to the whole court of lawyers, deputies, the union representatives and civic leaders as a “corrupt mafia,” could not afford a simple courtesy of serving the wishes of the organization that gave her the platform. At one point during the debate, she was booed with hostility when she accused by name people in the IRCSO of her charges.
In the words of Steve Martin, “Comedy is not pretty.”
However, outside of the delusional musings of a fringe paranoid progressive who wants a nearly defunct BLM to assist with implementing community policing, the 2024 Sheriff’s debate was fascinating. Milo Thorton and Keith Touchberry not only had huge support in the audience - the applause for both was raucous - they each had a personal story and their own perspective on the current leadership at the IRCSO.
The underlying topic of leadership hovered over all other questions that were thoughtfully presented by Mr. Lunceford and his guests from the police union and the school district. The event atmosphere demanded of the candidates a certain demonstration of preparedness and personal candor to meet expectations.
The incumbent defends his record.
Sheriff Flowers had his very vocal supporters too and had his own distinct view of leadership. His answers centered around having his deputies back. He also spent an inordinate amount of time presenting his record in defense of his first term. The Sheriff put all of that TV training to good use. Always well-spoken, Sheriff Flowers held his own without prepared notes unless he was reading statistics on how crime in Indian River is on the decline. Crime is down locally and below the national average significantly. For example, he read a 32% decline of auto burglary and a 13% decline in grand larceny. FBI crime data for 2022 shows a decrease in auto-theft too since he took office in 2020. However, no recent data is available since IRCSO reports biannually to the FBI.
In spite of the attacks on the escalating IRCSO budget which he described as “a campaign product,” Sheriff Flowers noted it was unanimously approved by the county budget office and County Commission without complaint three years in a row. To him, his budget had one main purpose. “These men and women who put their lives on the line every single day deserve to get paid,” he said emphatically. With show-and-tell style, he then demonstrated how 75 cents of every dollar went to salaries by giving a deputy three actual quarters after holding up “your tax dollar” bill. For the final act of the scene, Sheriff Flowers held the last quarter in the air sharing how the remainder of that dollar buys everything else to support the deputies’ mission.
He was firm but relatable in handling the accusations against his leadership, except toward Ms. Cooney who he coldly associated with the mental health crisis in responding to her outrageously false accusations.
The frontrunner in fundraising lays it all on the line.
Initially, Milo Thorton did not do well presenting his case. Staring down at his paper in his hand, Mr. Thorton read prepared statements for answers to the questions. Some toward the back of the auditorium could not hear him because he didn’t free his hand from the paper to hold the microphone properly. The answers were often filled with general language and not substantive proposals. He obviously prepared beforehand and applied his statements as questions were asked. His 19 years of training deputies and teaching multiple police courses at Indian River State College showed he could make an educated guess on topics. He was anxious, repeating lines when he said them incorrectly. The room responded nervously compared to the confidence when he was introduced.
Book knowledge does not replace relatable experience. Later in the debate, when he put down the notes and grabbed the microphone because the audience asked him, his presentation was coherent and impactful. He described how deputies want accountability for themselves. They want to be transparent. Yet, if the leadership isn’t, neither will deputies remain in that frame of heart and mind either. “Culture leads deputies,” he said as someone who came to understand it as an instructor and deputy for over 20 years. He is the only candidate certified in corrections too.
Mr. Thorton is a personable individual one on one, or in groups. He is everyone’s neighbor and many have known him for years through his involvement as a coach, an educator of deputies, a lifelong county resident and law enforcement officer. The room responded to him confidently again as the candidate settled into the discussion.
Mr. Thorton has put a lot at risk in this campaign. He had to resign from the Sheriff’s department to be able to run. He has studied police culture and believes he can change what he perceives as problems. Sheriff Flowers defended his record about retention saying, “currently, he has only 6 openings” in the entire agency when answering a question put forth by the union president, detective, Philip Daugherty. Mr. Thorton responded with figures explaining that for two budget years under Sheriff Flowers, nearly 90 resignations had taken place in the agency of 535 budgeted employees since 2021. After citing the massive turnover, Mr Thorton commented, “Culture, morale, leadership - those are the things that keep deputies. I have to give some respect to what Keith [Touchberry] said earlier, the culture from the top is the problem. The leadership from the top is the problem and we need change.”
A humble police chief rises to the occasion.
Do a simple a straw poll among your impartial friends, if you can find any concerning this race, and most will say that Fellsmere Chief of Police, Keith Touchberry, won this debate. Others believe it too. Two days after the debate, a Facebook page, “Vero Crime,” popped-up to suddenly report on crime and anything the creators deem suspect in Keith Touchberry’s record. The highly political page has a pejoratively negative view of Vero Beach’s Chief, David Currey, too. It links the two chief’s together through their service at the city. In contrast, the page sheds only a positive spin on the IRCSO. A negative reviewer said, “Just change the page name to something like, ‘Let’s Talk about Touchberry!’”
They haven’t discovered anything significant. Mr. Touchberry has been Fellsmere’s chief since 2013 and has 35 years of law enforcement experience. He started his career in 1989 as a Vero Beach police officer. He worked his way through the ranks to senior Captain (there wasn’t a “deputy chief”) before taking the Fellsmere position.
In January, Chief Touchberry was endorsed for Indian River County Sheriff by the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FLPCA). He led the FLPCA as its president in 2022-2023. He has a Masters in Criminal Justice from UCF. In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, he developed a college course, Future Educators Response To Emergency Situations, which teaches classroom safety and response in emergencies as part of an Education degree program. The Florida Department of Education is implementing the university level curriculum statewide.
However, in his answer about leadership, his understanding came directly from military service. Chief Touchberry gave the money quote from the debate. “I went to the greatest school of leadership, and that’s the United States Marine Corp.” he said causing an eruptive applause. He continued, “It is based on servant leadership. You take care of your people before you take care of yourself. You are not driven by self-interest or influenced by special interest, you are motivated by community interest. You do what you have to do, because that is what you signed on to do, and that is what people expect you to do.”
Touchberry served 6 years in the Marine Corp and did additional military service in the reserves. He was confident, sometimes stern in answering questions. Along with well stated answers on the main questions, he recognized situations that others failed to mention. For example, he referred to some of the encroachments upon municipal police departments. In his opening statement he said, “When leadership at a sheriff’s office is compromised, we see a tolerance for the quote ‘your city is in my county’ mentality and an air of superiority over municipal officers that is unethical.”
Touchberry’s understanding of leadership went beyond just having the backs of his officers, which was an important point made by Sheriff Flowers. It addressed the whole community of policing and respecting all officers within the county for the sake of themselves and the citizens they serve.
He described how “high risk search warrants” by the IRCSO were being served in the limits of municipalities without being escalated through proper channels between agencies. He cited an example of Sebastian City Police receiving a call because neighbors noticed “men with guns running into a house,” only to learn it was the Sheriff’s department issuing a warrant without corroboration from the Sebastian police department.
Furthermore, some of the encroachment can even be the general pressure for municipalities to have their systems managed by a Sheriff’s office. In April, one of the main complaints against the VBPD Chief Currey was his use of a different license plate reader system than that of the IRCSO. It was communication about that topic from which citizen, Lanse Padgett, accused Chief Currey in emails of lying. Certain systems like 911 call centers, corrections, records management systems, traffic cameras, license readers, and others have to be coordinated between a Sheriff and the municipalities that charter their own police operations. For example, Fellsmere PD uses the 911 service provided by the IRCSO. Vero Beach PD has their own call center. In the politics of policing, there can be special interest proponents of centralizing these major operations in one preferred location, a Sheriff’s office. Is this underlying power struggle taking place in Indian River County?
This election is boiling down to selecting a leader to address the future of policing in a growing Indian River County. It will decide more than just a Sheriff but perhaps the independence of each police force represented in Indian River. The three candidates each made salient points. The fourth murdered her only chance. It was a fascinating discussion.
You can watch The Sunshine Journal’s coverage of the debate here.