Pertinent sections from Internal Affairs investigation of the handling of the disappearance of Cherish Perrywinkle

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.A review of the 74-page Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Internal Affairs review of the events of June 21-22, when 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle was abducted from the Lem Turner Road Walmart.

The complete report is online, but WJXT's Assignment Manager Frank Powers pulled out these paragraphs as the most revealing:

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The call being dispatched as a "Missing Person" rather than a "kidnapping."...
...Vanwormer said she interpreted the information from the receiving officer as a report of a missing person and not as a kidnapping. She said she never considered upgrading the "signal 8" (missing person) to a "signal 30" (kidnapping). Vanwormer said that once the officers are on the scene, it is their responsibility to let her know the call should be upgraded and/or the signal changed; prior to their arrival, she has the authority if she deems it necessary. Vanwormer said it became apparent to her that the case was a kidnapping, after learning that the suspect was a registered sex offender...

...Vanwormer said she told the officer to standby, turned to the Investigative Dispatcher (PECO J. Fooshee #7215) who was stationed next to her, and asked if the Air Unit was available. Fooshee told Vanwormer that the Air Unit was off-duty and unavailable. Vanwormer said she immediately notified the requesting officer that the Air Unit was unavailable and never received another request for the Air Unit...

...Vanwormer listened to the original 91 call made to JSO. She said that to her, the eleven minute conversation PECO Robinson had with the victim's mother did not describe a kidnapping. Vanwormer said it was her opinion that the victim's mother described the elements of a missing person--Robinson sent it as a missing person--Vanwormer dispatched it as a missing person and would not have changed it unless an officer requested her to change it...

...Robinson answered the 911 call made to JSO by the victim's mother. Robinson talked to the victim's mother for approximately eleven minutes. During the recorded telephone conversation, the first statement from the victim's mother was that her eight-year-old daughter had been taken by a stranger while at the Walmart on Lem Turner Road. The victim's mother described how she had just met the suspect, his suspicious actions while interacting with her daughter, and a description of him and his van. Throughout the conversation, the victim's mother told Robinson that she feared the suspect was going to rape and kill her daughter...

...Robinson listened to the recording of the 911 call and agreed that the victim's mother described an abduction of a child, not just a missing child. Robinson , who was visibly upset during the interview, said that she typed and sent to the Zone 6 dispatcher what she believed at the time to be the "pertinent" information related to the call, but she now acknowledged that it was incomplete.Robinson was provided a copy of the Audit Trail related to this call. She agreed that she did not include important information that should have been sent to the dispatcher, which in-turn would have been relayed over the radio to the responding officers. Robinson stated she wished she had included the statements the victim's mother made regarding her daughter being taken, and the fear that her daughter might be raped, although Robinson did not think it would have changed anything...

...Robinson said that initially she understood the call to be a missing person call. Robinson could not recall if she sent the call as a missing child or a kidnapping, but as she continued to talk to the caller, she began to realize it was "turning into a kidnapping, but I thought she was lying."...

...Robinson said if she was able to do everything over again, that she would put everything the mother said in the additional information and send it to the dispatcher...

...Pachecker was working as the relief dispatcher on June 21, 2013, and relieved the Zone 6 dispatcher (Vanwormer) just prior to the call being received by JSO. Pachecker said that she was the dispatcher that sent the initial call to the responding officers...

...Pachecker was asked if she considered updating the priority and signal of the call and she said she did not...

...Pachecker listened to the recorded 911 call and said that she believed the caller described "a (signal) 30 just occurred." Pachecker agreed that the caller's statements that her daughter had been taken, and that she was worried that her daughter would be raped and killed were important items to put into the additional information...

...Foodhee acknowledged that Police Pilot S.G. Vaughn #5941 called Fooshee on the Investigative telephone line at 11:39 p.m. And asked him what Zone 6 was working. Vaughn explained to Fooshee that he was in his police car (heading home) and heard a Zone 6 officer ask the dispatcher (Vanwormer ) if the Air Unit was available.

...Fooshee made the comment to Vaughn that it was past the time that he ends his tour of duty (11:30 p.m.) and told Vaughn to "go home." Vaughn repeated his request to Fooshee that if it was something pressing to call him, to which Fooshee agreed...

...Fooshee said per policy Vaughn could not be called back on his cell phone like he asked to do, but Fooshee said if he "had the power to do it" he would have called him...

...According to the recorded Communications Center phone conversations provided to Internal Affairs, at 12:06 a.m., Ayoub made contact with Fooshee and requested the assistance of the Air Unit to assist on the kidnapping call; Fooshee then made the call-out of the Air Unit. During the recorded conversation between Fooshee and Vaughn, Vaughn can be heard, with disgust in his voice, asking Fooshee why Patrol did not ask for the Air Unit earlier and Fooshee saying "yeah, I know." The Air Unit arrived on scene at 1:17 a.m...

...Williams was asked if policy required her to make any particular notifications after learning that the call involved the kidnapping of a child. She said it does, and she was required to call-out the PIO, but she failed to do that. Williams explained that she is a new sergeant and that she relies on her "cheat sheet"(printed notes) to assist her with such duties, but because they were working out of the back-up communications center she did not have her notes with her...

...Williams said that she sent the first EARS broadcast at 12:27 a.m. And that the PIO is included in the email distribution list for the broadcast. Williams acknowledged that the EARS broadcast was limited in scope and that the PIO would not know it was a kidnapping based on the information and also, that the broadcast does not substitute for proper call-out of the PIO...

...Williams said that by 12:15 a.m., everyone in the Communications Center was aware that Zone 6 was working a kidnapping...

...Williams was asked if she ever considered upgrading the call in the CAD system to a "signal 30." She said she did not, and then explained that is something the officers on the scene normally handle and she even wondered "why are they (patrol) not changing the signal?"...

...Williams explained that prior to 5:00 a.m., she sent three EARS broadcasts to the media, and that Communications Sergeant Facina sent one broadcast. Williams said that she and Facina sent them in the format as directed by the new policy change. Williams explained that she ensured the broadcasts were sent in the new format because she had been disciplined in the past for sending too much information...

...At 4:40 a.m., Williams sent an updated EARS broadcast at the direction of PIO Shannon Hartley #60231. Internal Affairs listened to the recorded phone conversation between Williams and Hartley. Williams acknowledged that Hartley instructed her to send another broadcast to the media, letting them know the press conference by Mills would occur at 5:00 a.m. In front of the Walmart. Hartley instructed Williams to include specific information stating that an eight-year-old child had been abducted by a registered sex offender and there was suspect vehicle information. Williams said she did not include the information as instructed by Hartley and had no explanation why she did not...

...One June 19, 2013, Special Assistant to the Sheriff, Lauri-Ellen Smith, sent an approved email to the Assistant Chief of Crimes against Persons and to Assistant Chief of Communications, Vickie Diaz. The email was a draft memorandum regarding the process for updating the media with timely information from crime scenes, with specific instructions for the Communications Center regarding the format by which EARS broadcasts were to be sent...

...Leonard said she initially understood the situation to be a missing person calling during her conversation with Robsinson...

...Leonard said she realized the call was actually a possible kidnapping when Patrol requested the Homicide Unit to respond. Leonard said that at 12:13 a.m. She called a Zone 5 patrol supervisor and requested additional units, as well as ensured the call was being worked on a tactical talk group before returning to the PMB to finish her work. Leonard said she monitored the call on the radio at the PMB...

...Leonard explained that she and Sergeant Williams were responsible for the required notification of the PIO once they understood the call to be a kidnapping. Leonard said the responsibility is on the Communications Watch Supervisors; however, as the lieutenant, it was her responsibility just as much as it was Sergeant Williams'. Leonard said that she just did not think about it...
...Leonard agreed that Robinson did not send the Zone 6 dispatcher important details told to her by the victim's mother. Leonard listened to the recording of the original 911 call prior to the Internal Affairs interview and said that she "probably would have sent it (to Zone 6 dispatch) as a 30 (kidnapping)."...

...Ayoub said he did not request the PIO and that he knew an EARS broadcast would be sent out to the media because Homicide was responding...

Police Lieutenant J.D. Ricks #7475...Ricks was serving as the "Acting Zone Commander" for Zone 6 during the time of this incident...

...Ricks said Ayoub told him that the Air Unit had been called out; patrol officers were searching hotels and motels in the area; detectives werw interviewing the mother at that time and "they were breaking her down." Ayoub said they (homicide) were leaning toward interference with custody based on the video, and that the girl was supposed to be at the airport at 5:00 a.m. To take flight to California to see her father. Ricks told Ayoub, "let me know if anything changes."...

...Ayoub told him that Ayoub thought it was a possible abduction and Ricks replied "No-- interference with custody." Ricks said that "crux of the information" that he was told was that it was a situation in which Homicide was leaning toward interference with custody, and that was Ricks' understanding at the end of their phone conversation...

...Sergeant Mills... Mills said Putnam told him that the mother's behavior was somewhat unusual and there could possibly be a child custody issue as the victim was scheduled to take flight to see her biological father the next day. Mills said that he was told that the video surveillance confirmed the mother's account of events...

...Mills explained that based on the information he was told, he thought that the mother could be hiding the child; the child could have gone with the suspect to another store to get a sandwich; or the child could have really been abducted. Mills said that there were still a lot of unanswered questions in his mind. Mills said he has been doing investigations long enough to be aware of the fact that there was a possibility that the mother could have been hiding the child from the biological father. Mills also commented that "from a normal parental standpoint" some of the things that the mother did, were things that a rational parents would not do...

...Mills said that because of the child's age and the video evidence supporting the fact the child left with the suspect, he called his detectives and instructed them to respond to the scene. At approximately 12:10 a.m., Mills called Homicide Lieutenant Robert Schoonover and notified him that he and his detectives were headed to a call involving a missing child, and that the store surveillance confirmed that the child left with the suspect. Mills said he provided Schoonover with a general description of the victim, suspect and van and the fact that the mother had just met the suspect and was shopping with him. He said he explained to Schoonover that he did not know the exact reason she was missing, whether it was a bona fide abduction or not, but they would be responding and Mills would call Schoonover with an update. Mills said that Schoonover said to keep him posted...

...Mills said he clarified to his detectives that he had concerns about the validity of the mother's story because she just met this stranger -- accepted a ride from him, shopped with him for several hours and let him take her daughter to McDonalds--coupled with the fact there was a scheduled visitation for the next day. Mills said that some of her story was not making sense and he could not disregard the possibility that the mother was hiding the child to prevent the visitation from happening. Mills thought it was suspicious that the victim's younger siblings were saying the exact same thing as the mother--almost as if they had been coached--but acknowledged that he is not qualified to conduct forensic interviews with children. Mills also said that the mother's behavior and emotions did not match the situation and said that it was not unrealistic that the mother could have been lying...

...Mills explained the mother's unusaly behavior in more detail. He said that when she cried, she moaned and cried, but he never saw any tears. Mills said that he thought it was suspicious that the mother's boyfriend knew that she was at the Walmart and was calling the store wanting to know what was happening, when the mother had no cell phone and no way of contacting him. Mills said she made odd comments to the detectives that she was a psychic and she wanted to help the police with finding missing persons; she made the comment that when the police do bring her daughter back, it will be in a box...

...Mills determined it was necessary to initiate an Amber Alert. Mills said it was approximately 2:15 a.m. When he determined they were investigating a bona fide kidnapping...
...At approximately 2:20 a.m. Mills called Schoonover and updated him on the status of the investigation, including his concerns regarding the mother's behavior, and requested authorization to initiate an Amber Alert. Mills said that Schoonover approved the Amber Alert. Mills said Schoonover did not give him any instructions and Schoonover did not mention anything about responding to the scene or notifying their chain-of-command. Mills assumed Schoonover had been asleep due to the late hour...

...Mills explained that initiating an Amber Alert is very serious and not an everyday occurrence. He said that since this was the first time he had initiated an alert, he used his laptop computer in his car to read the applicable operational orders regarding the Amber Alert procedures. Mills said that once he obtained permission from Schoonover, Mills notified Ayoub and the detectives that he was going to contact FDLE and initiate an Amber Alert...
...Mills said he did not feel the activation of the Child Abduction Response Team (CART) would have been appropriate. Also, the other two detectives on his squad were still on call and he was trying to avoid using them unless absolutely necessary so they could respond to any other call-outs...

...Between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m., Mills learned from Patrol that the suspect had been identified, was a registered sexual offender, and the owner information for the van had been obtained...

...At 3:33 a.m. Mills called the Communications Center and requested an EARS broadcast for the media to respond to Walmart. Mills said that he assumed the broadcasted information would let the media know what Homicide was working...

...Mills said he did not get the expected response from the media at 4:00 a.m., only the Times-Union responded. Mills said he gave the Times-Union reporter all of the information and allowed the reporter to photograph the surveillance photos. Mills added that he did not believe that the media would generate many leads until the morning news aired the story about 6:00 or 7:00 a.m...

...Mills was asked if he contacted Schoonover to update him on the new information. Mills said "Yeah, I'm sure I did. I probably didn't note it in here (timeline provided by Mills) but I'm back and forth on contact with him throughout this." Mills went on to explain that it was a very fluid scene, a lot was happening, but he was managing the situation just fine. Mills was asked if he called Schoonover to notify him that the Amber Alert had been sent, the suspect had been identified and officers were searching the suspect's house for the victim. Mills was not sure if he called at the moment. He said that he was making several calls to FDLE and receiving several calls from them as well, and it would have been difficult for him to call Schoonover until he finalized the Amber alert. He reiterated that during the entire event he thought that he spoke with Schoonover several times but he was not sure and he did not record all of the times and conversations...

...At 5:00 a.m., Mills gave an on-camera interview with the local TV stations that responded to the 4:40 a.m., EARS broadcast. Mills then directed two additional detectives to respond to the Homicide office to start fielding leads as they were called in...

...Lieutenant Schoonover said that he arrived home from a trip to Boston Massachusetts at approximately 11:00 p.m. On June 21, 2013...

...Schoonover said the conversation was very brief and he told Mills to keep him updated. Schoonover said that approximately sex minutes later he received a text on his phone from the Communications Center notifying him that a "signal 30" occurred--12000 block of Lem Turner-- basically the same information that Mills had just told him. He said that he was not told any specific information regarding the victim, child custody issues or the suspect. Schoonover said there was not a need for him to respond so he went back to bed...

...Schoonoer said the next call that he received from Mills was at approximately 2:20 a.m., and it was about five minutes in length. Schoonover said he was asleep when he received the call on his cell phone. Mills told him that they had an eight-year-old missing from the store--video confirmed that the suspect walked around with the mother and children for a couple of hours and the showed the suspect exit the store and the little girl followed him--"no abduction, doesn't grab her and doesn't force her out." Mills then explained to Schoonover that he was concerned about the possibility of a child custody issue because the child was supposed to be taking a flight to see her father in the morning. Mills continued by stating the mother could be making the complaint as a ruse, or the suspect could be known to her, and they are preventing the child from going to see her father in California, but either way, Mills reiterated to Schoonover that the girl was not there and he wanted to do an Amber Alert...

...Schoonover said that he gave Mills permission to initiate the Amber Alert and instructed Mills to keep him updated. Schoonover said he did not give Mills any other instructions or directions, nor did he respond to the scene. Schoonover said that he did not notify his chain-of-command and that he went back to bed after speaking with Mills...

..Schoonover said that he did not notify his chain-of-command because of the same reason he did not respond. He did not feel it was necessary to wake them up at 2:20 a.m. to tell them that he was authorizing the Amber Alert, as he and Mills still had some concerns as to whether or not it was bona fide. Schoonover acknowledged that this was the first time he had ever authorized an Amber Alert, during his tenure as the Homicide Lieutenant. Schoonover acknowledged that initiating an Amber Alert is serious and the reason for issuing it that night was to alert the public of the abduction of the victim and provide them with suspect and vehicle descriptions. Schoonover agreed that the case was an unusual and media worthy case that could have benefited from the assistance of the media...

...Schoonover arrived at the command post and checked in at 7:18 a.m....

...Schoonover was asked if the same scenario were to occur again, would he respond when getting the request to conduct an Amber Alert. Schoonover said that they learned from "this tragic event" and they would do things differently. He acknowledged that he would respond to the scene and notify his chain-of-command at the onset of the Amber Alert. Schoonover also said that if Mills had called him at 3:30 a.m. when they identified the suspect and learned that he was a sexual offender, Schoonover would have responded immediately and notified his chain-of-command...

...Schoonover felt that based on the information he received from Mills, he was in compliance with his duties and responsibilities as it related to him coordinating with Mills to ensure that the investigation was being conducted correctly and that all leads were being follewed up in a timely manner. Schoonover said his sergeants do not to hesitate to ask him to respond to scenes when they feel his response is needed. Schoonover said that Mills never asked him to respond that night...

...Schoonover believed that he notifed his Assistant Chief of the high profuile incident in a timely manner, and was in compliance with his duty and responsibility to notify his Chief and Assistant Chief of the unusual case, because Mills did not tell him about the suspect information until approximately 5:45 a.m. However, Schoonover did acknowledge that at approximately 2:20 a.m. he authorized an Amber Alert, and that an Amber Alert is a high profile, law enforcement request...

...Robinson, in the role of a receiving officer, took a call from a mother attempting to report the kidnapping of her eight-year-old daughter. Robinson talked to the victim's mother for approximately eleven minutes. During the recorded telephone conversation the first statement to Robinson from the victim's mother was the her eight-year-old daughter had been taken by a stranger while at the Walmart on Lem Turner Road...

...Internal Affairs finds that Robinson not only failed to determine the appriopriate signal for the call, but failed to update the Zone 6 dispatcher with accurate information related to the imminent, life-threatening danger that the victim was in. Robinson's lack of attention to detail and her personal opinions of the mother's truthfulness directly resulted in 1) the incorrect dispatch signal being applied to this incident and 2) the lack of accurate information being forwarded to everyone involved...

...1) Fooshee did not tell Vaughn that Zone 6 was working a missing person call of an eight-year-old when Vaughn specifically asked, and 2) Fooshee did not tell Vanwormer that he had just spoken to Vaughn and that Vaughn offered to assist if needed. Had Fooshee done either, or both, it is reasonable to conclude that the response from the Air Unit would have been significantly quicker...

...1) Mills should have notified his chain-of-command (through the Homicide Lieutenant) of the newly-discovered dangers facing the child, and 2) Mills should have acquired additional resources by activating a CART deployment. By waiting several hours to accomplish these two things, Mills did not take advantage of critical resources available to him and he delayed the establishment of a fully staffed Incident Command System...

...Schoonover believed his decision not to respond or notify his Assistant Chief was appropriate. Internal Affiars disagrees with this reasoning based on the fact that neither mills nor Schoonover had ever initiated an Amber Alert--both agreed that the situation was an extremely serious and rare occurrence--and the sole purpose for coordinating the alert was to bring attention to the situation on a large scale level. Therefore, it stands to reason that in a case such as this, where every minute matters, notifying his Chief and Assistant Chief, along with responding to the scene upon authorizing the Amber Alert, would have ensured the most timely and efficient use of available resources to conduct the investigation.