Page 2 - 4-21-15 Tuesday's Edition

Features
Town Hall Meeting Planned To Deal With Race Relations, Law Enforcement
The meeting will address issues regarding law enforcement
and the African- American community
The Barry A. Cohen Legal Team is sponsoring a town hall meeting on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at the Cohen Hall within the Chester H. Ferguson Law Center, 1610, N. Tampa St. The event will begin promptly at 6 p. m. and conclude at 9 p. m. Doors will open at 5 p. m. Several mem- bers of the community have been invited to serve on the panel.
The event is designed to prevent a Ferguson-type inci- dent from happening in Tampa.
“The event is further de- signed to foster and augment mutual respect and commu- nication between the African- American community and the Law Enforcement,” states Atty. Barry A. Cohen, head of the team.
Atty. Cohen and his team said the panel will dis- cuss such issues as: lack of trust and respect between the African-American population and law enforcement; do law enforcement think all African-American kids are thugs; do African-Americans think these “Cracker” cops are out to get them; are some members of law enforcement lying, distorting facts, police reports, dispositions and trial testimony; are defense
ATTY. BARRY A. COHEN
REGINALD ROUNDTREE
lawyers pleading innocent African-Americans guilty; and many others topics will be discussed.
Atty. Cohen, joined by Reginald Roundtree, a former police officer and now a renowned and popular tele- vision journalist, will facili- tate the meeting. Mayor Bob Buckhorn is expected to present opening remarks.
Those from the commu- nity who expect to attend should contact Molly Burchette at (813) 225-1655 or by email at mburchette@tampalawfirm.c om.
Parents Of 2014 State Fair Victim Continue Their Message Of Safety
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Andrew and Deanna Joseph, parents of the 14- year-old who was killed last year after leaving the Florida State Fair, are continuing their fight to make sure children are given priority over profit when it comes to the area’s theme parks.
Because of what happened to their son, Andrew, III last year, the family sought out At- torney Barry Cohen to file civil action against the Florida State Fair Authority and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
On Wednesday, April 29th at the Cohen Hall within the Chester H. Ferguson Law Cen- ter, 1610 North Tampa Street. The Barry A. Cohen Legal Team intends to sponsor a
ANDREW JOSEPH, III
town hall meeting dealing with race relations and law enforce- ment designed to prevent a Ferguson-type incident from occurring in Tampa.
The event is further de- signed to foster and augment mutual respect and communi- cation between the African American community and the law enforcement community.
The discussions are ex-
pected to be candid, but re- spectful, and everything is de- signed to accomplish a positive purpose and objective.
Mr. Joseph said the issue of what’s going on at the Florida State Fair has not been settled.
“There is still a lack of di- rect parent participation on Student Day, and this year, there were three times as many firearms on the grounds.
“There are still some fac- tors about the ejection policy that need to be dealt with. The overall attendance was down on student day and there was a noticeable increase in the prices of the rides.”
Mr. Joseph said he has suggested some kind of safety barriers be put along the southern side of I-4 on Orient Road to prevent pedestrians from entering the roadway.
‘Body Farm’ Proposed For Eastern Hillsborough County
In a joint effort between the University of South Florida and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, a forensic sci- ence outdoor research facility, or ‘Body Farm,” has been pro- posed on 3 acres in Lithia near the Sheriff’s Office shooting range.
The facility would accept donated cadavers and put them in a field, exposed to the elements, so scientists, med- ical examiners, crime scene
detectives and students could study the remains as they decay and learn to excavate burials and process outdoor crime scenes. Because of the sub-tropical climate in Florida, this facility is unique to most of the Southeast.
A body donation program will be launched to stock up on cadavers. Individuals can sign up for trauma research, so their cadaver can be battered or shot before it is studied. It is
felt that could help law en- forcement officials learn about skeletal trauma, and military personnel learn about protec- tive equipment.
If you live within 150 miles of Tampa, the donation is free. USF officials said the facil- ity is important because bodies decay differently depending on things like temperature and humidity, and can be affected by water and regional insects and scavenging animals. They believe all of those things play a role in how detectives and medical examiners identify victims and determine cause of death and time since death. The Tampa Bay Medical Examiner’s Office handles more than 400 unknown per- sons cases a year. That in- cludes Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas. Most are identi- fied in about a week, but in the same area, 80 remain uniden-
tified.
Forensic scientists could
use the facility to practice re- mote sensing to locate burials, to study how cadavers decom- pose and to evaluate chemical changes in the soil.
USF wants to create an atlas or baseline of informa- tion of decomposition changes over time in the Florida cli- mate.
In the past, law enforce- ment personnel and re- searchers have had to travel out of state for this kind of training. USF wants to be a re- source center for agencies throughout the state.
In the United States, Body Farms have been established by the University of Ten- nessee, Western Carolina Uni- versity, Texas State University, Sam Houston State University, and Southern Illinois Univer- sity.
FYI
Girls Empowerment College Tour
Girls Empowerment is sponsoring a 4-day college tour, July 13-17, 2015 to visit colleges in Gainesville, Tallahassee, Jack- sonville and Orlando.
For more information, contact Girls Empowered Mentally For Success, Inc. at (813z) 300-2891, or Crystal Bailes at cbailes@girlsrgems.org or Sheena Wynn at swynn@girl- srgems.org. A deposit is due by May 15, 2015.
Neighborhoods Conference
Hillsborough County Neighborhood Conference is looking for volunteers for the 12th Annual Neighborhoods Conference and Recognition Awards. The conference will be held on Sat- urday, May 9, 2015, 8 a. m. – 2:30 p. m. and the Sheraton Tampa East, 10221 Princess Palm Avenue, Tampa. Admission and parking are free.
Register online at HilllsboroughCounty.org/Neighborhood- sConference. For more information contact the office of Neigh- borhood Relations at (813) 2782-5860.
PAGE 2 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015