Letter: Sheriff misused Amber Alert

Sherri Bankston
Fleming Island, FL

Dear Editor:

I am contacting you because the media has been covering the JSO handling of the Amber Alert for Cherish Periwinkle and the Amber Alert for Reid Payne, son of former Sergeant Catherine Payne with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.

The two cases are on completely opposite ends of the spectrum; and, in my opinion, the local Sheriff’s Office abused their power and issued the alert to cause problems for Ms. Payne.

Having been in law enforcement and child protection, it concerns me that the Sheriff’s Office can misuse a vital tool such as the Amber Alert.

Ms. Payne posted her location along with a picture of the child on facebook. The wife of the officer that issued the warrant, and subsequent application for the Amber Alert, was a facebook friend with Ms. Payne at the time. The post with the location and picture had no privacy restrictions; indicating anyone could see the post.

In my opinion, unnecessarily issuing the Amber Alert for Ms. Payne’s child was retaliation for previously reported allegations she had made against certain Sheriff’s Office employees for misconduct. The Amber Alert was another attempt to discredit her and to help their defense.

I guess I am frustrated that the local sheriff is not being held to the same standard as the Jacksonville sheriff with regards to the proper timeline for issuing Amber Alerts. If we cry “wolf” too often, people will give less credibility to the alerts.

I hope I can get someone to look into the actions of the St Johns County Sheriff’s Office with regards to the issuing of an Amber Alert prematurely.

It does not appear that all criteria for the alert were met and someone should be held accountable.