Yeah, Right, Whatever

It's an ordinary occurrence. A citizen sends a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, criticizing the sheriff. Happens all the time. The First Amendment at its finest.

The problem? The sheriff got himself in a tizzy over the letter, and decided to send the writer a letter. And used drivers' licence records to get her address. Problem with that? It's against the law.

The issue arose when Gawronski's letter appeared in the Sentinel on March 10. The Winter Park mother of four said her concerns about Tasers peaked when an Orlando police officer zapped a suspect handcuffed to a hospital bed to obtain a urine specimen.

In her letter, she referred to a televised news conference last June when Beary allowed himself to be zapped with a Taser to demonstrate their safety. Seeing Beary incapacitated by 50,000 volts and "in an obvious state of duress" convinced her the stun guns should not be used, she wrote.

Gawronski also wrote that Beary appeared so overweight and out of shape that she doubted he could arrest anyone without a stun gun. She suggested that if deputies were more fit, they might not need to resort to zapping suspects.

Beary said he was a victim of slander.

"During my Taser incident, I was never under any duress," he wrote Gawronski, adding that his heart activity was monitored by a doctor during the demonstration. Before the test, the 5-foot, 10-inch Beary estimated his weight at 290 pounds.

Sheriff, be honest. You haven't been the victim of slander. You're the victim of Dunkin Donuts. You got all worked up because someone called you fat. While I don't agree with Ms. Gawronski about the use of Tasers (although I hope that the officer who Tasered the handcuffed guy, IF that's the whole story, gets his behind handed to him on a silver platter), she was stating a valid opinion- you might have a problem chasing down a perp in your present physical condition.

People can say things about you when you're an elected official. It's part of the deal. Get over it.