Open Forum in The Villages, Florida
This weekly podcast will cover in detail, people, clubs and activities here in The Villages, Florida. Each show will run 10-30 minutes. Become a Supporter of this show for $3/month. Supporters will have access to all episodes. Our newest Supporters will get a Shout-out during a show.
Open Forum in The Villages, Florida
Anthony Pellicano's Mission to Reinvent Community Policing in Sumter County
Get ready to be inspired as we sit down with Anthony Pellicano, a man of service with an illustrious career in the US Army and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, who is currently running for Sumter County Sheriff. We take you on a journey of his life, unfolding his experiences, qualifications, and the burning desire to serve his community in a novel capacity. Amidst our conversation, we'll also reveal our freshly minted podcast features, featuring AI-generated titles and chapter markers, and our exciting move towards listener-supported episodes.
We plunge into an elaborate discussion about community policing in Sumter County, throwing light on Anthony's groundbreaking vision to build trust and collaboration with local neighborhoods. Hear him speak about his plans to stay poised amidst political pressures and keep his finger on the pulse of the community's ever-evolving needs. Furthermore, our special guest Ethan, a Sumter County resident, walks us through the law enforcement perspective in the county, emphasizing the importance of inter-department communication, patrol visibility, traffic safety, and event security. Join us for this riveting conversation as we explore strategies to strengthen the bond between the Sumter County Sheriff's department and the community it diligently serves.
Open Forum in The Villages, Florida is Produced & Directed by Mike Roth
A new episode will be released most Fridays at 9 AM
Direct all questions and comments to mike@rothvoice.com
If you know a Villager who should appear on the show, please contact us at: mike@rothvoice.com
This is season number 4. It marks several significant improvements and changes. First is the podcast title clarification. We are now renaming the podcast Open Forum in the villages, Florida to make clear that this is a regional show. The show is not sponsored by the villages. Second is a dramatic increase in the use of AI for the show. These include transcripts of each show. Please understand that there will be errors inserted by the AI that may not be caught before the transcript is published. However, this is a dramatic step forward. We will now include chapter markers for each show. The show's title will be one of the five titles generated by the AI. The show description will be AI generated. In fact, the show's announcers are now all AI voices, including me. Hope you enjoy.
Emily:Welcome to the Open Forum in the villages, Florida podcast. In this show we are going to talk to leaders in the community, leaders of clubs and interesting folks who live here in the villages to give perspectives of what is happening here in the villages. We hope to add a new episode most Fridays at 9am. We have converted all of our shows to Buzzsprout. Of course, you can still listen to Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and about 20 other podcast platforms. Your favorite podcast player will still work. We are now a listener-supported podcast. You can become a supporter for only $3 or you can choose to pay more per month. Go to openforminthevillages. com and click on support in the black box. There will be a shout out for supporters in episodes. This is a shout out to supporters. Tweet Coleman, Dan Kapellan, Ed Williams, Alvin Stenzel and major supporter Dr Craig Curtis at K2 in the villages. We will be hearing more from Dr Curtis with short Alzheimer's tips each week.
Mike Roth:This is Mike Roth on Open Forum in the villages. I'm here today with Anthony Pellicano and he is running for the Sumter County Sheriff. Thanks for joining me, anthony. Thank you, mike, I appreciate you having me Good. Why don't you tell our listeners, Anthony, a little bit about what you've done before you came to the villages?
Anthony Pellicano:So early on I was in the United States Army active duty. I was a long range reconnaissance specialist in 19 Delta. I got permanently assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Bliss, texas. After that I got out of the military, did plumbing for a little while and then I went and applied for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. After that I got into working at the prison system in Fort Dix, new Jersey. It's the largest federal prison in the country with 5,000 inmates and we had no locking doors and it was one officer for 350 to 400 inmates.
Mike Roth:Wait a minute. Wait a prison with doors that didn't lock.
Anthony Pellicano:Outside the unit. They were the only doors, but the actual doors to their dorms did not lock. So we were locked in there, one officer per 350 to 400 inmates. We were fighting all the time, but it was one of those things. So after that we I got in. I got promoted a few times. I did self-defense instructor. I was also a CSI, or what we call evidence response team instructor.
Anthony Pellicano:Then I got promoted to do investigations for them, did that for quite a few years and then I got promoted again, went to Washington DC, went to intelligence research specialist slash intelligence officer and got permanently assigned to the FBI task force in Miami and then from then Does that mean you were actually in the FBI?
Anthony Pellicano:I had full rights to the FBI and other agencies access to everything. It's difficult, but I had all their IDs and their security clearance. I went through all their programs. It was just like being in the FBI but it was technically. Intelligence officer is a generic title to all that law enforcement Every agency I had access to. I was on a task force for multiple different agencies local law enforcement, state federal. It was down in, based in Miami. Even though I still work for Washington DC, I was based in Miami, florida.
Mike Roth:Well, that's a better place to be based.
Anthony Pellicano:It's expensive, but we were based down there, me and my wife and our three kids.
Mike Roth:And when did you come to the villages and Sumpter County?
Anthony Pellicano:Well, we've been coming up here for many years, off and on. My parents have a house here for about 12 or 13 years. I moved up here two years ago full time after I retired from Miami. We moved up here and I promised my wife after a year that I take a year off to desensitize a little bit. Here we are, so I'm running for Sumpter County Sheriff.
Mike Roth:What brought you to the conclusion that you should run for Sumpter County Sheriff.
Anthony Pellicano:You know all my life, pretty much all my career. For the past 28 years I've served either in the government or counties, or I was CDD and chairman and HOA presidents, and even with the law enforcement. I've always worked with the military or the government agencies. It's just. I've always served. It was always something that I enjoyed doing.
Mike Roth:Here in Florida do you have to have a special certification to be sheriff or to be a?
Anthony Pellicano:No, you just have to be in law enforcement. I would say that would be your best guess. I mean, I don't think. Anyway, that doesn't have law enforcement experience is not going to get elected to that.
Mike Roth:So a lawyer couldn't be elected to sheriff In some states you can't In some states you can't.
Anthony Pellicano:I mean, I think anybody can run and I don't think you need experience to run, but I think that that's the way it should be law enforcement, because you have all the experience.
Mike Roth:And when is the Republican primary?
Anthony Pellicano:It should be around August. August here, 24-24.
Mike Roth:Okay, so when you were in the law enforcement business for the Army, can you share with us some of the particular areas of expertise that you had?
Anthony Pellicano:For the Army. Yeah, I wasn't law enforcement for the Army, but I was what they call a long range of constant specialists or a scout for the Army. So I worked for a combat unit. I worked for the S3 shop out of the 3rd ACR, which is the 3rd Armour Cavalry Regiment in Fort Bliss, Texas. We were one of the only two or three at the time desert trained combat units that were involved in things. We went out and I did a lot of training. So when I went out there I also got handpicked to be one of the 31 of 30 individuals that actually tested what they called the friend info vehicle recognition system Got a lot of friendly fire incidents during the first Gulf War and after that we went out to White Sands, New Mexico, and tested a bunch of three different company systems so there wouldn't be so much friendly fire. Nowadays they call it modern day GPS, but back then it was called friend info. That's where it was developed that through that system. That was one of the things that I was involved in.
Mike Roth:I wanted to tell our listeners what your position is relative to community policing, so community policing to me is giving back to the community.
Anthony Pellicano:It's not always about arresting or going out and doing things against the community. I believe in community policing and that is go out to events, charitable organizations. What we're also going to do is, since I'm already retired, I'm going to give $10,000 a year of my salary back to some county community, and what I mean by that is charities, veterans, groups, animal shelters or whatever we seem we may rotate them, you know things of that nature to give back to the community.
Mike Roth:That's just what we've always done. The crime right here in Sumpter County is usually described as exceptionally low because of the population. Are there any other services that you think you might want to add to the Sheriff's Department aren't done now.
Anthony Pellicano:That could be Well, I think they do a pretty good job here. I'm not going to knock that by any means. They do a great job here. You're going to get a new sheriff, regardless of what's going to happen this coming up cycle, so I'm just trying to do my best to win those votes. Of course, the community stuff is going to be more like getting out in the public. I'm not one to sit at my desk all day, so I'm going to be out and about talking to people. I'm going to be out and about on different shifts. I can't fix a problem if I don't know it exists, so I'm not just going to sit there all day behind a desk. I'm going to be out and about. I'm going to be out in the community. I'm going to go to calls with these guys. I'm going to be community relations all the time. That's basically what I'm going to be doing?
Mike Roth:How do you intend to engage with local neighborhoods to build trust and collaboration?
Anthony Pellicano:Well, events, we're going to get some more. Events like, say, one that I used to do in Miami was coffee with a cop, or a coffee with a deputy, or a dinner with a deputy, or a lunch with a deputy, or some similar to that, and some other events will get going and then we'll invite that. If you guys want to show up, you're more than welcome to.
Mike Roth:No, that's a good idea. How do you see the difference between the villages in Sumpter County and the residents and other parts of Sumpter County?
Anthony Pellicano:So I've been to a lot of meetings already. There seems to be a little rift between both, but as a sheriff I don't. It's not a thing. So I have to keep that peace between both groups, and to do that you have to make people come together At some point. There has to be some kind of coordination between both groups. There is a little bit of a rift that goes on between both groups, but I think overall everybody wants the best for Sumpter County and that's what I'm hoping for.
Mike Roth:How do you plan to handle political pressures and maintain impartiality as you integrate yourself into the role of sheriff?
Anthony Pellicano:So with that, one is more of keeping the peace, we'll say so that is you got. I got to get to all these events. I've been going to a lot of events already commissioner meetings and different areas, and not just in the villages, and I think that's again. It goes back to the community relations part. So you have to, you have to come to a peace with every group and every situation that comes up. As long as you can keep that going, you shouldn't have any issues. I will not be causing any drama. It's not about my, the way I do things, but I do get out and allow. I do get out and about a lot and I think that that'll help out a lot with community relations.
Mike Roth:How do you stay informed about the changing needs and concerns in our community?
Anthony Pellicano:Well, that is getting out and talking to people, not just commissioners, not just residents, it's everybody. You got to get out, you got to go to law outside law enforcement groups, you have to with committees and commissioners and outside residents and all there's. There's thousands of groups here, which is totally amazing to me, and it's hard to get to all the groups. I may not get to all of them, but I'm working my way around slowly and I like to hear everybody's. Everybody has an opinion on everything and that's what I'm trying to work things and work ways through each one of those opinions in groups. So I'm working on it.
Mike Roth:I looked at the number of people, just to hear the villages, and I'll take that number at around 150,000 and said you know, if we were a city, where would we rank in the size of cities in the state of Florida? And we would be fifth or sixth, absolutely. So we have a very, and that's without counting anyone who lives in the county but not in the villages. So that's a. It's a big job. Why in the and looking at it as a big job, why would someone elect you, who is not in the Sopter County police, as the new chief?
Anthony Pellicano:Well, I come with a vast array of experience.
Anthony Pellicano:I'm FEMA certified. I've gone through just about every FEMA class that you can think of.
Anthony Pellicano:My emergency management certified come with 28 years of law enforcement and military experience. I get along with everybody. I've got contacts worldwide because I used to do investigations all over the place it wasn't just say Florida or Wisconsin or it was Ireland and Europe and crime reaches far and wide and that's what we were trying to do and I hold a few records on some drug interdiction stuff and you know I can bring that knowledge here and I'm big on training. So I think that training is going to be a big key to deputy's interaction with the public. I think that I've watched a few.
Anthony Pellicano:I've done a lot of research before I got involved in this and I've watched a lot of videos and things that are out on social media. Some are questionable, some are good and some are fantastic. It's just they're all it's policing. And I believe in training. I'm a big training person. I've flown around the country and conducted training. I've been to seminars, I've given classes on stuff all different than all different things. It's just what I like to do and I enjoy training. Training is a priority for any group to run an efficient policing organization.
Mike Roth:So if you were elected sheriff, what do you think that would happen to the morale of the officers that we have at the Sumpter County Sheriff's Department? There's an adjustment period, of course.
Anthony Pellicano:They're always going to be, no matter what. You're going to get a new sheriff, so regardless of who it is hopefully it's me crossing my fingers but regardless of who it is you're going to get a new sheriff and there's going to be an adjustment period. But I'm a personable person. Like I go around and I have no issue talking to anybody, and there's no political party that I don't talk to. I get around independents, republicans, democrats.
Anthony Pellicano:I want to hear what they have to say, so that's why I like to meld everybody's opinions together and try to come up with a concrete solution to them.
Mike Roth:Have you discovered any law enforcement issues that are unaddressed here in Sumpter County that you'd like to see addressed? Not really.
Anthony Pellicano:They're running abo ut. I FOIA requested some information and I have about. They have about 13,. 12 to 13 open non-investigative clad. But they have 13 open cases that are cold case cases. I like to reopen those and get those going and at least we can solve at least one of those Somebody's family's happier than what they were yesterday and I totally want to open those.
Anthony Pellicano:If I have to open up them myself, I have no issue with it. I've done it before. I do investigations, thousands of them Intelligence reports have gone as high as the Attorney General's office. I've done them and it's not a big deal. I have no issue doing it at all. To be honest with you, I think that people need closure. I'm about saying they're doing it wrong. I'm saying is that there's 13 for a small county like this. I think that needs to be addressed. That's one of the things I want to do and open them up and get them open up all the cases and see if we can get one or two of those at least closed because there's new technologies out now, how many years back does 13 cases?
Anthony Pellicano:go Pretty far. I don't know the exact date, but some of them go back pretty far. That's not a dig on the Sheriff's Department. That's just because things fall, people move or things happen and stuff goes cold, and that's just the way it works. It's a product called cold cases.
Mike Roth:To me it's actually surprising that it's only 12 or 13 cold cases.
Anthony Pellicano:That's the number that I got from the FOIA request.
Mike Roth:Was there a single thing that motivated you most to run for Sheriff? No, I just enjoy serve.
Anthony Pellicano:I like to do it. It's just my calling. I enjoy doing it and I think that that's a great thing. I think people need more. People should do it, no matter what it is, whether it's Sheriff or not. There's plenty of positions that are opening up and I think people need to run for them. It's not easy to run for any position here.
Mike Roth:What do you think your biggest obstacle is?
Anthony Pellicano:Well, name recognition is probably the most. That's really all it is. I meet so many people and so many people are very friendly and they're like oh my God, I'm so glad you're running and it's time to get a new and fresh way of doing things. I think that's a great option for everybody.
Mike Roth:Do you have a campaign committee set up?
Anthony Pellicano:I do. We're working on getting a bigger one. I'm trying to get more of that stuff going now. We've been getting these petition signed. I'm almost done with it now.
Mike Roth:How many petition signatures did you need? 1,200. Only 1,200?
Anthony Pellicano:1,200,? Yeah, we've been going to all the postal stations in the villages and that way I like to do them myself. It's taken me a little longer, but I want to hear everybody's opinions on what they have to say about things and what they want to change. Should come to some of the car shows. I've been to some of the car shows and they're fantastic. We're getting ready to ship our classic car up here soon and once we do that we'll have we'll meet more people. You're going to go up to the show in the Spanish Springs. All the shows, yeah, we'll try to get most of the shows, me and my dad.
Mike Roth:Don't forget about the last Saturday morning of the month. The most unpublicized car show in the villages is the Cars and Coffee in Lake Sumter Square, behind the Fidelity Investment, from 9 am to 10 am. It's amazing. You get there 10 minutes early, there's no cars. You get there 5 after 10, there's no cars oh my God. But we usually turn out about 40 people. That's good. Usually BMWs, Porsches, Miata's and Strange Exotic Good BMW Austin Martin, DB9 shows up.
Anthony Pellicano:That's great. For that, I think that's a great thing. That's fun, it gets people out and you meet people and that's just how it is.
Mike Roth:Yeah, what do you think has helped you the most so far in your run for sheriff?
Anthony Pellicano:I'm happy to say my wife, your wife, my wife, my wife's been a godsend through all this. I've told her we've talked about it before I actually ran. We went through all that and we knew we were getting into before I did it. But I think we're good with it and she's been a godsend. The kids have been great about it. We're trying to get everything, how old are your children.
Anthony Pellicano:Now my son is 29. He's in New Jersey. He's an accountant. My other son is in Ovidio. He's working for a private company and he just opened an app on the App Store last week. So he developed an app and my daughter is getting ready to graduate UCF this December.
Mike Roth:I've got to tell the joke for my grandson. Evan Got it, anthony. What did the noes say to the finger? What Quit picking on me? That's funny, good joke. Now we're going to listen to a short Alzheimer's tip from Dr Craig Curris. Is there a seminar that you do that people can attend to learn more about Alzheimer's disease?
Zoey:Yes, sir, I usually give two to three seminars per week in my office and if folks would like to just call my office, they can register for the next available seminar, and usually they're on what days?
Mike Roth:Tuesdays, wednesdays and Thursdays.
Warren:Great Thank you with over 20 years of experience studying brain health, dr Curtis's goal is to educate the village's community on how to live a longer, healthier life. To learn more, visit his website, craigcurtismd. com, or call 352-500-5252 to attend a free seminar.
Mike Roth:Now, Anthony, you've talked to a lot of people here in Sumter County, lived here for a couple of years. What do you think is the best thing that we're doing from a law enforcement perspective, things that are really working right?
Anthony Pellicano:I think the communication between all the different departments is always gonna be a key Mm-hmm, there's always gonna be a lax of something at some point, but I think the more people communicate here and I'm big on that because I came from task forces- so that's all about communication and organization and I think that's a big thing that they're doing here and I'm hoping they can keep that up.
Mike Roth:Just since you're talking about communications, does the so-called villages public safety department, or fire department as I like to call them, and the police department in Sumter County have the same radio frequencies so they can communicate with one another?
Anthony Pellicano:That I know they do have. I don't know if it's the same radio frequency, but I know they have channels that they can open up between each other.
Mike Roth:Yes, A lot of our villagers here are worried about traffic safety Me too and that entails both drivers driving too slow, especially on the left lane, and drivers driving too fast. What do you think we can do about that here in Sumter County?
Anthony Pellicano:Well, the one thing that has to be done is there needs to be more sight-seeing of the patrol vehicles, right, so you have to see them. And then usually when you see a patrol vehicle, no matter if you're going fast or not, you're gonna slow down. That'll slow down the traffic. My biggest things here are the circles. I believe if you look at some of the circles, some of the markings on the circles themselves are different than other circles. They're not consistent.
Mike Roth:There is a very big inconsistency and, I think, a lot of confusion comes because of that.
Anthony Pellicano:There's dash lines, there's solid lines, there's all sorts of different things on those roundabouts.
Mike Roth:I follow the rule never change lanes.
Anthony Pellicano:You should.
Mike Roth:Inside the traffic circle, except when you're exiting and you have to and you're on the left lane. And then the other issue that I see is some traffic circles have two lanes for the full 360 degrees and other circles have 180 degrees and then there's a lane cutout and it kind of makes no sense to me. I agree.
Anthony Pellicano:It's just the way that the engineers came up with that system. I wish they would either put a solid line instead of a dash line. So if there's a solid line, by law you're not supposed to cross it. But if you put a dash line, people know to cross it. And that's where the confusion comes into. You can't cross it, yeah, and that's where people get mixed up. They're telling people one thing you can't switch lanes. But if you have a dash line, you can switch lanes. Technically, you can by law.
Mike Roth:So it gets a little confusing and the signage doesn't contribute very much. There also should be a, I think, some signage about the trucks pulling trailers, that the drivers of those trucks know that they're going to occupy two lanes in a circle.
Anthony Pellicano:Yeah, they're pretty wide, especially down by me with the only construction. It's pretty crazy down there. There's been a lot of accidents, so hopefully we can get this stuff straightened out with the county commissioners and getting this stuff, the right signage up and the right symbols on the ground.
Mike Roth:Yeah, and the signage has to be positioned so that the driver going speed limit has enough time to react. The guy going 20 miles an hour in a golf cart has plenty of time to react. Yeah, but especially when there are bigger vehicles.
Anthony Pellicano:And sometimes the village sign of each village blocks the intersection view. So if you're trying to pull out, sometimes you can't see past the signage that they have the big wall with the big name on it for each village on it. The way they have them hanged, yeah well, stop signs are a big thing. Here too, people don't stop at stop signs. So, including bikes, including golf carts.
Mike Roth:That's another big irritation. That's the big thing here. Bicycles, who are supposed to have some rights of way on the road, and overlook things like stop signs. They don't bother to stop, golf carts that don't bother to stop, and I think it's terribly dangerous.
Anthony Pellicano:The Wildwood Police Department down by me has been doing a pretty good job. They've been out there actually with a police golf cart. And they've been pulling bikes and golf carts over there. Don't stop at the stop sign Again. It's random, but they're doing a decent job, trying to clean the best they can up with the manpower that they have, it gets the word out.
Mike Roth:Of course, does the Sumpter County Sheriff have a golf cart?
Anthony Pellicano:You know, I don't know, I'm sure they probably do. I haven't seen it on the roads or the golf cart path yet, but I've seen the wild because I live down south, so I've seen the Wildwood out there more than I've seen the.
Mike Roth:Sheriff's Department. We want to see some better signage and we want to see, I think, officers that aren't sitting in a car talking to each other but they can be walking in the crowd. I agree and, aside from being neighborly, I think people feel safer.
Anthony Pellicano:I think so too, and I think one of the other things that I'm going to try to do is they don't. When there's big events at the squares all three squares you don't see them anymore. They used to be at the squares, so when I go to Brown.
Mike Roth:I used to remember I think they were always at the square. The Wildwood police were always at the Brownwood. They don't. They're not there anymore. I don't know.
Anthony Pellicano:I don't know where that stopped or how that stopped, but I want to bring that back, cause when there's large crowds, especially during this time of year, you know that's just a hot bed for anything. I'm a terrorism expert, so that's to me. That gives me the shakes. When I look at that, I look around, cause there's nobody. Yeah, if a terrorist or somebody wants to do something, they're going to do it, regardless of what kind of security you have. But you could at least deter it and that's basically what we're trying to do.
Mike Roth:Good, any other last thoughts you have on why someone should vote for you as Sheriff?
Anthony Pellicano:I think we went over most of them. I have, you know, I have the website up and you know what is the website. It's a P, it's Pellicano, the number four sheriff. com. That's what the website is. I could donate on there. You can, you know, send me emails through there. I answer all my emails personally. I don't have an issue with talking to people. If you want me to come to an event, I have been all over and if it's all my schedule and I can make your event, I will make your event.
Mike Roth:What's your fundraising goal I?
Anthony Pellicano:don't really have a fundraising goal, you know, cause you never know what's going to. You know how much you need or you know whatever. Right now we're funding it ourselves with some friends. Mm-hmm, but that's going to. You know, you can't bankrupt yourself trying to fund these things, cause it's not cheap to run for any kind of office. So we are looking for fundraising, and they can do that through the website, which automatically gets put into a campaign account.
Mike Roth:Are you going to be running ads in the daily sun? I'm going to try, but we'll see how that goes with them. I never liked the word try. It's either do or do not. Well, there's, yeah, it's tough sometimes.
Anthony Pellicano:Sometimes they don't want. Have you met with a developer? I have not. I've emailed and talked to some people that know they're their people. I haven't gotten any responses back. They don't know if they've told them or not, but I think they need to know and at least have a, at least have a conversation.
Mike Roth:Sure.
Anthony Pellicano:At the minimum.
Mike Roth:Yeah, it's someone you need to know I agree. Okay. Are there any other people that you need to know that you haven't met yet?
Anthony Pellicano:No, I get around, I talk to everybody there's. I don't have a need to know people group, I just like to get around and talk to people. I like to go to groups. I like to meet all different groups. It makes no difference what the group is to me and I think that's the way it should be. You know, being a sheriff is a bipartisan position technically. Whether you have to run for a party or not officially is fine, but technically it's a bipartisan position. I'm not going to ask you where you are before you get arrested. It doesn't work that way. So I get. I like to get around and just talk to people personally.
Mike Roth:Just for informational purposes, the sheriff's department has how many officers around?
Anthony Pellicano:No, I'm getting ready to request that. I've been told they're fully staffed. I pulled some numbers up, actually the other day. They should have technically they should have over 200 or 300 and something full-time officers by law, by Florida law, but I don't know how they're categorizing it here. As soon as I get those numbers, I'll have a better, clear answer on how they're doing it. Great Thanks for being with us today, Anthony. Thank you for having me. I appreciate your help. Great.
Emily:Remember our next episode will be released next Friday at 9 am. Should you want to become a major supporter of the show or have questions, please contact us at micatrothvoice. com. If you know someone who should be on the show, contact us at micatrothvoice. com. We thank everyone for listening to the show. The content of the show is copyrighted by Rothvoice 2023. All rights reserved.