What’s interesting on your latest drone boy article is this. Why is there a TAP – Captain, never heard of this before in my 35 years. It’s typical handled by a LT who reports to a captain. This LT is assigned a county “rescue” 4×4 unit that’s valued around $85k. I wonder what drone boy is driving. (Prior to Captain Taylor the…) last two (were) Lt’s assigned to this spot. Makes ya wonder. Adds credence to sniff taking care of his buddies. This is drone boys third program he has headed. His last as captain was the license plates readers which he received monies directly from the company.
Stunned, I asked a follow-up question: He was being paid by the reader company while running the RSO program for it?
Yes when he was in palm desert then when promoted / transferred to thermal it continued. He would wear their collared shirts to work and other functions lol. I don’t recall the company name
So, while writing a breaking news post a couple weeks ago, I seemed to have stumbled across more corruption as the information on Frank “Drone Boy” Taylor came in fast and furious.
It also looks like Taylor performed in the time-honored tradition of workplace sexual affairs.
Mr. Taylor also appears to have gotten himself fired at some point for excessive use of force, and common for fired deputies got his job back somehow after being fired.
Well, we got another problem. Taylor is Quadruple-Dipping the taxpayers!
First – His Pension, Second, His “TAP” program pay, $60ish an hour X 960 Hours a year. Third, his “Consulting” business with the county running the now 4-year-old Drone Program (which is not operational yet). Fourth? Oh mama, that’s the potential felony, read on…
Enter another Anonymous Source (Known to me, like the first one): (I did not correct the typos to ensure authenticity of the source’s comments)
Aaron,
Here is a photo from a recent failed drone operation. Drone Boy lost the $45K drone in the hills. If radio connection is lost, the drone is “designed” to return to base. Well, this did not happen…the drone disappeared in the hills and could not be found. It took 7 different Deputies, over 4 hours to find this toy. It was in pieces on the side of a steep hilside.Most drones are helicopter style; however, Drone Boy convinced Sniffles to buy a plane type, why. Wait for it, because Frank Taylor was a representative for the same company. So after commission for selling the Sheriff “two” drones, at a cost of 45K each, he was hired as a TAP employee to run the program. All while collecting his retirement. Cost of training, another 100K.Several submissions were suggested, including a $5k model helicopter. So the only reason to go with the more expensive plane model, would be some type of kick back ? Why spend 45k for somethimg that had not been proven to work in our evironment. Bannings Drone (helicopter style) can fly 5 miles and still be controlled. Distance on the Sheriff’s drone, “line of site”
Lets not for get Frank was teaching for College of the Desert and driving his County car when he had a student move his car and it ignited because of a green gas leak from all the supplies he had in his county car making a college wage. The car burst into flames and severely burnt a student. Hmmm why you driving a county car for personal gain. Why is a non county employee driving a county car
If this wasn’t so corrupt it would be a comedy in the making.
There are several more of stan sniffs cronies that are TAP employees and have been for years. Most of them are “consultants” doing nothing more than ripping off the county like Frank. But he will spout off in a quick second that he doesn’t have enough money to protect children by staffing the child predator task force, or staff the CCW unit, or the gang task force. It’s all about priorities,…
There is no doubt this man is stealing from the taxpayers and the Sheriff’s Department is facilitating theft. TAP and “consulting” is one of the perks Der Fürher’s marionettes have to look forward to in order to pad their pockets.
The BOS would be doing the taxpayers a service to look into all of the TAP employees (that must be approved by the 2nd Floor, BTW) to see whether they are simply collecting the extra income for doing nothing or if they are in the mega-fee stratosphere drone-toy-boy is collecting.
I know of an investigator who was a trained computer expert that transferred from CATCH (the department’s computer crime department, probably being used by Sniffles to investigate this blog among other things). The station he worked provided a desktop and the program to investigate computer cases for them so they didn’t have to wait for CATCH since they were backlogged.
So he retires and the sergeant puts in TAP request so he could come back from time to time and work a computer case (you know, like missing kids, sexual exploitation) and the 2nd Floor turned the request down.
I’m sure the extra bucks would have been nice, but knowing the investigator I’m sure he would have done it for free. And they didn’t have to train him since he was already trained! The training alone is several thousand dollars and they let him walk away!
And yet, they let current TAP employees like Gonzalez and Amar go. They should have contributed some of that TAP money to Der Fürher.
Meanwhile, this drone boy is siphoning funds so he can crash and burn these expensive toys that have proven to be outdated and inoperable because of the terrain and technology. Drones aren’t rocket science, how many departments deploy them at minimal expense and with ease of operation?
But yet, Barnum Bailey has convinced these ass clowns there needs to be “testing” and “training” and whatever the fuck.
It’s easy to see how the 2nd Floor hand picks who they reward.
THE WASTEFUL SPENDING HAS TO STOP.
RE PRIORITIZE THE DEPARTMENT
VOTE FOR BIANCO!!
Although I agree there is the spending areas that can be addressed, but the Court assigned TAP employees are paid for by the State under Trial Court Funding and actually saves money to the Sheriff’s Department.
Jesus Freak, I am not sure where you read these were Court Assigned TAP employees. These are RivCo HR TAP employees, which was budgeted by the BOS? There is so much fraud occuring with retired Sheriff Administrators being paid while on retirement it is disappointing. There are some that have been assigned to build the Sheriff’s Museum for the past 5 years ! With no Museum in site ? It’s the will of Sniff to pay his friends for just hanging around and playing with toys. Lets look at the real problem, there are TAP employees getting paid for doing nothing within the Sheriff’s Department. This is the real issue we should be focusing on, regardless of who might be paying for it.
I mean look at this bill!! Guy Fawkes is correct, I’m referring to the loads who are given their TAP jobs at the same time they are given their (Captain or above) retirement badge. Take a look at their “jobs” and question what they are “consulting” to earn their outrageous salaries.
@Jesus Freak, if you’re one of the Court TAPS, you go with your badness. I understand these positions can and do save the department and taxpayers loads of money whilst putting an extra case of beer in your fridge or perhaps assisting with subsidizing your health care expense (which lieutenants and above get in their retirement packages, BTW).
But where there is goodness, there is also those out to exploit and use for their personal gain. This is what’s going on behind our backs under Sniff’s so called leadership.
These are reasons enough to help getting rid of the tyrant. Help by posting the NEW SHERIFF – 2018 sign on your front lawn, bumper sticker, t-shirt, etc.
Let the 2nd Floor know WE WILL NOT TAKE YOUR SHIT SANDWICHES ANY LONGER!!
VOTE FOR BIANCO!!
TAP employees in the court are being removed. These employees make almost 1/2 of what a too step Sep makes, so getting rid of these bailiffs tap employees is going to cost the county more money. I think this is what Jesus Freak was saying…. and therefore he would be correct
Sniff promotes Frank Taylor from Lt to Captain. Taylor stated with the department for just a year as captain and then retired and got Sniff to give him a fat TAP gig. Sniff was an aided and abetted in the pension-spiking by Taylor. This is what gives these type of bureaucrats such a bad name.
Sniff complains about the salaries of the deputies and blames the BOS for the negotiated raises which the employees traded for reduced pension benefits.
Here, Sniff helps Taylor gouge taxpayers by spiking his pension and then giving Taylor more than $50,000 a year on top of his $144,000 annual pension for life. Sniff sucks.