Getting DUI arrests meant more than the law to Holly Lofland, corrupt Tallahassee cop
To say that Holly Lofland’s career has come to an inglorious end would be an understatement. The Tallahassee Police Department investigator was honored by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers in April of this year, after making 2,000 DUI arrests during her 18-year career. By summer’s end, she was being investigated by TPD and the State Prosecutor’s office. She’s now on an unpaid leave of absence that could last a year, and she's been sentenced to six months probation.
State Attorney Willie Meggs was so incensed by Lofland’s behavior, he fired off a three-page letter to TPD Chief Dennis Jones. In it he cited a “long and ongoing problem with Officer Lofland” and the egregious discrepancies between Lofland’s arrest reports and what can be clearly seen on the videos shot by the investigator’s in-car camera:
“Officer Lofland writes that the defendant … missed tip to tip 4 of 6 attempts” from the video it appears the defendant in fact touched his nose all 6 times.” Regarding another of Lofland's arrests, Meggs wrote
“…arm raised for balance, 29 shifts/hops” (that simply does not happen).”
But what finally caught up to Lofland wasn’t even the fabricated arrest records; it was the contempt of court charges that resulted from her talking to other witnesses during a trial. Among other things, she complained that another officer should have made something up to corroborate another officer’s story.
There’s a motion to investigate Lofland for perjury. More than 100 of her arrests are under review. The State Attorney's office and Police Department--already shamed by their part in the death of confidential informant Rachel Hoffman--have lost credibility in the community.
Rumors abound about the way Lofland targeted, intimidated and harassed young girls on their way into or out of local clubs. There are stories of her arresting a girl for drunk driving while the young woman was standing in a parking lot. She wasn’t even the driver! Other people say she planted evidence to get her arrests.
My friend’s brother was drunk when he crashed his motorcycle; age at death: 18. A friend of a friend killed a woman and her children last year when he ran a stop sign, drunk. I saw a bumper sticker on a minivan the other day that read “A drunk driver killed my daughter.”
A lot of her arrested drunk drivers were probably guilty, and the roads are safer with them gone. And we’re all safer with Lofland off the streets.