One of the saddest and most shocking cases of police negligence in recent date occurred right here in Tallahassee on May 7th, 2008. The story of former Florida State University student Rachel Hoffman is one that elicits awe, anger and contempt for the pure negligence, absence of preparation and lack of common sense shown by the Tallahassee police department that bereaved Irving Hoffman and Marjorie Weiss of their beloved daughter.
On April 17th, 2008, the Tallahassee police department searched Rachel Hoffman’s apartment and found and seized 150 grams of marijuana and 6 nonprescription pills. This put Rachel in a very bad situation legally. The Tallahassee Police Department told her that the felony charges she faced were very serious and would most likely include jail time. However, they gave her an alternative. TPD informed her that she could “make the charges go away,” if she agreed to act as a confidential informant for them. Rachel agreed without any legal counsel because TPD informed her not to tell anybody about the deal. TPD broke their own policies and did not inform the state attorney’s office or the drug court of what they found in Rachel Hoffman’s apartment. If they had, Rachel Hoffman would not have been allowed to serve as an informant due to drug court contract. This was only the first of many questionable decisions committed by TPD.
After Rachel agreed to serve as a confidential informant, the supervising case manager for the Tallahassee Police Department constructed a plan that consisted of Rachel purchasing 1,500 MDMA pills (better known as ecstasy), 2 to 3 ounces of cocaine and a gun from Andrea Green and Daneilo Bradshaw. Green and Bradshaw were previously convicted of violent crimes and were under confidential investigation at the time and had never had contact with Rachel before this operation. Normally, in operations such as the one Rachel agreed to take part in, the informant would have at least a vague knowledge of the dealings of what the operation entails. Rachel however, had no prior experience with purchasing cocaine, MDMA or firearms.
As the operation neared closer, the Tallahassee Police Department promised Rachel that she would be under constant visual and audio surveillance and be in audio contact with TPD for the duration of the operation, all promises that were undoubtedly broken. During the briefing of the police officers involved in the operation, TPD intentionally or unintentionally left out the fact that a firearm would be present during the deal.
At 6:40 p.m. on May 7th, 2008, Rachel Hoffman arrived at Forestmeadows Park, the location where the operation was originally planned to occur. Rachel received a cell phone call from Green and Bradshaw changing the location of the deal to Gardner Road, outside the city limits. As Rachel drove away from Forestmeadows Park, TPD lost visual sight of Rachel and audio communication with her was lost. Rachel had no way of knowing that she was no longer being monitored by the same people who promised that she would be under surveillance the entire operation. TPD chose not to intervene with the operation despite the fact that they were a mere two minutes from Gardner Road. By the time police finally arrived at Gardner Road, the only pieces of evidence they found was one flip flop sandal, two live and one spent .25 caliber rounds and tire marks. Little did they know, Andrea Green and Danielo Bradshaw murdered Rachel Hoffman with the very same handgun she was told to purchase.
At 2 am on May 8th, 2008, Sergeant Odom of the Tallahassee Police Department called Marjorie Weiss and Irving Hoffman, Rachel’s parents, and informed them that there daughter was missing but did not elaborate any further. Sergeant Odom continued to tell Rachel’s parents that their daughter was missing and continued to not relinquish any further information, even after they drove to Tallahassee from Pinellas county.
Two days later, Rachel’s body was found near Perry, Florida with multiple gunshot wounds. The Chief and Public Information Officer of the Tallahassee Police Department made an appearance before the media informing that Rachel’s death was due to her not following “established protocols,” but did not expound on what these “protocols” were.
Green and Bradshaw were indicted for the murder of Rachel Hoffman, the Tallahassee Police Department were found to have committed a total of 14 acts of negligence based on their own policies and procedures and the City of Tallahassee dismissed the case manager of the operation. Rachel’s parents are now seeking compensation from the City of Tallahassee for the unresolved grief directly resulting from the loss of their only child.
The amount the parents are seeking is undisclosed, but I believe it will be in the range of eight figures. I hope the tragic story of Rachel Hoffman will cause police departments everywhere to more seriously consider who they select to be confidential informants and to more meticulously prepare for potentially dangerous undercover operations.
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