Raymond Hicks Settlement: Arrest, Denied Rehire, and Baker Act

The Raymond Hicks settlement was a 2003 agreement resolving his wrongful termination lawsuit against the Broward Sheriff’s Office: BSO rescinded his firing, let him resign, and paid him $100,000 in back pay, on the condition that he would never be eligible for re-employment with the agency.¹ That last clause would matter a great deal ten years later.

The Arrest That Started It

In June 2000, Hicks, then a BSO jail deputy, was one of eight men arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine as part of an interstate drug ring operating across Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. The charges carried a minimum of ten years and a maximum of life.²

Hicks has maintained ever since that he was framed by colleagues after witnessing deputies plant drugs on suspects and preparing to report it. When he raised the issue with superiors, he says, he was told he “should mind my own business.”³ He spent roughly sixteen and a half months in jail before a jury acquitted him of all charges in 2001.⁴

What the 2003 Settlement Said

The acquittal did not restore his job. BSO fired Hicks for misconduct related to the trafficking case, and he sued for wrongful termination.⁴ The 2003 settlement had three moving parts. The termination was rescinded. Hicks was permitted to resign instead. He received $100,000 in back pay.¹

The condition attached to those terms was blunt. Hicks was “not eligible for re-employment and any application for re-employment can be rejected based upon the terms of this agreement.”⁵

The 2013 Denied Rehire

Hicks campaigned energetically for Scott Israel in the 2012 Broward County sheriff’s race, appearing regularly at the Lauderhill Mall during the Democratic primary.⁶ After Israel won, Hicks believed he would be given an administrative role at the agency, though the specifics of any promise are unclear.⁵

In April 2013, BSO denied his application, pointing to his background and to the irrevocable resignation letter he had signed as part of the 2003 settlement.⁶ Israel later described Hicks publicly as a “good person in a tough place.”

The Video and the Baker Act Hold

In late April 2013, Hicks posted a YouTube video expressing deep frustration with Israel and BSO. He invoked Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles officer who had carried out a deadly rampage earlier that year, saying, “I don’t want to be the next Christopher Dorner,” and asking for outside intervention because “time is running out.”¹ He said he had purchased an AK-47 with 180 rounds of ammunition and told his mother, “You might as well get your black dress because I’ll tell you right now, I cannot take this no more.”⁴

Israel said the video “spoke for itself.” According to Hicks, a SWAT team confronted him as he walked to his car in uniform for his job as an armed security guard, aiming rifles and ordering him to the ground in front of his ten-year-old son.⁴ He was taken to Florida Medical Center and placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold under Florida’s Baker Act, which allows up to 72 hours of observation when a person is believed to be a danger to themselves or others. No criminal charges were reported in connection with the video or the SWAT encounter. Hicks later said, “I would never ever go out and shoot anybody.”⁵

What Hicks Has Said Since

Hicks published a 128-page book about his case, I’m Still Standing, on June 26, 2015, describing what he characterizes as wrongful incarceration and institutional retaliation.⁷ In March 2023, he appeared on Whistleblower Network News in an interview with former FBI whistleblower Jane Turner, discussing retaliation against officers who report misconduct.³ Around the same time, he and co-organizer Travis Rapp launched a GoFundMe campaign to finance a film based on the book.⁸

1
Sun Sentinel. Ex-BSO Deputy Hospitalized Under Baker Act After Troubling Video
2
Sun Sentinel. Deputy One of Eight Jailed in Drug Ring
3
Whistleblower Network News. They Told Me I Should Mind My Own Business — WNN Exclusive Interview With Law Enforcement Whistleblower Raymond Hicks
4
NBC Miami. Former Broward Sheriffs Office Deputy Hospitalized After Posting YouTube Video
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Police1. Ex-Fla. Cop Boasting to Be Next Dorner Hospitalized
6
Sun Sentinel. Activist: Troubled Ex-Deputy Campaigned Tirelessly
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Amazon. Im Still Standing by Raymond Hicks
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GoFundMe. Raymond Hicks a True Story of Police Corruption