[DanielDent]

Florida has embraced open records laws, while other US jurisdictions have not - certainly not to the same extent.

A significant portion of your observation can likely be attributed to reporting bias: it's easy/cheap for a journalist to browse the website of their local Florida police department. In another jurisdiction, that same story might involve: hiring an investigative journalist, spending 3 months, and fighting to have a FOIA request honoured.

[dakrootie]

Thank you. I was waiting for someone to bring this up. Native Floridian, born and raised. My whole life I’ve lovingly referred to our mad little peninsula as “The Freakshow State” (from personal observation growing up in Miami-Dade). This area most certainly deserves the title, but there’s a whole lotta state left. Boring orange groves, swamp, and simple folk. If you stay away from a few metropolitan areas you’ll be good. Some areas are indeed crazy, but the public transparency laws paint the whole state as a festering cesspool.

[ukulele]

My family vacations there every year and my grandparents lived there for 30 years. I can assure you the crazy is real and not imagined.

[macroexpanse]

You're not wrong about the crazy. The point is that it's not just Florida.

[ianai]

Let us not forget, it was Nevadans who "occupied" an animal refuge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Malheur_Nati...