{"id":370490,"date":"2026-08-13T16:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/370490\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T16:32:09","slug":"florida-officers-placed-on-leave-during-campaign-sign-investigations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/370490\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida officers placed on leave during campaign sign investigations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Port St. Lucie police officers placed on leave during campaign sign investigations<\/p>\n

\"Angela<\/a>PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n

The Port St. Lucie Police Department has placed three officers on paid administrative leave as part of investigations into two incidents involving political campaign signs near SW Airoso Boulevard last week. <\/p>\n

The officers placed on leave effective Aug. 11, 2026, are Lt. Aaron Martin, Lt. Jason Vega, and Detective Sgt. Joseph Alves. According to the department, the criminal investigation must be completed before the internal administrative investigation begins to ensure both processes are conducted independently and appropriately. <\/p>\n

POLITICAL SIGNS: Port St. Lucie police investigate campaign sign disputes involving mayoral candidates<\/a><\/p>\n

Chief Leo Niemczyk reviewed the initial facts and timeline surrounding the incidents before determining the next steps. “Before determining the appropriate course of action, the Chief carefully reviewed the initial facts and timeline surrounding the incidents to ensure the information available was accurate and established,” the department said. <\/p>\n

Niemczyk requested assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to ensure the investigation remains fair, impartial, and unbiased. FDLE has agreed to take over the criminal investigation into the campaign sign incidents. <\/p>\n

The Port St. Lucie Police Department stated it will not provide additional information or comment on matters being handled by FDLE. All questions regarding the criminal investigation should be directed to FDLE. <\/p>\n

Once the criminal investigation concludes, the department’s internal administrative investigation will proceed in accordance with established procedures, applicable law, and the Florida Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights. <\/p>\n

The Port St. Lucie Police Department reiterated its commitment to conducting all investigations fairly, impartially, and in alignment with its longstanding values of integrity, professionalism, and accountability.<\/p>\n

Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Port St. Lucie police officers placed on leave during campaign sign investigations PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[149900,2443,149897,11853,5700,28,40063,658,4211,149898,149899,667,1598,38313,15159,132,149896,171,173,172,2458,189],"class_list":["post-370490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-aaron-martin","tag-angela-rozier","tag-campaign-sign-investigation","tag-department","tag-fdle","tag-florida","tag-florida-officer","tag-incident","tag-information","tag-initial-fact","tag-internal-administrative-investigation","tag-investigation","tag-law-enforcement","tag-leave","tag-lt","tag-police","tag-political-signs","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-timeline","tag-wpbf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}