Terms and Conditions

LEGAL NOTICE, DISCLAIMER AND TERMS OF USE

Introduction:

By visiting www.ccso.org you agree to abide by the Terms of Use described below. We have created these rules and guidelines to protect you and to ensure that CCSO's website is safe for everybody. By agreeing to these terms, you are taking responsibility for your own actions. If you do not agree to the terms of use below, please do not access or use this site. Copyright © 2002 CCSO. All other rights reserved.

Legal Notice and Disclaimer:

CCSO obtains all information, downloadable files and software contained herein from sources believed by CCSO to be accurate and reliable. Because of the possibility of human and mechanical error as well as other factors, CCSO shall not be held responsible for any errors or omissions in the information, and/or downloadable files, and/or software available at the CCSO website. CCSO makes no representations, and expressly disclaims all responsibilities, about the suitability, for any purpose, of the information, downloadable files and/or software that are available to the user at the CCSO website. Information and software may be changed at any time without notice of any kind. The information and software on this site are provided "as is" without expressed or implied warranty of any kind. CCSO disclaims all warranties with regard to the information and/or software, including all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall CCSO be liable for any special, incidental, indirect or consequential damages or any other damages whatsoever, including without limitation, any loss of use, lost data, or lost profits or opportunity, or punitive damages, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort action, arising out of or in connection with the accuracy, use, or performance of the information, and/or downloadable files and/or software on CCSO's website.

Some U.S. states and foreign countries provide rights in addition to those above, or do not allow limitation or exclusion of implied warranties, or liability for incidental or consequential damages. Therefore, the above limitations may not apply to you or there may be state provisions that supersede the above. Any clause or any portion of a clause declared invalid shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remainder of the clause. These terms may only be amended in writing, must be signed by CCSO's authorized representatives, and shall be governed by the laws of the State of Florida.

Links to Third Party Sites :
The links to third parties contained within this website will allow you to leave CCSO’s site. The sites that are linked to CCSO’s site are not under the control of CCSO. CCSO is not, and shall not be, held responsible for the contents, in any way or form, of any linked site or of any link contained in a linked site. CCSO provides these links only as a convenience to you, the user of the website; and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by CCSO of the linked site.

Any rights not expressly granted by CCSO herein are expressly reserved.

CCSO Website Terms of Use

Acceptance of Terms of Use
www.ccso.org:
The access to CCSO’s site is provided free of charge to you by CCSO ("CCSO") under these Terms of Use. Although portions of CCSO’s site may be viewed simply by visiting the site, in order to access the Crime Tips Section of the site and/or receive additional services from CCSO you may need to sign on as a guest or register as a member of CCSO’s site. If you sign on to CCSO’s site as a guest or if you register as a member of CCSO’s site community, these Terms of Use will govern your use of CCSO’s site, including access to message boards and other features.

Actions that restrict or inhibit anyone - whether a person, entity or otherwise - in his or her use of CCSO’s web services, or that generate excessive network traffic through the use of automated or manual routines that are not related to ordinary personal or business use of the web site. Upon determining such types of conduct by an individual or entity or otherwise, CCSO may take action to prevent current or future disruption/restrictions against such activity.

This server and its data, images, etc. are provided for public informational purposes. Data mining / large bulk requests of this site are strictly prohibited. Large data requests from the data that this site provides, can be made through our records department. Please contact us at (941) 575-5251 or records@ccso.org for further information.

BY SIGNING ON TO / USING CCSO’S SITE AS A GUEST AND/OR BY COMPLETING THE REGISTRATION PROCESS AND/OR BY SELECTING THE CRIME TIPS OPTIONS, YOU ARE INDICATING YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE AS SUCH TERMS MAY BE MODIFIED FROM TIME TO TIME.

These Terms of Use govern your use of CCSO’s site and all services provided in connection with CCSO’s site. CCSO shall not be liable to you for any breach of these Terms of Use. In addition, CCSO does not bear any fiduciary responsibility to any user of this website. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, please do not register for or enter CCSO’s site. The Terms of Use for your continued use of CCSO’s site will be posted on the CCSO site. Please check this area before using CCSO’s site to determine whether a change has been made to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these changes in the Terms of Use as they may occur, please arrange to terminate your registration with CCSO’s site immediately (i) by notifying CCSO of your unwillingness to accept the changes to the Terms of Use; and (ii) by discontinuing your use of CCSO’s site. Your continued use of CCSO’s site shall be construed as, and shall constitute your acceptance of any and all changes in the terms and conditions set forth herein.

From time to time CCSO may supplement these Terms of Use with additional Terms pertaining to specific content or events ("Additional Terms"), which Additional Terms may be placed on CCSO’s site to be viewed in connection with the specific content or events and shall be identified as such. You understand and agree that such Additional Terms are hereby incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use.

Registration Information/Privacy Policy

Collection of Personal Information
When you engage in certain activities on this site, such as filling out forms, downloading software, or entering complaints, CCSO may ask you to provide certain information about yourself by filling out and submitting an online form. It is completely optional for you to engage in these activities. If you elect to engage in these activities, however, CCSO may require that you provide certain personal information, such as your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and other personal identifying information.

CCSO collects this information in order to record and support your participation in the activities you select. All information collected, regardless of type, will be protected pursuant to the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

If you would like your name deactivated from CCSO’s lists, or if you would like to unsubscribe from CCSO’s e-mail bulletins, please use the contact information below to request that CCSO deactivate you from its lists. Be sure to include your name, postal address, telephone number, information contained in your CCSO mailer, and/or other necessary information needed for deactivation.

CCSO will use reasonable efforts to honor your requests, but we appreciate your patience in allowing us a reasonable amount of time for processing.

Use of Cookies

When you visit www.ccso.org, you can surf the site anonymously and access important information without revealing your identity. In order to analyze and improve our site, we use "cookies" to track your visit. A cookie is small amount of data that is transferred to your browser by a Web server and can only be read by the server that gave it to you. It cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses.

Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. (For some Web pages that require an authorization, cookies are not optional. Users choosing not to accept cookies will not be able to access those pages.)

While CCSO uses cookies to track your visit to www.ccso.org, and our Web servers automatically log the IP/Internet address of your computer, this information does not identify you personally and you remain anonymous unless you have otherwise provided CCSO with personal information.

Please note that CCSO is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of non-CCSO Web sites to which www.ccso.org may link.

Users may send e-mail to us at webmaster@ccso.org with any further questions.

CCSO CONTACT INFORMATION:

Attn: CCSO - Web site Privacy
7474 Utilities Road
Punta Gorda, FL 33982
Telephone: (941) 639-2101
email: webmaster@ccso.org

Modifications of these Terms of Use

CCSO may modify these Terms of Use from time to time at its sole discretion. Each time you log on to CCSO’s site, you will be deemed to have accepted any such changes, unless you arrange to terminate your registration with CCSO’s site immediately (i) by notifying CCSO of your unwillingness to accept the changes to the Terms of Use; and (ii) by discontinuing your use of CCSO’s site.

Modifications of the CCSO Site

CCSO may modify or discontinue CCSO’s site with or without notice to you and without liability to you or to any third party.

Content of Messages

You also agree not to use CCSO’s site to send or post on message boards or any place on CCSO’s site, any message or material that is unlawful, harassing, libelous, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, inaccurate, or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature or that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation, or encourage the use of controlled substances. CCSO reserves the right to delete any such material from CCSO’s site. CCSO will cooperate fully with any law enforcement officials and/or agencies in the investigation of any person or persons who violate the Terms of Use contained in this Section 5.

You agree not to post or use CCSO’s site to distribute or send any illegal material of any kind, including but not limited to, illegal material in the form of text, graphics, video, programs or audio files. Posting content or participating in any form of discussion with the intention to commit any illegal activity is strictly prohibited.

You acknowledge that (i) CCSO permits access to content that is protected by copyrights, trademarks and other intellectual and proprietary rights ("Rights"); (ii) these Rights are valid and protected in all media and technologies existing now or later developed; and (iii) except as explicitly provided otherwise, the Terms of Use and applicable copyright, trademark and other laws govern your use of such content. You may not post to CCSO’s site, copy, reproduce, retransmit, distribute, publish, commercially exploit or otherwise transfer any material subject to any Rights. The burden of determining that Rights do not protect any information, software, images or any other content on CCSO’s site rests with you. You acknowledge that CCSO may acquire Rights to use any posted materials as described below, and that you will not acquire any of those Rights by downloading such materials.

Third Party Services

Special routing icons may be included within CCSO’s site, the activation of which will allow you to access and learn more about CCSO and other services provided by CCSO or its affiliates whereby the use of such icons is free of additional charge to you. When you access any of these services, your rights and obligations will be governed by the agreements and policies relating to the use of these services.

Disclaimer of Warranties

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF CCSO’S SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. CCSO’S SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. CCSO EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

CCSO MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT CCSO’S SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT CCSO’S SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES CCSO MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF CCSO’S SITE. CCSO WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, WHETHER FORESEEABLE OR NOT, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE UNAVAILABILITY OR MALFUNCTION OF CCSO’S SITE.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT ANY MATERIAL AND/OR DATA DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF CCSO’S SITE IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF SUCH MATERIAL AND/OR DATA.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT CCSO DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION IN OR PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH CCSO’S SITE. CCSO IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS OR FOR THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF SUCH INFORMATION. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT NEITHER CCSO NOR ITS MEMBERS, WHILE SUCH MEMBERS ARE PARTICIPATING IN CCSO’S SITE, ARE ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, BUSINESS, INVESTING, COUNSELING OR OTHER ADVISORY SERVICES. CCSO ENCOURAGES YOU TO SEEK APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE OR CARE FOR ANY SITUATION OR PROBLEM THAT YOU MAY HAVE.

CCSO SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED, OR ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN CAUSED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, BY THE INFORMATION OR IDEAS CONTAINED, SUGGESTED OR REFERENCED IN THIS SERVICE AREA. YOUR PARTICIPATION IN CCSO’S SITE IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM CCSO OR THROUGH CCSO’S SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN.

CCSO MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING ANY GOODS OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED THROUGH CCSO’S SITE OR ANY TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH CCSO’S SITE.

CCSO IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT ON THE INTERNET OR WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES THAT IS CONTAINED OUTSIDE CCSO’S SITE. AS A CONVENIENCE TO CCSO’S USERS, CCSO MAY PROVIDE LINKS TO RESOURCES THAT ARE BEYOND CCSO’S CONTROL. CCSO MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS AS TO THE QUALITY, SUITABILITY, FUNCTIONALITY OR LEGALITY OF ANY SITES TO WHICH CCSO MAY PROVIDE LINKS, AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY CLAIM YOU MIGHT HAVE AGAINST CCSO WITH RESPECT TO SUCH SITES.

Limitation of Liability

CCSO SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, RESULTING FROM THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE CCSO’S SITE OR FOR THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES OR RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH CCSO’S SITE OR RESULTING FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLES, EVEN IF CCSO HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Promotional Messages

CCSO may, from time to time, send e-mail messages to you containing advertisements, promotions, etc. CCSO makes no representation or warranty with respect to the content of any such e-mail messages or services that may be obtained from CCSO, and you agree that CCSO shall not have any liability with respect thereto.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold each officer and/or employee of CCSO, its parent companies, subsidiaries and affiliates, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of CCSO’s site, the violation of these Terms of Use by you, or the infringement by you, or any other user of your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.

Applicable Law

These Terms of Use shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflicts of laws provisions thereof. The sole jurisdiction and venue for actions related to the subject matter hereof shall be Florida State and U.S. Federal courts sitting in the County of Charlotte or, the Florida State and U.S. Federal courts having within their jurisdiction the location of CCSO's principal place of business. In any action or proceeding to enforce rights under this Agreement, the prevailing party will be entitled to recover costs and attorneys' fees.

Remedies for Breach of these Terms by You

In the event that CCSO determines, at its sole discretion, that you have breached any portion of these Terms of Use, or have otherwise demonstrated conduct inappropriate for the community of CCSO’s site, CCSO reserves the right to (i) warn you via e-mail that you have violated these Terms of Use; (ii) delete any content provided by you or your agent(s) to CCSO’s site, (iii) delete all content provided by you to CCSO’s site, (iv) discontinue your registration with CCSO’s site and/or any other CCSO community; (v) notify and/or send content to and/or fully cooperate with the proper law enforcement authorities for further action; and/or (vi) any other action which CCSO deems to be appropriate.

Miscellaneous

In the event that any provision of the Terms of Use conflicts with the law under which the Terms of Use are to be construed or if any such provisions are held invalid by a court with jurisdiction over the parties to the Terms of Use, such provision will be deemed to be restated to reflect as nearly as possible the original intentions of the parties in accordance with applicable law, and the remainder of these Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect.

The failure of either party to insist upon or enforce strict performance by the other party of any provision of the Terms of Use or to exercise any right under the Terms of Use will not be construed as a waiver or relinquishment to any extent of such party's right to assert or rely upon any such provision or right in that or any other instance, rather, the same will be and remain in full force and effect.

CCSO may assign its rights and obligations under these Terms of Use and upon such assignment CCSO may be relieved of any further obligation hereunder.

You represent to CCSO that you have the authority to register with CCSO’s site according to these Terms of Use.

These Terms of Use and any Additional Terms (as such terms shall be identified when posted on CCSO’s site by CCSO) constitute the entire understanding between the parties as to the subject matter herein, and supersede all prior agreements and understandings. Any legally unenforceable provision of these Terms of Use will, at the election of CCSO, be deleted or modified to correct the defect and, regardless, the remainder of the terms of these Terms of Use will remain valid and enforceable.

Social Media Terms of Use

By posting or commenting on any social media platform used by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, you participate by your own choice, taking personal responsibility for your comments, your username and any information you provide therein. You further agree to the following terms of use: The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office maintains a social media program for the purpose of engaging and interacting with our community, providing relevant and timely community news, information and events, distribution of crime prevention and public safety tips, for urgent notifications of critical incidents which may affect residents, business owners and visitors of Charlotte County.

Limited Public Forum

All social media platforms used by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office are designated as Limited Public Forums. The department welcomes a person’s right to express his/her opinion and encourages posters to keep comments relevant to the topic in question. Posting of any content on any social media platform used by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, by any visitor, follower, subscriber or fan, constitutes acceptance of the terms of use described here in this policy. For purposes of this policy, a social media platform is the website or app offered to the public to provide audio, video, still-photo or written communication between other members of the public and/or representatives of certain groups, businesses, organizations or departments. Examples of social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, website blogs with commenting capabilities, forums and emergency notification services. The definition of content as used in this policy refers to any written copy, photos, graphics, videos, live-video streams, comments or any form of communicative content exchanged between parties.

Emergency or Non-Emergency Requests for Police Assistance

The posting of requests for police assistance, regardless if it is of an emergency or non-emergency nature, is discouraged and will not guarantee a response by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office or any emergency service provider. In case of an emergency, or if police assistance is needed, please dial 911. If you wish to report a crime or information relevant to a crime, please call 941-639-0013. You may remain anonymous if you wish. In the event you post information related to a crime, you may be placing yourself in a position of becoming a witness and subject to being subpoenaed into court.

Endorsements

“Friending” or “Liking” the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, or an officer or employee of the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, does not indicate an endorsement of that person’s actions or comments. A comment posted by a member of the public on any Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office social media site is the opinion of the commentator or poster only. Publication of a comment does not imply endorsement of, or agreement by, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, nor do such comments necessarily reflect our opinions or policies.

Moderation of Content

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office’s social media platforms are intended to be "family friendly." When applicable, the department uses platform provided content moderation/filtering options to limit foul or obscene content. The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office does actively monitor the social media platforms used by the department, and will remove inappropriate content as defined below, without prior notice, and as soon as possible. The department shall reserve the right to remove and/or block anyone who posts inappropriate material as determined by the department. This material may include, but is not limited to:

  1. Comments not related to the original topic, including random or unintelligible comments;
  2. Profane, obscene, or pornographic content and/or language;
  3. Content that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, or national origin;
  4. Defamatory or personal attacks;
  5. Threats to any person or organization;
  6. Comments in support of, or in opposition to, any political campaigns or ballot measures;
  7. Solicitation of commerce, including but not limited to advertising of any business or product for sale;
  8. Conduct in violation of any federal, state or local law;
  9. Encouragement of illegal activity;
  10. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems;
  11. Content that violates a legal ownership interest, such as a copyright, of any party;
  12. Harassment or content which constitutes and/or facilitates stalking;
  13. Content which violates the right to privacy;
  14. Encouragement of violence;
  15. Repetitive content;
  16. Comments that may reasonably interfere with, inhibit, or compromise law enforcement investigations, police tactics, police responses to incidents and/or the safety of police staff and officers.
  17. Posts or comments that contain any external links.