Thread: Greg's Stack-of-Stuff

Five Tampa Police officers in hot water

Feb 16, 2006
By: Sara Dorsey

Tampa, Florida — Thirteen pages of documents sum up why female officer Martha Gearity asked for a transfer out of her all male street anti-crime last August, even though it's one of the most elite teams to work for at the Tampa Police Department.

"To be involved in this type of behavior the behavior is outrageous it's highly unacceptable it's unbecoming a police officer and it's a sad day at TPD that we're even standing here discussing it."

The behavior according to the investigation includes constant flagellation, belching and excessive sexual joking by male officers. It says quote "officer Gearity said that they talked about anal sex, they watched pornographic movies at work, talked about their sex lives in the open, made reference to her menstruation, joked about having homosexual relations with one another in graphic detail and took pictures of a penis with a camera phone."

Those involved include Officer Gregory Cotner, Officer David Duncan, Officer Ryan Sigler, and their superiors Corporal David Watt and Sergeant Gene Strickland.

"We immediately disbanded the members of this squad and then launched our own investigation and then we learned about the sexually charged and offensive environment of the squad."

In the documents Officer Gearity recalled Officer Cotner simulating as if he was grabbing her behind. Gearity goes on to say, "Officer Sigler was simulating that, like he was grinding me like having sex."

The sexual harassment isn't the end of it. Both the Corporal and Sergeant were found guilty of carrying and firing unauthorized weapons on duty and violating the responsibility of supervisors for letting a traffic stop escalate out of control.

It was also found the team did not have jurisdiction when it went into Hillsborough County to arrest Eugene Betts in that case Sergeant Strickland was struck in the ankle by cross fire.

"The discipline that these officers will face will certainly reflect the disappointment that this department feels."

The Sergeant has been moved to desk duty and the three officers and corporal are on patrol under strict supervision while the disciplinary process moves forward. Tampa police say an advisory board will recommend to the chief what actions should be taken, but the chief has the ultimate say.

All the men face anything from suspension to demotion to termination.

Sara Dorsey, Tampa Bay's 10 News

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Tampa Officer's Gun, Gear, Car Stolen

By VALERIE KALFRIN vkalfrin@tampatrib.com
Published: Jan 31, 2006
TAMPA - A Tampa police officer lost his 9 mm handgun, Taser, laptop computer and gun belt when someone stole his patrol car from his Manatee County house this weekend, officials said.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office speculated Monday that whoever stole Tampa police Officer Roderick Glyder's car and gear also swiped a patrol car belonging to a Sarasota police officer, who lost an AR-15 rifle that was in the car. Manatee deputies recovered both cars, although not the equipment, within a few blocks of each other, Manatee sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow said.

The FBI was not aware of the thefts Monday afternoon, an agency spokeswoman said.

The thief most likely will not be able to access criminal records, driver registrations and other databases on the Tampa officer's computer because of multiple passwords, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

The department recommends officers take belongings inside at night. Investigators are not sure why Glyder did not. McElroy said Glyder left the state before the theft because of a family emergency and has not been interviewed.

Glyder, 40, has worked for the Tampa Police Department since 1994. His wife reported the patrol car stolen about midnight Friday, officials said.

Manatee deputies found the car about 11:50 a.m. Saturday, parked in the 6700 block of Tuttle Avenue in Bradenton, a few miles from the officer's home, Bristow said.

The car was not damaged. Bristow would not say how investigators think the thief entered the car.

About 9:30 p.m. Saturday, a patrol car parked at the home of Sarasota Officer Leeylvester Scales vanished, Bristow said. Manatee deputies found that car about 2:30 a.m. Sunday - with the engine running and a window broken - on Tuttle Avenue near where the Tampa car was abandoned.

Allowing officers to take cars home is common. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, St. Petersburg Police Department and Pinellas County Sheriff's Office allow it.

There are some restrictions. Pinellas deputies who live outside the county must leave the car locked at a sheriff's district station or substation or at another location designated by the sheriff, officials said.

Tampa police officers may take cars home if they live in a county adjacent to Hillsborough, McElroy said. Those who live in a county farther away, such as Hernando County, must park the car overnight in a safe location at the county line, such as a toll plaza, she said.

Even with the commute, parking the car overnight and during the officers' days off reduces wear and tear on the vehicles, according to a study conducted for the Tampa police, McElroy said.

In addition, having the cars allows officers to respond to calls quicker when traveling to and from work, and they act as a crime deterrent in neighborhoods.

Originally Posted by Greg

Tampa Officer's Gun, Gear, Car Stolen

The department recommends officers take belongings inside at night. Investigators are not sure why Glyder did not.

Greg,
Notice that this PD does not require their officers to bring their equipment inside their homes, its only a recommendation. I know of officers that leave their equipment in the trunk because they have kids at home. There have been several cases where an officer’s kid has gotten a hold of the service weapon and shot themselves or someone else. Even if the weapon is under lock and key because in some of those cases the kids found the keys.

Smoothing the Transition (into Federal Retirement)

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0606/062306rp.htm

Special Report | Channel leaders: Trust is a foundation you can’t do without

By Nick Wakeman
Washington Technology
06/26/06

For William Smithson, a successful project starts with trust.

When building a team to work on projects with the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan, Smithson, vice president of financial systems applications development at SI International Inc., brings in experienced people he can trust. “I let them hire their own staffs, so they have people under them that they trust,” he said.

The results speak for themselves. The original project was for Web development and needed about 20 people. Today, more than 300 SI and subcontractor employees are working under Smithson.

In 2000, he won the first contract with Matcom International Corp. SI acquired Matcom at the end of 2003, and Smithson continued to run the Thrift projects. “I was tickled pink when Bill’s team was brought under me at SI,” said Tom Pettit, SI’s senior vice president of applications development.

Projects at the Thrift include building a new application to manage the retirement plans, moving a data center and building a call center to serve members of the plan. The Thrift Savings Plan manages about $186 billion in assets and has 3.6 million participants in the plan, which is open to government employees and is similar to 401(k) plans in the private sector.

“I’m not much of a babysitter as a supervisor,” Smithson said. “My basic style is to hire good people and get out of their way.”

The team-building approach also extends to subcontractors. Teammates on the projects include Computer Access LLC, Computer Sciences Corp., Keane Federal Systems Inc., Integrated Benefits Solutions Inc., Jacob and Sundstrom Inc., Savantage Solutions Inc. and SunGard Data Systems Inc.

Having good teammates is critical, Smithson said. Often, they’ll have knowledge and expertise that SI might not have inhouse, he said.

Before the SI acquisition, Smithson’s team took on a troubled project that had failed under American Management Systems Inc. Without commenting on the AMS situation, Smithson said that “what happens on many large efforts is they get bid conservatively and then staffed with inexperienced people. When problems arise, they have not run into the situation before.”

Smithson said he tries to bring in experienced people and let them work, but he supplements that strategy with a trust-but-verify approach that includes regular meetings with his staff and progress reports.

In June 2005, SI won an $18 million Thrift contract to replace a call center in New Orleans with one in Virginia. Two days before the center was to open, Hurricane Katrina struck. Smithson’s team opened the new center early and supported the New Orleans center until all of its operations could be moved.

Smithson is quick to praise the Thrift for its role in the success Matcom, and now SI, have had.

“I like having a close working relationship with them,” he said of Thrift staff. “We have conference calls; they are invited to watch my developers; they have access to everything.”


William Smithson, vice president, SI International Inc.