When I was a cop many years ago, we always got unlimited free coffee at any Royal Castle coffee shop—they were open 24 hours a day. In twenty years, they had never had a robbery at any Royal Castle, except once during a hurricane, when they were serving food out the back door. The folks at Royal Castle got a million dollars worth of police protection for the price of that cup of coffee. Laws were enacted that stopped the practice sometime in the 70's. But, the free coffee idea is different from a situation where a police officer uses his or her badge (backed by a gun, a black jack and the possibility of a trip to jail) to get something for him or herself. Apparently, the legislature of Florida feels the same way. Title X, "Code of Ethics for Public Officers" chapter 112, part III, section 112.313(6) says the following: "Misuse of Public Position"—No public officer, employee of an agency, or local government attorney shall corruptly use or attempt to use his or her official position or any property or resource which may be within his or her trust, or perform his or her official duties, to secure a special privilege, benefit, or exemption for himself, herself, or others. Recently, a Cedar Key police officer resigned as a result of being recorded in the act of soliciting something for his personal use, using the threat of a loss of public housing if he brought certain facts to the attention of the public housing authority. I am being purposely vague, because my source of information was the TV set and I do not really know the facts of the case. This was around May 31st of this year. Representatives of this newspaper have asked members of the City Commission and the Police Chief several times about the progress of this case. We have always received the same answer, that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is handling the case and that no other information is available. The Chief of Police recently responded that a resolution of the case "could take weeks, if not months." Curious, I thought. Here we have an officer allegedly being recorded making his demands, and the case could take "weeks or even months." If it were some citizen, even arrested for a minor charge, their justice would be sure and swift. So I did some checking. I called the FDLE in Gainesville. They advised me that they had never heard of the officer in question and that I should call FDLE Standards and Training in Tallahassee. I called there and a representative of the agency advised that they had received a notification of the resignation of the officer in question and that no other action was being taken. They explained that the FDLE does not investigate resignations unless asked to do so by the resigning officer's administrator. That request had not been received by the FDLE. More curiosity. I called the State's Attorney's Office in Gainesville and was informed that no formal complaint had been made to that office concerning this case. I spoke to a representative of the Levy County Sheriff's Office asking about the status of the case, and they replied that I would have to speak to the Cedar Key Police Chief. Round and round we go, and where she stops--nobody knows. No investigation by the FDLE, no complaint to the State's Attorney's Office and a side step from the Sheriff's Office. If the facts of the case are true, then shouldn't the officer get his day in court, just like the rest of us? Perhaps, the "weeks or even months" statement really means that the whole affair is just supposed to quietly go away. |
