North Port Police: A legacy of leniency - Sarasota Herald

But none of the officers involved were fired or suspended for their actions in these cases.

Indeed, North Port police officials ignore serious infractions and allow repeat offenders to remain on the force regardless of their conduct, according to a Herald-Tribune investigation.

Nowhere is this more evident than in a recent case involving a wild, embarrassing party, an episode that led to two officers being accused of sexual battery. The case led to one officer’s suicide and another’s resignation, and now has the police chief fighting to save his job.

The majority of North Port officers perform their jobs with honor and distinction, but the newspaper’s review of 18 years’ worth of city records shows that many who committed serious offenses were allowed to return to duty without serious repercussions.

To analyze the city’s handling of misconduct, the newspaper examined the department’s internal affairs log, obtained more than a dozen reports and interviewed 15 former employees, current officials and law enforcement experts.

Among the findings:

• Officers were allowed to remain on the force even after repeated investigations. Nineteen officers have been investigated three or more times for offenses ranging from “conduct unbecoming” to burglary. Seven people were investigated five or more times — four of whom are still on the force, including Officer Eric Stender. Stender has been investigated eight times for 11 violations of department rules. The allegations were sustained five times. The records do not contain details of the actual violations, other than to say he committed unsafe acts and had questions raised about his competency, courtesy and respect.

• Even when there is confirmed misconduct, supervisors are often forgiving. More than a third of all sustained charges resulted in the lightest form of punishment, a written reprimand. Eighteen percent of the internal investigations led to a suspension or firing.

In one case, Officers John McKinney and Todd Choiniere were accused of entering a man’s home by cutting the screen of his lanai — without a warrant or the homeowner’s consent — to investigate a misdemeanor loud music complaint. The pair were accused of collaborating to omit certain details of their entry in their reports. McKinney received a written reprimand. Choiniere had already been terminated for an unrelated offense: handcuffing his wife and throwing her into their pool during a domestic fight.

• The agency’s internal affairs data are in disarray. The cases are kept in a written log, key elements, such as outcomes and discipline, are missing from the records, complicating efforts to quickly determine how often an officer has been investigated or disciplined. It took the Herald-Tribune about three hours to turn the written log into an electronic spreadsheet and conduct an analysis of the data.

While other police chiefs also allowed officers to return to duty after serious misconduct, the March party has put Chief Kevin Vespia in the crosshairs of the city manager, the City Commission and the public.

North Port has hired an outside agency to conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of Vespia’s department. City Manager Jonathan Lewis says he will use the results of that inquiry to evaluate the chief.

Vespia would not comment on internal affairs cases that happened before he took office and recognized that the party would bring extra scrutiny. But he defended the agency in an hourlong interview with the Herald-Tribune and says recent events are not a reflection of the department.

“People are people,” said Vespia, who has been with the agency since 1999. “Sometimes they make poor decisions. Our policy is pretty clear, but you can’t possibly be in the loop about all of your people.”

History

Vespia is not the first North Port chief to face criticism for his handling of misconduct, and internal affairs records are rife with questionable disciplinary practices by the city.

During his decade as chief, David Yurchuck fired three people — including one who was reinstated by the city manager after he was fired for violating the department’s rules concerning truthfulness and honesty. Another officer, Eric Stender, was investigated four times over four years under Yurchuck’s tenure.

From 2006 to 2010, records show Chief Terry Lewis allowed one officer to resign after he came to work high on prescription pain pills and burglarized an elementary school where he worked as a security officer.

In 2009, another police officer, Sean Butcher, was allowed to resign amid an investigation. He had been accused of “doctor shopping,” filling multiple prescriptions for the same ailment. His conduct was not reported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, according to the agency’s database.

In 2007, Officer J.W. Triplett resigned after he showed other officers a video of a woman exposing her breasts to a police camera.

And Officer Michael Shinsky was suspended for eight hours in 2009 but allowed to use a vacation day — in lieu of lost pay — after he started a fight outside a Tampa bar and was hospitalized with a broken jaw.

According to state data, none of these officers was reported to the FDLE for further investigation.

The law says that police departments are required to report all serious misconduct — “moral character violations” — to a state board that oversees officers’ certifications.

Since 1984, the department reported has 13 officers to FDLE. State records show that municipal agencies of similar size sent significantly more: Sarasota police referred 68, while Bradenton sent 54.

Cases

In March 2007, North Port Police Officer Jeff Foster signed a 12-month lease for a property in the city. His monthly rent was $1,095.

When Foster’s May rent check bounced, the officer obtained a money order and paid his landlord.

Richard Indence, the landlord, went to Foster’s home to talk to him about the check.

According to records, Indence later told then-Captain Vespia — who was assigned to internal affairs — that Foster said, “Ya know, being a North Port police officer, you shouldn’t try to do anything to make life tough on me.”

Foster denied the allegations, Vespia reported, but the officer was cited for conduct unbecoming an officer and received a written reprimand.

That relatively low level of punishment isn’t unique.

Under Vespia’s watch, he issued 20 written reprimands and 24 counseling memos, while suspending six officers.

This lack of strong discipline is most evident in the handling of Melanie Turner, the former officer at the center of the recent party scandal.

Officer Turner

Before the March party, Turner had been investigated five times in connection with six alleged rule violations. Four of these investigations occurred while Vespia was chief.

Turner was cleared of two violations, but received four written reprimands for the others.

One of Turner’s first internal investigations, in 2006, was spurred by her roommate’s claim that Turner had threatened to hang herself and shoot herself with a department-issued pistol, and that she had abused prescription pain-killers and alcohol, according to the report.

Investigators could not substantiate the claims about the suicidal threats or drug and alcohol abuse, but they ordered a psychological evaluation and substance abuse counseling. She completed those requirements before returning to work.

In the same complaint, Turner was accused of cuffing her roommate and putting her in the back of a patrol car. Turner said it was a joke; her roommate, 20, didn’t think so.

Turner’s role in the March 1 party brought fresh scrutiny to the department.

Turner, 33, and former Officer Ricky Urbina, 44, were accused of handcuffing the party’s female host, taking her into a bedroom and sexually battering her.

Turner was off-duty. Urbina was working. Two other North Port officers were also at the party.

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office conducted the criminal investigation, and on March 20 a judge signed arrest warrants for Urbina and Turner.

But Urbina shot and killed himself as deputies were en route to arrest him at a prearranged location. Urbina, who was married with two children, had been on the force for almost seven years.

Turner was arrested without incident, charged with false imprisonment and being a principal to sexual battery, and released after posting bond.

The State Attorney’s Office later dropped all charges against her, citing a multitude of problems with the case, including the sexual theme of the party and a previous relationship between Turner and the female host.

Turner resigned from the police department, however. Her attorney said it was “in her best interest to make this career change.”

Two other North Port officers at the party were also investigated by internal affairs.

Officer Kishia Veigel, who witnessed the misconduct, received a two-day suspension for not reporting the actions by Turner and Urbina to her supervisors.

Officer Jeff Wilson was named in the report but cleared of wrongdoing. Wilson was outside the apartment during the time of the alleged misconduct, but immediately notified his supervisors and authorities when he learned what reportedly took place inside.

Challenges

Policing a city with 99 square miles and 57,000 residents has unique challenges. There are some 100 officers with an average of more than seven years of experience, and the agency pays its rookies a slightly higher median wage — $41,000 — than other, larger departments in Sarasota County.

In the 1990s, officers existed on both ends of the spectrum, says longtime North Port attorney Doug Grissinger. There were some, he says, who would check the back doors of businesses to make sure they were locked and call an owner if a deadbolt wasn’t secured.

Others, Grissinger said, were not as friendly.

“If they pegged you as someone they didn’t want in this town, you better start packing,” he said.

He said they would often stack charges against individuals they saw as blights.

“Something that would be a misdemeanor disorderly arrest in Venice, in North Port it would be felony resisting arrest with violence, felony battery on a law enforcement officer, felony obstruction,” Grissinger said.

After the recession, thousands of homes slipped into foreclosure and many families moved away, leaving behind cheap rental properties.

Because of the city’s vast size and the glut of vacant or low-price homes, North Port police face unique pressures not seen elsewhere in Southwest Florida.

Almost every month, detectives uncover a new marijuana growing operation, often based out of one of these cheap rentals. Others have been busted for manufacturing synthetic marijuana, better known as “Spice,” and methamphetamine.

Feedback and reviews

Meanwhile, city commissioners are hearing from their constituents about the department, and the controversial party.

“I don’t think that they’re asking any questions. It’s more of a negative response to the incident itself,” said Commissioner Rhonda DiFranco, a former Sarasota County Sheriff’s sergeant.

DiFranco and other commissioners have defended Vespia, saying the party was an “absolutely isolated incident,” and does not reflect upon either Vespia or his department.

“If there’s some issues, and they may be major issues, at least it’s identifiable and we’ll be able to know how to address the problem and take it in the right direction,” she said.

Lewis, the city manager, has said he’ll decide whether Vespia will remain chief after an external review is conducted by the Center for Public Safety Management — a group of police practices experts Vespia said he chose himself.

Daniel Schult, North Port’s assistant city manager, said the main parameter for the review is to determine if the conduct exposed at the party is an aberration or a symptom of a larger problem.

“We’ve had some isolated incidents that have called into question the department. From my perspective it’s exactly that: Are these isolated incidents of individual employees reflective of the department, or are they reflective of individuals within the department?” Schult said.

The Center for Public Safety Management has helped troubled agencies before.

It has reviewed police departments from cities ranging in size from Las Vegas to Grand Island, Nebraska.

Grand Island Police Chief Steve Lamken said he was impressed with CPSM’s data-driven approach.

“It basically says: OK, here’s where the department is at currently, here are its strengths and weaknesses, and this is where we think they need to go,’ ” Lamken said.

His department needed help.

That city ranks fourth in the state in terms of population, but it had the third-highest violent crime rate and the highest property crime rate in Nebraska.

After the CPSM study identified that the Grand Island Police Department needed fewer patrol officers and more crime analysts, the department began to shuffle some patrol officers to other duties.

Since then, city officials have increased the department’s resources, started a new approach to communications — internal and with other agencies — and created a crime prevention unit.

“It was really worth it,” Lamken said of the study. “We were up against the wall, resource-wise, and didn’t know what to do about it.”

Restoring confidence

Calling for an outside analysis is not Chief Vespia’s only move to restore public confidence.

He recently hired former Sarasota County ethics investigator Steve Uebelacker, who was given the rank of inspector.

“He’s conducting our IA investigations,” Vespia said. “He’s also presenting training.”

In a written statement announcing the conclusion of the internal investigation into the March 1 party, which drew national attention to his agency, Vespia insisted that the officers involved in the misdeeds don’t represent the majority within his agency.

Said Vespia: “I will not stand here and make excuses for the actions of these few officers who violated our policy and the public trust, as they were wrong and they know they acted inappropriately.

“However, I will defend the majority of employees within the North Port Police Department who continually do the right thing each and every day.

“I ask the citizens to please not judge the many great employees we have here in the department based on the actions of a few.”

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