Sarasota News Leader

01/17/2014

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Sarasota News Leader January 17, 2014 Page 50 THE SARASOTA POLICE CHIEF IS PROPOSING A NEW METHOD TO HANDLE DISCIPLINARY MATTERS INVOLVING OFFICERS AND PURSUING A DIFFERENT PATH ON RECRUITMENT By Stan Zimmerman City Editor One of the first acts of Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino when she took office a year ago was disbanding a disciplinary board. "One officer would get a one-day suspension for something, and another would be suspended for three days for the same thing," she said. "It wasn't fair." She abolished what some perceived as a "goodol'-boy board," and took over the job herself. Now she wants to ditch the disciplinary duty and handle the process with a matrix. The city's Human Resources Department is reviewing the proposal now, she said. And she already has received the preliminary approval of her boss, City Manager (and former Detroit police officer) Tom Barwin. William Fuller is chairman of the Complaints Panel. "We've been impressed with the way internal investigations are handled, and very infrequently do we have questions," he said. "We've been looking at things submitted as complaints that did not go through internal investigations, but rather were worked out by other means." Staff liaison for both police panels is Peter Graham, a technical advisor for the City of Sarasota. He pointed out that he and the groups have found it difficult to "fill in the matrix. There's such a wide disparity of view on what's appropriate action to take." DiPino said of the new process, "I want it sooner rather than later." "The year of 2014 will be the year of processes for the Sarasota Police Department," DiPino told the Independent Police Advisory Panel on Friday, Jan. 10. The matrix, she said, "takes any potential violation a police officer could commit and mandates an appropriate penalty. It makes it clear for the police officers. It puts a process in place." Another citizen advisory panel has been reviewing city police complaints and disciplinary action for the past three years. It is called the Police Complaints Committee, and every month it examines old Internal Affairs cases. Over time, the members have developed an appreciation of how the SPD disciplines its officers. Mikel Holloway served as police chief before DiPino was hired. Photo by Norman Schimmel

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