Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Must not mention that an area is crime-prone

We read:
"ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - A veteran officer with a clean record is being investigated by the St. Petersburg Police Department (SPPD) after he warned the father of a robbery victim about a dangerous part of town.

Officer Thad "Stu" Crisco, who was recently in headlines for honoring his fallen partner David Crawford, allegedly warned St. Petersburg father Bob Esposito about letting his 16-year-old daughter hang around the Northshore Pool at night. Esposito's daughter was one of five teens robbed by a group of armed men there about 10:30 p.m. on a recent weeknight.

"I wouldn't come down here at night," Esposito said of the Northshore Pool area and Downtown, where he admits he used to loiter as a teen. "And I was told by one of the police officers not to come down here either."

That comment, made by Crisco the night of the robbery, was inadvertently relayed to his superior when Esposito was following up with SPPD. The department then launched an investigation into "disparaging comments against the city."

Esposito said Crisco cited the city's violent crime stats - the worst in the state. He faces a possible suspension, even if his comments were true, although his exemplary record with SPPD could help him avoid serious discipline.

Mayor Bill Foster acknowledged the incident and said he holds SPPD to the highest standard. "I always want to know my officers are representing this city in a very positive light," Foster said.

Source

The cop was let off after publicity

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn if you do, damn if you dont.Please never warn citizens about danger , G-D forbid the police warn citizens about high crime area.

Anonymous said...

Another case of the Emperor's new clothes. Or is the 3 monkeys?

stinky said...

Enough with the fear-mongering and exaggeration, JJR; of course you can still mention that an area is crime prone. Why, just today I saw a story on the news about Congress, for example.

St. Pete'er said...

Even a kid two weeks out of law school can get this cop's pockets filled with the city's money. This is a blatant violation of his First Amendment rights. Yes, even cops have free speech rights. The fact that his comment is factual makes his case all the stronger. I hope he gets the most vicious lawyer he can find and takes them for a boat-load of money.

sig said...

"The cop was let off after publicity"

This is yet another illustration that rules and laws are only meaningful when they are enforced, and enforcement is purely subjective. Either the guy is guilty of breaking a rule or law or he isn't. A department's image should have absolutely nothing to do with if a law is enforced or not.

Anonymous said...

Departments image = politics.

Anonymous said...

This is yet another illustration that rules and laws are only meaningful when they are enforced, and enforcement is purely subjective.

Actually sig, I think this is a case where Jon screwed the pooch. The guy wasn't let off because of the publicity, the guy was INVESTIGATED because the comment was made public.

They closed (not dropped) the investigation when they found nothing of substance and life will go on.

Spurwing Plover said...

The father should carry a gun and plug a few miserble punks