I used to be all set to be sympathetic with the police chief of Tampa who misplaced her job this week over the best way she reacted to being pulled over whereas driving in a golf cart.
At first blush, the phrases “traffic stop” appeared to be a stretch of the English language in this case. On a Saturday evening final month, Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor was off-duty when she and her husband had traveled in their cart to their group clubhouse for dinner.
Golf carts want license plates for some Florida roadways
In Florida, your golf cart doesn’t require a tag if it’s being pushed on a golf course, or in a golf-cart-designated group the place the posted pace limits are usually not greater than 30 miles per hour.
The clubhouse restaurant was closed, so O’Connor and her husband opted to choose up dinner at a close by Greek restaurant outdoors the guard gates.
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They ought to have pushed the cart residence, and switched to a motorcar to choose up the meals. The Greek-food mission would put them on a highway the place a license plate was required for his or her cart. And they didn’t have one.
But they tried to go to the restaurant in the cart. And they obtained caught.
When they have been about 100 yards outdoors the group gates on a service highway, they have been pulled over by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Jacoby.
Like I mentioned, I used to be initially sympathetic to the chief. Years in the past, I obtained a $200 traffic ticket in Palm Beach County on my bicycle. I used to be pedaling by means of a altering yellow-to-red mild on A1A early on a weekend morning when the one motorcar in the world was an Ocean Ridge police cruiser hiding in the bushes.
So, sure, the police chief’s stop felt acquainted.
But then I watched the bodycam video of the traffic stop and shortly modified my thoughts. Oh boy, this was a textbook case of poor habits from everybody concerned.
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For starters, the very first thing the chief asks the deputy is that if the stop is being recorded on video. That’s solely one thing you ask when you anticipate saying some belongings you wouldn’t care to clarify.
And but, when Jacoby tells the chief she is being recorded, O’Connor carries on as if he had mentioned, “No.”
“I am the police chief in Tampa,” she shortly tells the deputy, whereas leaning throughout her husband handy the deputy her badge.
You may think that the deputy would have simply acknowledged it, after which continued to clarify to her husband, who was driving, why it was a security subject in working a golf cart on a highway with a increased pace restrict.
A traffic stop turns cordial and pleasant
But as an alternative, Jacoby turns immediately docile and pleasant. And the problem of her husband breaking a traffic legislation disappears.
“Oh, how you doing?” Jacoby asks the chief.
“I’m doing good,” she solutions. “I’m hoping that you’ll just let us go tonight.”
“I have to say you look familiar,” the deputy says.
“Yeah, I’m sure I do,” she responds.
It’s all laughs and good cheer now. And Jacoby shortly lets her know there will probably be no ticket tonight. Not even a security point out.
“All right, folks, well have a good night,” the deputy says. “It was nice to meet ya.”
“Same here, my friend,” the chief says.
Within 30 seconds, it’s not a traffic stop. It’s a roadside social occasion. Without being requested his title, the deputy volunteers, “I’m Deputy Jacoby.” We’ve gone from roadside stop to roadside networking.
“Take care of yourself,” the chief says.
And then for a capper, the deputy says, “Sorry to bother you,” and “All right. No worries. No worries.”
He’s about to ship them off into the evening once more when the chief then seals her doom by making it much more clear how a lot she is leveraging her job right here.
Sharing handshakes, reward and a enterprise card
She reaches over and fingers the deputy her enterprise card and says, “If you ever need anything, call me. Serious.”
The deputy takes her card.
“Thank you for your service,” she says, extending her hand for a handshake. The deputy reaches out and shakes her hand. “Thank you for yours,” he says.
Point of clarification: Who is being served right here?
When the video of the stop grew to become public weeks later, it triggered an inside affairs investigation of O’Connor’s conduct. She advised investigators that she recognized herself as a police officer in the course of the stop “for safety” causes, however admitted that she shouldn’t have requested to be spared a ticket.
“Chief O’Connor advised she provided her business card as she does with hundreds of citizens and law enforcement officers,” the report mentioned. “She added that this action was not intended to give the deputy any type of preferred treatment.”
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor fired O’Connor. As for the deputy who let her go, he’s in the clear.
“Deputy Larry Jacoby did absolutely nothing wrong,” Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri advised news reporters this previous week. “I stand by him 110 percent.” He mentioned the chief was incorrect, however the deputy “did his job.”
“While she asked for a favor, he didn’t give her a favor,” Gualtieri mentioned.
Maybe Gualtieri was watching the incorrect bodycam video. Or he missed the half when as an alternative of a ticket, his deputy gave the chief an apology for stopping her whereas breaking a traffic legislation.
“He handled that as he would have handled any other like situation, and any other like traffic stop,” the sheriff continued.
Yeah, however in an abundance of warning, I wouldn’t advise another Florida driver to count on an apology from an officer for stopping you whereas breaking a traffic legislation.
Frank Cerabino is a columnist on the Palm BeachPost, a part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can attain him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article initially appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor loses job over golf-cart traffic stop