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09-14-2008, 05:59 AM
2 Lakeland Police Officers Punished In Inquiry
Chief goes against recommendations that the pair be terminated.

By Jeremy Maready
THE LEDGER

Published: Friday, September 12, 2008 at 11:10 p.m.

LAKELAND | A Lakeland police sergeant was recently demoted and her lieutenant husband suspended following a series of controversial internal investigations.

The situation has become highly charged, prompting the second in command at the Lakeland Police Department to urge dismissal of the sergeant.

Other officers in the LPD chain of command also concluded what the couple, Lt. Al Wilson and Sgt. Felicia Wilson, did was so serious it constituted felonies and said each should be fired.

But Police Chief Roger Boatner went against those recommendations, opting for less severe punishments.

Police records describe the charges as second- and third-degree felonies for theft and illegally using the department's computer for their own gain. Prosecutors in the State Attorney's Office, however, said they would not pursue any charges, the records show.

The couple are fighting their punishment, maintaining that in some cases they did nothing wrong and in others the offenses were minor.

Three internal investigations concluded in August, when punishment was levied, according to the internal investigative reports released by the Police Department.

Since then, the couple has filed four grievances disputing the findings. Those findings:

The couple inappropriately used LPD computers to gain an advantage in receiving outside overtime shifts.

Sgt. Wilson broke department policy in a car chase.

Lt. Wilson violated a direct order in taking time off.

Sgt. Felicia Wilson was demoted to patrol officer late last month for 10 policy violations named in the internal affairs investigation. Her husband, Lt. Al Wilson, was given a 42-hour suspension and a formal reprimand, for seven such violations. The couple was also suspended for 30 days from extra duty details.

Al Wilson has worked for the department for 16 years and is paid $81,879 a year. His wife, Felicia Wilson, has worked for the department for 13 years and was paid $63,963. But her salary was reduced 10 percent to $57,567 when she was demoted to patrol officer in August, personnel records show.

In their grievances, the Wilsons are asking that their records be cleared, back pay returned and Felicia Wilson be reinstated as a sergeant.

Since the Police Benevolent Association filed the grievances Sept. 4, Boatner has remained mum on the matter, citing the ongoing dispute. He declined a Ledger request for an interview about the situation.

COVER YOUR ASSETS

Cover Your Assets is the name of LPD's computer system used to assign overtime details to officers, better known by its initials - CYA USA.

The department's system for assigning these details is based on seniority. The higher your rank, the sooner you have access to pick assignments.

But Lt. Wilson never learned how to use it, he said. Instead, he put his wife in charge of signing him up for overtime details by letting her create and use his password.

That was not an unusual practice among spouses - "a matter of convenience" - according to a December letter to Boatner from Assistant Chief of Police Bill LePere.

But some of the Wilsons' fellow officers complained about what she was doing.

One in particular, Sgt. Tony Lewis, took exception when he was notified by Sandy Sanders, an accountant clerk in charge of the CYA system, that Lt. Wilson was signed up for a detail July 19, 2007.

Lewis knew it was impossible for Lt. Wilson to work the shift because he was in Virginia attending the FBI National Academy.

When supervisors learned of the incident, they suspended Lt. Wilson from the system until he returned in September, and the shift was put back into the system for someone else to work.

Capt. Tom Day told Lt. Wilson not to let his wife sign up for him again, Lt. Wilson said, and that verbal counseling seemed to be the end of it.

But three months later, the issue resurfaced when LePere sent Boatner a letter citing a "preliminary investigation" detailing the discovery of possible criminal acts, according to the Dec. 20 letter.

At that point, the Wilsons weren't aware that LePere had been looking into the matter.

Boatner didn't authorize an internal affairs investigation until two months later, on Feb. 19, reports show.

Lt. Wilson questions the delay.

"If these things I did were so egregious, why did it take so long for the investigation?" he asked in an interview Wednesday with The Ledger.

LPD internal investigators concluded the case was very serious. They consulted with department lawyer Roger Mallory, who determined "probable cause (for criminal actions) may exist" in the case, citing five Florida statutes that cover computer crimes and theft.

In the internal affairs report, investigators said they spoke with State Attorney's Office officials, who said that while probable cause existed, the office would not pursue a criminal case, leaving it an administrative matter.

Despite the absence of a separate investigation to determine whether the couple had committed any crimes, supervisors cited the pair for committing felonies as support for their decision to recommend that they be fired.

"The most serious charge of violating a felony statute is sustained based on the actions of Sgt. Wilson, and this finding subsequently calls into question her ethics, honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity - something that police officers hate to do with other officers," LePere said in his June 19 recommendation about Sgt. Wilson. "I believe I am, however, duty bound to make a recommendation in this matter to terminate Sgt. Wilson's employment."

In his May 11 recommendations for punishment, Lt. Larry Giddens also said Sgt. Wilson's action "rises to the level of criminal conduct."

However, Sgt. Wilson contends in the reports that she signed her husband up for the July detail by mistake.

"Although I am not completely without fault in the case, I believe the discipline is excessive," she said in an Aug. 20 letter to Boatner. "I never thought my actions were criminal and/or unethical. .<0x200A>.<0x200A>. There was no malice aforethought or grand conspiracy to steal extra-duty details."

POLK PARKWAY CHASE

A police chase became the second point of contention between Wilson and her supervisors when it was claimed by Lt. Stephen Walker she violated a series of policies during a Jan. 7 pursuit and the resulting investigation.

Following a standard review of the chase by LPD's pursuit review board, members concluded that although the chase itself followed guidelines, there were some actions by officers that were questionable, documents show.

The January chase began in the Target parking lot off Harden Boulevard, with the suspect dragging an LPD officer for a short distance before fleeing.

The driver headed north on Harden, made a U-turn, and then drove onto the Polk Parkway.

LPD officers and Polk County sheriff's deputies rushed to deploy stop sticks, which eventually stopped the rogue driver, reports said.

Wilson's role was brought into question because she was out of her assigned North Lakeland area. She claimed not to have recognized initially that there was a pursuit going on, and she then didn't take control of the pursuit as the ranking officer involved in it.

But most troubling to her superiors was that investigators said she did not tell the truth when questioned.

Wilson's testimony, several months after the event, contradicted other statements by officers and what in-car video showed, investigators wrote in their internal affairs report.

While Sgt. Wilson contends her inexperience in the position played a role, she said she was never out to deceive anyone.

But her supervisors thought otherwise.

"Sgt. Wilson violated the very essence of this profession which is based upon public trust and high ethical and moral standards," Lt. Stephen Walker wrote in his June 16 recommendation for Wilson's punishment. "As such I recommend Termination."

Capt. H.A. Katt, in a much shorter letter dated July 8, agreed with Walker on Wilson's punishment.

The State Attorney's Office was also contacted about this case, and a memo from the office said, "While the allegations of untruthfulness are troubling, they do not rise to the level that would justify sending a letter stating that we would no longer use her as a witness."

As a penalty, Boatner decided on a demotion, the same as in the overtime detail case.

Sgt. Wilson, in her grievance, maintains she did nothing wrong. "In retrospect, my best course of action would have been to remain parked at Lakeside Village," she wrote. "Such an action would have resulted in malfeasance and would have been unacceptable. I did what I thought was appropriate as a law enforcement officer."

FLEX VS. COMP

The third dispute - the second involving Lt. Wilson - originates from a disagreement between him and Assistant Chief Debra Henson about time worked.

In the April 18 incident report, Henson says Wilson submitted a compensation slip that misrepresented time he put in while working as acting captain earlier that week.

Despite an e-mail to staff members from Henson instructing them to use flex time if attending an event in April, Lt. Wilson claimed comp time.

As acting captain, Wilson would have been required to use flex time, which is time given back hour for hour. But because he had already planned to attend and be an active participant in the event in his lieutenant capacity, Wilson said he thought he was due comp time, given back at a rate of time and a half.

Wilson received a formal reprimand.

THE NEXT STEP

The Police Department has until Sept. 20 to formally respond to the grievances, said spokesman Jack Gillen. The dispute could then go to arbitration for a possible compromise.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission, which has the authority to decertify officers, is reviewing the case but likely won't reach any decision until at least January, a spokesman said.

QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED

Lakeland Police Chief Roger Boatner this week declined to comment to The Ledger about internal affairs reports involving two LPD officers. He cited a pending union grievance filed by Lt. Al Wilson and his wife, Sgt. Felicia Wilson. As a result, there are questions that remain unanswered.

Why did Boatner overrule the Wilsons' supervising officers' recommendations that they be fired?

Did the police chief speak to City Manager Doug Thomas to notify him before making the decision?

Why was there an almost seven-month delay in investigating the overtime detail incident?

Is it standard procedure for a senior officer to conduct his or her own investigation, as Assistant Chief Bill LePere said he did in December, prior to an internal investigation authorized by Boatner?

Why did it take an additional two months for an official internal affairs case to be authorized in the incident after LePere had said he found criminal conduct?

Why was a separate criminal investigation never opened in the overtime detail case when allegations were raised?

Since there was no official criminal finding in the report or by the State Attorney's Office, why were the charges and Florida Statutes cited in making a determination in punishment for the Wilsons?

[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at jeremy.maready@theledger.com or 863-802-7592. ]

09-14-2008, 12:12 PM
Lazy, crooked cops. What else is new?

09-15-2008, 08:08 PM
Post it LPD's site. This has nothging to do with BPD.