Sprout fired

Just wondering...if she is such a nut and he wanted nothing to do with her, why did he plead to have the first no contact order lifted? He told the PBA and Chief that he wanted nothing to do with her and then starts a relationship as soon as it was lifted. Was he lying then? Misunderstood? All defenders of the picture - go up and look at it. Picture is definitly worth a 1000 words. Sure doesn't look like he was taking anything from the kid while the picture was taken - just look at his cheesy smile while he was posing. All the talk that he would just stop by to rest between jobs, etc Give me a break. I suppose he didn't know a single officer in the city he could stop by and rest - if he's gonna violate a G.O. wouldn't he have stood a better chance by not staying with a person who is...a nut...bi-polar...a liar. Putting himself in that position makes him plain stupid.

I can only imagine what she must look like.. Geez. Jd did a standup job. He should be commended. Sprout, get used to saying " Do you want to supersize that fries for an extra 50 cents". See you at Steak and Shake bro.

JD do a stand up job? How so? Sounds to me like he did the best he could do to prove his worth to the administration.

Anyone would try to stop someone from causing trouble at their job. He tried to get medical proof that he was the father. He tried to talk to her to keep her appeased.

There is no proof of a "relationship", sexual or otherwise, other than him talking to her. No dates or anything. He stopped to talk to her after she would call and start making threats. Sounds to me like good time utilization. He was already in the city, so he stopped and talked to her. There is no proof he lied about anything. Just their assumption. He admitted to what he had done. If he was going to lie, why not lie about everything?

It was a witch hunt, plain and simple. They wanted a sacrifice, and they found one.

If he shouldn't have used his car, thentake his car away and give him 30 days. But don't terminate him. He did nothing to deserve termination.

If the city doesn't want out of city officers hanging around the city, then find a way to have invests set during working hours. And let them hit the streets after an off duty job. Because there is no place to hang around the station for several hours, and it sounds like you'd still be in violation if you visited another officer's home or went to lunch.

She has called the department numerous times asking that they set up a meeting with him so that she can see him! Doesn't sound to me like there is a relationship there on his part. And IA has a copy of a letter she wrote to him last year in which she fantasizes about spending the rest of her life with him. She also said she hopes to find him standing outside of her window one night wanting to make love to her. She said she knows he is involved with someone, but didn't seem to care. IA was also provided with a copy of a letter in which Steve told her that there was no chance for a relationship between the two, and that she should work it out with her ex or move on. Hmmm. Written proof, but it doesn't seem to carry much weight. But sketchy details given orally seems to be a death sentence.

They were going to stack the deck until they made sure they got him. They just got him for the wrong reasons.

I personally hope he gets his job back. He got screwed.

JD and Gironda did great jobs monitoring his foolishness. They are two great sergeants.

They are both lackeys. And if they observed him doing wrong, why didn't they say something before now? Gironda was involved in his last case, and said she didn't believe he was actually flagged down regarding a suspicious person. However, he finds a car burglarized around the corner from where he was flagged down. Hmmmm. And since that time, the person who filed the complaint against him has had several run-ins with officers, and continues to maintain his arrogant ways.

JD forgets his roots, and Gironda never had any.

This department is more afraid of not being liked by the public that they are afraid to actually work with and defend their officers.

Potential applicants: RUUUUUUUUUUUN!

This is so wrong, what a double standard we have. Chief Hummer needs to go along with his entire staff. They protect thieves, drug dealers, and liars in our organization and than fire a good officer over nothing.

A good Sergeant could have addressed this matter long before it became an I.A. What a shame this all has to be written up and shared with the media. Sprout I am sorry this happened to you and hope you fight this illegal unjust action. Our PBA goes the distance to protect a sex crimes cop hooked on porn but can't protect this officer. Makes you wonder where their priorities are? Perhaps they will fight for Tish to keep her shield and continue to protect dopers...

SPPD has hit a new low. Hey Chunky what did you do with the golf cub covers you stole from the evidence room? What other items were stolen at a lose to the citizens of St. Petersburg? I have no respect for Chunky or his puppet satff of criminals.

Hopefully the PBA fights this with all the assets at their disposal. It is unjust. A good officer tried to keep his personal life away from the dept, then had it strewn all over the media because he didn't give her what she wanted.

Other officers that have dealt with her in the past have had false accusations made against them because they didn't give her what she wanted (demanded?). And her husband makes allegations, then says that he knows his wife is a liar! Then they both lie to IA, but IA believes her when she says she had contact with him before the no contact order was dropped. However, she can provide no proof. Text messages and emails are how she "communicated" with him, but there is no evidence of this.

As far as a cruiser being in the area of her residence, who can say that it is him? And if it is, is he not supposed to be doing any police work if it is in the vicinity of her house? That would be dereliction of duty if he failed to provide service.

He was a 40's unit for a long time. How could he provide rapid response in the 40's if he continually had to travel there from her house? Yet, he was always quick to respond to calls for service in the 40's.

They wanted a sacrifice, and they got it. But it isn't fair to him or the rest of us. He was a good cop, and was always the first to backup another officer. Yet, this dept has been quick to turn their back on him when all he tried to do was to make that problem go away.

They have turned their back on him when he seems to need the most support. With his illness and injury, it seems the dept is attempting to keep him from collecting any disability. A good lawyer will cut holes in that plan.

Good luck Steve. I hope this injustice is correscted, and I look forward to working with you again real soon!

They made him sit and wait all day, knowing that he had t be in the hospital by 7pm. Then Bevin ordered him to turn in his stuff. When he mentioned the appt, she said she would send an officer out to retrieve it. When he balked, she asked if he was going to grieve the findings. When he said yes, she said not to make a bad thing worse. (Sounds like a threat to me.) She then sent 2 officers out as if Steve was going to hurt them. He doesn't have a problem with any of the officers in this department excluding administration. She treated him like a criminal.

They do not care about their people. They only care about the perception they put out to the public, showing that they screwed another (white) officer.

Didn't the PBA rep step in when she started her BS? What does he say about the threat? Oh wait. We're talking PBA, aren't we? Never mind!!!

From what I can tell from the time-line, this all happened prior to his last board. So how can they justify termination? That's would be the same as someone complaining now that he was rude to them during his probationary period. And if JD and Gironda are such upstanding sergeants, why didn't they speak to him about his alleged "foolishness"?

Sounds to me like these "great sergeants" dropped the ball if they didn't take care of the problem (if any) when they noticed it. That's what SPPD promotes. It appears that these sergeants need to be punished for dereliction of duty for not doing there job as supervisors.