Outa here...

That's just proof that the SPPD staff is the reason this place is as bad as they say. There are two different police departments in St Petersburg. The everything is wonderful...we're fully staffed....plenty of free time...crime is down....i-leads is great....we're here to help you police department and the copy copy copy copy.....no lunch break...call to call...no down time.....get me stats.....and for gods sake don't say feaking....its a wonderful life police department. Gee...not your new boss Sheriff Gee, Cooper....but geeeeeez which one is more accurate....which group is living in a 9-5 fantasy with no clue what happens the other 16 hours a day world....the if I don't acknowledge it it didn't happen world....the all I want to do is survive the mayorial election world???????? I wonder?????

Its no surprise that the SPPD has led the state in officer attrition for the sixth straight year now...I wonder why??????????????????????????????

I was able to get a copy of Cooper's memo this evening and think its good that everyone see what's driving our officers away. If there's ever a memo that ever been so truthful of the SPPD this is it. Hopefully the scan worked. Here's Officer Cooper's resignation memo;


Memorandum

To: Charles "Chuck" Harmon - Chief of Police

cc: Chain of Command

From: Officer Carrie Cooper - Uniform Services

Date: 06112/2009

Re: Resignation

Please allow this memorandum to serve as official notice of my resignation. My last day of employment
with the police department will be Sunday June 14,2009 ending at midnight. On this date I will return all
of the items issued to me from the department. I regret that I could not give a full two week notice due to
the employment offer I have been given. I apologize for any inconvenience that this causes to my squad
and immediate supervisors.

Throughout my career with the St Petersburg Police Department I have gained an irreplaceable amount of
personal and professional relationships. The experience that I have received working here is more than I
would have ever received from any other local agency. I have had a number of opportunities and have
taken full advantage of each one. I have gained valuable experience serving as a member of the Street
Crimes Unit as well as a member of patrol.

I have noticed that the department has headed further in a direction I feel I do not wish to be a part of. In
the recent past I have been involved in a number issues involving discipline. It seems as if the city and
upper management in the department refuse to take the appropriate actions to correct any problems within
the department. There is a very prevalent double standard among the sworn personnel and it is severely
affecting the day to day operations of the department. It appears that some employees, sworn and civilian
are permitted to violate policy and commit acts considered unbecoming while others are held to a higher
standard.

Loyalty, integrity and fidelity are the values that are stressed from the time you are hired and are supposed
to be present throughout ones career. However, it appears that these values stop at a low level and do not
carry to the staff members of this department. Many times the officer is held responsible and disciplined
for things that are either out of their control or another person's responsibility. The word of an officer
should carry more weight than that of the average citizen or civilian employee. It seems as if the officers
who stand accused of wrong doing are always guilty until proven innocent. Also, many complaints seem
to be solicited from criminals, witnesses and citizens. Internal Affairs investigations are often not
investigated properly and are drawn out longer than necessary. Bureau investigations are frequently sent
back to the supervisor handing the case with corrections or changes pertaining to the case. If pride and
trust were placed onto these individuals when they were promoted then why are they seen as incapable of
conducting an investigation on their own. The influence of the administration or added discipline for the
issue that is not at hand is unnecessary. This creates a lack of trust between the officers and the
administration.
Recently, I left the Street Crimes Unit and went back to patrol on my own accord. The reason I gave for
leaving was a need for change. Initially my evaluations while in Street Crimes and the feedback that I
received from my supervisors was excellent. I was viewed as an asset to the Street Crimes Unit. Being the
only woman on a twenty-man squad at that time, I took great pride in this and I understood that I was
needed. After about one a half years in the Street Crimes Unit I requested to go to the Vice and Narcotics
Unit, I rode-along with that unit on two separate occasions for one week at a time and thoroughly enjoyed
it. A supervisory change occurred in the Street Crimes Unit and I was quickly aware of the antics of my
new supervisor. I began to become disgruntled at the actions I observed and I think that this affected my
attitude at work. It was explained to me that my current supervisor as well as another supervisor
expressed concerns about my work. My supervisor even had a one on one meeting with me and expressed
to me that I need to improve my quality and quantity of work. During this meeting he informed me that I
was not a good candidate for the Vice and Narcotics Unit. He also advised if I showed him improvement
he would attempt to assist me in getting to the Vice and Narcotics Unit and if I did not I would remain in
patrol for the rest of my career and he would make sure of that. I immediately requested a meeting with
the lieutenant and informed him of the situation. I made the choice at that time to transfer back to patrol. I
was asked if I wanted to make a formal complaint against this supervisor and I advised that I did not.
Throughout my encounters here with discipline I felt that bringing on this investigation would have hurt
me more than helped me. It is obvious that this is unacceptable behavior, especially from a supervisor.
This supervisor has had other incidents that I have been made aware of even as serious as sexual
harassment against another female officer in the Street Crimes Unit. This incident was somehow swept
under the rug. If incidents like this can be thrown away or forgotten how does this department say that
the values and mission are carried out daily.

It has been made clear to me that being a hard working and outspoken police officer is not a welcomed
trait in this department. I have been advised to change who I am if I ever wanted to be promoted or
transferred to any other specialized unit. I have also been advised by a member of the staff that attending
a ball for the NAACP would show certain members of the staff that I was "on their side" and learning
how to "play the game" would be in my best interests. I cannot and will not change who I am for the sake
of being promoted or transferred. I was raised with good morals and values to be honest, trustworthy and
hard working. All of which I have done here at the department, and have received nothing but criticism
for it.

The departments' stance on crime seems to be different than that of other local agencies. I have heard
from many veterans ofthe St. Petersburg Police Department that we were once considered the best local
department to work for, now when coming in contact with other agencies it is apparent that we are the
laughing stock of local police departments. We are advised to educate prior to enforcing many laws.
Many of the ordinances and laws we enforce in certain areas of the city are not to be enforced in others.
This double standard creates unfair policing practices throughout the community and unfairly targets
certain individuals and groups. Officers are often told to have "thicker skin" and tolerate things that other
departments would not tolerate. Tolerating the abuse we are subject to and allowing people to freely break
the law in our presence gives the general public a lack of confidence in their police department.

By writing this memorandum, my intentions are not to aggravate the situations that occur at this
department but to inform and educate the staff members from a lower level of the occurrences below
them. I took great pride in working for the City of St. Petersburg. As a native of St. Petersburg I would
have enjoyed completing a career here if the ideals and values I hold were held at this department in a
similar fashion. I have taken part in many operations and investigations that have netted multiple arrests.
I have closed many cases and assisted many citizens of the City of St. Petersburg in their daily struggles
and life issues. I have also assisted with public relations events for this department by being in
recruitment videos, educating children about police work and assisting with demonstrations for the public
and new recruits. I thank you for providing this opportunity for me although it seemed to me that most of
my accomplishments have gone unnoticed and unappreciated. I have invested almost 5 years of hard
work at this department and leaving it is not a decision that came quickly. It is for the above reasons that
I am resigning.

Respectfully Submitted,

Officer Carrie Cooper

I'm shock at the honesty you put in your memo Carrie!!! That's the best "freaking" memo I've ever seen!!!!

I am surprised at the all the "uproar" about Cooper leaving. Was she a lazy, crappy officer? No, but was she all that she is hyped up to be in this post? No. Do you really believe she "attained" the SCU position because she was a good cop or more so because she was an attractive female? Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

I am surprised at the all the "uproar" about Cooper leaving. Was she a lazy, crappy officer? No, but was she all that she is hyped up to be in this post? No. Do you really believe she "attained" the SCU position because she was a good cop or more so because she was an attractive female? Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

I cant quite envision her. Describe her appearance please.

Regardless of what kind of officer she was, she is one of the few female officers that I would welcome as my back up. She is lot better than some of the new guys we are putting out there too. Congrats Coop. Even in these tough economic times people are still jumping ship. Can we start a list of all the officers who left since Ileads has started since they took PI away. I shocked!!!

The debate about what kind of officer Carrie was/is will rage on. I'm sure the coalition will smear her after the zing. I admire her for the MOST HONEST memo of resignation ever written. The part about the NAACP ball, i.e. having to kiss black azzzzzzzzz to get anywhere around this freakin dump, is outragious. Little Joey dik sucka went to the ball and is slithering up the chain and the list goes on...Carrie stuck to her guns, her values and morals and shoved it right up their azz! Maybe since she is a woman, although hindered because she is white, the media will take notice but I doubt it. Her memo did expose the corruption and, I imagine she was sexually harrassed along the way too. I hope she sues the F out of the city and dept!! Good luck and good job finding your way out of this black hole, Carrie!!

I had the opportunity to work with Coop while working for SPPD. The type of officer she is should never be questioned. As a biased male officer, and one who frowns on women in law enforcement, I can assure anyone, that at anytime I would have Coop ride shotgun with me. I have been involved in many situations when she has stepped up and had my back, and was thankful she arrived and not other officers. As for her in SCU, she was an excellent officer and held her head high while dealing with the unit “Sgt’s” . SPPD has lost a hard working, ambitious, and aggressive officer. HCSO has gained a valuable deputy. As an ex-SPPD officer, Coop I can assure you the grass is truly greener, and should be described as the promise land. Her memo shows the type of person she is, and not afraid to standup for what she believes. Congrats Coop!

The memo hits it right on the head. However, you don't really believe that the administration will acknowledge it, do you? We need to make sure that several media outlets receive the memo. Hopefully, one of them will have the testicular fortitude to investigate it.

I remember back in the day when the stupid community police officers gave away their weekends to paint dope dealers houses for them while they were slinging away as an attempt to "get ahead" and climb the ladder. This memo is stunning...the racism of blacks against whites that exists at this dept. is incredible. The intimidation and threats that Carrie obviously had to put up with should be investigated but, that will never happen as long as you have mayor **** and the like running this city. the only thing we can hope for is, that we elect a pro police, strong mayor that doesn't put up with all of the b.s. because, frankly the so called command staff is such a joke that we have been taken to new depths of dispair and, as Carrie so eloquently put it, sppd is a laughing stock. A neccessary evil. I wish the PCSO would take over the city and bust all of these clowns back down to patrol but, they were never even competent in that role either. Good luck, Carrie. And great job for telling the truth. Boy, I'll bet all of the rats are running around from office to office trying to do damage control on this one :snicker: