Office Romance

Home > News > Palm Beach
West Palm Beach suspends police captain over relationship

Email
print
Comments
3

Share0

By Andrew Abramson, The Palm Beach Post

9:43 p.m. EST, November 18, 2011

Capt. Randy Maale, one of the top six officials in the West Palm Beach Police Department, has been suspended for a week after an internal investigation found that he had a personal relationship with a female officer who served under his command.

The relationship "contributed to an atmosphere of distrust, fear and confusion especially for the supervisors" of Maale's unit, the investigation report said.

Maale, who has been with the department for 22 years, is in charge of the Entertainment District Unit, which includes Clematis Street and the waterfront. He regularly presents updates to the City Commission and his advice helps shape downtown policy.

The internal investigation found that Maale, 42, was involved with Officer Cathy Cognetti, 25, who served on the unit.
Video: See crimes caught on camera

Former Police Chief Delsa Bush and former Assistant Chief Dennis Crispo warned both Cognetti and Maale that "a personal relationship between a captain and a subordinate officer within the same chain of command could be problematic."

But Maale, who is married, continued to call and text Cognetti for hours at a time while Cognetti was on duty, and occasionally met with her for personal reasons while she was on duty, the report said.

The investigation found that the timings of some of the phone calls coincided with controversial briefings and comments made with the unit.

Sergeants between Maale and Cognetti in the chain of command said Maale began intervening in matters involving Cognetti, including a case when a sergeant would not allow Cognetti to attend college night courses, which require approval from a supervisor.

"[The sergeant] felt the captain's intervention was unnecessary and indicated Officer Cognetti had gone 'over their heads' with an issue they were responsible for handling," the report said.

From there, tensions grew within the unit, the report said. Two officers said they felt Cognetti and another officer close to her "got away with doing whatever they wanted and Sergeant Craig Davis could not do anything about it because of Officer Cognetti's relationship with Captain Maale."

Cognetti openly discussed the relationship with other officers despite Maale being married, according to the report. Cognetti told investigators that she was just "being one of the guys."

City Administrator Ed Mitchell suspended Maale for a week without pay after meeting with both Maale and an attorney.

"As a rank of captain, he's in that position because I should trust his decision-making and he did not use good judgment," Mitchell said.

OMG.... DOES THIS SCENARIO SOUND FAMILIAR!!! You mean there is a perception of favoritism and preferential treatment when a supervisor is fu_king his subordinate. I wonder if the WPB Captain had a corrupt administration that HAD HIS BACK.....like EC did. Now I also wonder if the WPB bimbo was sent to B&E calls and then the next day there was memo stating SHE would no longer handle these types of calls. I wonder if she was allowed to put in for (5) Saturdays off to conveniently coincide with the UM football schedule. I bet she was also allowed to "milk" calls for hours on end with no fear of repercussions. And finally last but not certainly least, can someone please tell me WHY NO ONE WILL TALK TO THE POOR WM CAPTAIN AND DOES NOT TRUST HIM. And when you find the answer please pass it onto him because he either he has no clue why or the WM PSA KK sucked the common sense right out of him. :evil:

Volusia to fire Beach Patrol captain for romantic affairs, 'lack of judgment'
By ANDREW GANT, Staff Writer
October 20, 2011 1:00 AM
Posted in: East Volusia Tagged:

Beach Patrol ,Rich Gardner Gardner Volusia County intends to fire a prominent Beach Patrol captain accused of romantic affairs with two female officers on the lifeguard force that showed "a complete lack of judgment which cannot be tolerated," according to a top county official.

Capt. Rich Gardner, a 27-year veteran of the agency and one of its highest-ranking members, intends to fight for his job.

"A lot of it is just flat wrong," Gardner's attorney Jon Kaney said Wednesday, after the county sent Gardner a letter laying out the case for his firing. "He will have his day in court to go through the process. He's just being hung out there to dry."

Gardner, 43, has until Monday to challenge the firing, which became public Wednesday after the county finished an internal investigation. County officials said the married captain had relationships with two officers -- Cara Gittner, 26, and Elizabeth Paige Winters, 45 -- who, while not under his direct supervision, were still his subordinates.

"This conduct is absolutely unacceptable and very poor judgment for a person of his stature and tenure with the county," Volusia spokesman Dave Byron said.

Mike Coffin, head of the Department of Public Protection that oversees the Beach Patrol, cited Gardner for several violations of the countywide employee merit rules and Beach Patrol policy, saying in a memo to Gardner that his actions "cannot be tolerated." The violations included neglect of duty, conduct that interferes with job performance and reflects unfavorably on the county, and giving false statements to supervisors.

The investigation into Gardner was launched after the county received a series of anonymous written complaints about Gardner and other officers -- mostly sexual in nature. The letters came as the county prepares to defend itself in January against a federal sex-abuse lawsuit -- filed by a former teenage lifeguard who says she had sex with three Beach Patrol men amid a "culture of sexual abuse and depravity."

Kaney said the county acted swiftly -- and wrongly -- to ax Gardner because of that pending lawsuit.

"He's been wrongfully accused of things that are being overcharacterized or overstated," Kaney said, "and I think the county is just scurrying to try to cover itself for the problems they've had with the lifeguard corps. I think he's getting hit by a ricochet."

Gardner, a tenured officer, was near the top of the Beach Patrol's hierarchy and had broad supervisory duties. Byron said he was the "third or fourth" highest-ranking officer, under Beach Services Director Kevin Sweat and Deputy Chief Scott Petersohn.

The county has opened internal investigations into both Gittner and Capt. Mindy Greene, who officials say Gittner confided in about Gardner. Winters, who was still working on a probationary period during her relationship with Gardner, is not under further investigation.

The Winters affair only lasted two to three weeks in August, according to county documents. Gardner's relationship with Gittner, however, dated back to February 2009, and at least four others on the Beach Patrol knew about it.

Byron said an employee affair wouldn't necessarily be grounds for firing, but "it is a clear workplace violation if one works for the other."

The Gittner relationship also called into question Gardner's judgment as a captain, according to the county's investigation.

In an interview with the county, Gittner said she called Gardner early one morning in August "in a distressed, emotional state of mind." She said she was "unstable" and thinking of quitting the Beach Patrol, and said to Gardner: "Come get my gun."

Gardner did, but returned the weapon to her the next day "without making any evaluation of her fitness for duty" and didn't report the incident to anyone, Coffin wrote. At that time, Gardner was acting as the Beach Patrol's on-call deputy chief. Gittner wrote in a letter to Sweat that "at no time that night or ever . . . have I desired to harm myself in any fashion."

While none of Gardner's affairs were said to have happened on county time or property, Coffin wrote that Gardner did routinely kiss Gittner as he left work in his county vehicle.

Byron stressed the affairs were "an incredible display of bad judgment on Rich's part," especially considering the spotlight the Beach Patrol has on it.

The federal lawsuit against the county is headed for a January trial date, and the attorney who filed it said he's interested in re-examining Gardner's deposition in the case.

"This absolutely goes to the issue," New Smyrna Beach attorney Brett Hartley said of the affairs. "Time and time again, we're turning up inappropriate sexual relationships. It's just a sexually charged fraternity house."

Byron dismissed that notion, saying, "the only culture that exists on the Beach Patrol is a culture of exemplary service and an international record of public safety excellence."

Gardner's base salary is $59,362, but he made $87,085 in 2010, including overtime and other compensation.