One for the good guys!

No Rebuke For HIV Allegation
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By ELLEN GEDALIUS egedalius@tampatrib.com

Published: May 2, 2006





TAMPA - Two police officers who were involved in preparing a police report indicating a suspect has HIV will not be reprimanded by the department, according to an internal affairs investigative report released Monday.

Detective Scott Guffey and Officer Kristoffer Babino were cleared of wrongdoing.

At issue is the case of Terry Neal, a government watchdog who was arrested in December 2004 at a Tampa City Council meeting and charged with trespassing.

A few months ago, Neal discovered that his report indicated he is HIV-positive and has hepatitis C. Neal, who is running for council, said neither is true.

Guffey told Babino that Neal has HIV, but Guffey could not recall how he knew the information.

"He heard it from numerous sources around City Hall and City Council and considered it to be common knowledge for those who work regularly in that environment," the internal investigation report states.

"The officers did what they felt was correct for officer safety," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. "We feel the fault lies on the shoulders of the department, not the two officers, because we did not have a clear policy and now, as a result of this case, we do."

A legal bulletin to police officers in February says that all information collected by the department must be accurate and confirmed. Information in reports must be attributed to its source. If unconfirmed information is included in reports, officers must state that the information might not be true.

Neal said he is surprised nobody was reprimanded and referred questions to his attorney, who did not return a phone call.

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How can the PIO slander these officers and violate the law when she made the original comments about this case? I haven't seen her apologize or recant any of her statements. Remember, the Chief is outraged. No, we are outraged that such remarks can be made without any concern over the officers reputations or their jobs.