SPD Officer Katrina Young

Interesting Herald-Tribune article by Tom Lyons:

Snip:


A man accused of an armed home invasion had his charges dropped last week, thanks to a witness being too frightened to testify.

And because there is another witness who went missing, a Sarasota police officer may be more likely to be allowed to keep her job.

A North Port Police investigator's report says an associate told a detective that he got the address from his cousin, Sarasota Police officer Katrina Young.

Young has not talked to me, but was interviewed at length by a North Port investigator. Although she claimed at one point that Harris got the address online by using Young's home computer, the investigator says he found no way this could have happened.

So North Port police used computer records and Young's duty schedule to conclude Young had used a patrol car computer to access Terrence Bryant's personal information. They say she used the state's driver license database, which is available to cops but not to the rest of us.

The result of the investigation was a probable cause affidavit seeking a criminal charge against Young in the violation of state records laws.

Young was placed on paid leave while the State Attorney's Office decided what to do.
Then, weeks later, prosecutors wrote to then-Chief of Police Peter Abbott to say that since a witness -- Young's cousin, Whizz Harris -- had not been located for a follow-up interview, no decision could be made about criminal charges yet. The case will remain open.

So Young stayed on paid leave.

And the State Attorney sent word to the Sarasota Police Department that since Officer Young's cousin still hadn't been found, Young's case was being closed, at least temporarily, with no charges filed.

And so, the night-shift Sarasota patrol officer has now been returned to duty.
But Young, who did not return my call or e-mail, is now the subject of an internal investigation into the matter. That could result in disciplinary action, which requires less evidence than a criminal charge. But it depends on whether Sarasota Police reach the same conclusion about Young's story that North Port Police did.

"I believe this investigation was thorough, professional, and ethical," North Port Police Chief Terry Lewis said. "Like any good investigator, our detective followed the leads wherever they took him."

Tom Lyons can be contacted at tom.lyons@heraldtribune.com or (941) 361-4964.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100613/COLUMNIST/6131060/-1/todayspaper?Title=Lyons-Home-invasion-is-going-unpunished

We stepped in it again! Keep your hands and feet inside the Bad Press Express, the ride is about to begin. Thanks Ofc. Young,,,,, just a side note: When the Chief said support the Newtown Community, I'm fairly certain that providing sensitive information in furtherence of criminal acts was not what he was talking about, or maybe he was. SPD where Customer Service is our goal, making every felon smile inside the incorporated City Limits of Sarasota. The P.A.P.'s gonna crap out a gold metal and give it to her for being on the cutting edge of community relations! Can someone go smoke so crack and get caught banging a hooker so we can just get that out of the way already........What happened to this place? Jeez!

What happened to your department?

I'll be holding my breath waiting to hear about I.A.'s findings on this one! "I hope you learned something here Katrina" will be the slap on the wrist she'll get from the protectors! They should really penalize her and take away her cell phone. :snicker:

When you hire people with a criminal record this is what you get. Look around people this palce hires the bottom of the barrel. There is more than one person working here right now that has been arrested before. It's just a matter of time before that hits the papers and we look like crap again. woops sorry we still look likie crap from the last incident. This palce is unreal, they hire criminals and expect them to be trained, the only thing we are training them to do is become better criminals. I don't trust her as far as I can kick her ass up to Newtown. Fire her now and show we still have some balls around here. I'm keeping my distance from her, nothing good can come from this.

When you hire people with a criminal record this is what you get. Look around people this palce hires the bottom of the barrel. There is more than one person working here right now that has been arrested before. It's just a matter of time before that hits the papers and we look like crap again. woops sorry we still look likie crap from the last incident. This palce is unreal, they hire criminals and expect them to be trained, the only thing we are training them to do is become better criminals. I don't trust her as far as I can kick her ass up to Newtown. Fire her now and show we still have some balls around here. I'm keeping my distance from her, nothing good can come from this.

The fact that it hit the newspapers and is at this website means that the chance of her getting off Scot free is diminished. However, one never knows till the fat lady sings...

Katrina will not get off scot free. Leblanc is the most competant and thorough (although at times over zealous) IA Lt SPD has had in some time. If the allegation is sustained, it will be Hollaway's first true test. Will he do the right thing?? I think so. Will she be fired?? Not unless the criminal case goes forward. If it does, there is no way she would not be found as an accessory. If that happens, CJSTC has to be made aware of the case so it would be out of the Chief's hands.

Bottom line, she is a do nothing officer. Always has been, always will be. She is dead weight that needs to leave and make way for someone who will do more than just the bare minimum.

I have never had any type of problem with Ofc. Young. That being said I have very strong feelings about someone who utilized her official capacitiy to obtain information and give it out to person outside our Department. Criminal Investigation or No Criminal investigation, regardless of her work ethic this is a very serious problem. She has access to all of our officers home phone numbers, home addresses, vehicle information, etc.. I know that you could probably look up officer's information with some amount of effort via other means but she has them all right in front of her everday. What happens the next time we arrest someone she knows and is friends with who wants to find out where their arresting Officers live, or what kind of car they drive? Will she just wait till her partner goes inside x-19 and runs our name through DAVID on her partner's certificate or will she just stroll in and get it off the Sgt.'s Desk.? When do we get to see the Northport investigation so we can decide for ourselves what did or did not happen? Lets not wait 6 months to get this investigation done with IA. We want to know if Ofc. Young can be trusted or if this is a nonevent. If she did it get rid of her, she will have proven herself unworthy of the Department's trust, if she didn't then let her get back to taking calls.

Trust her, are you kidding me. I can't stand to even look at her. And what WTF are they doing putting her up on the block where she can be around all the dirt bags she has been giving the information to in the first palce.This so called officer is the biggest waste of space in the department. Ever since she came out of field training she works harder to get out of calls than she does just doing them. She has the two biggest things in the world going for her at SPD, i will leave it at that.

I hope I never get in a position where I have to work side by side with her, I would always do my job and respond to help any officer in need, but she has no buisness being on the street right now, no one on the shift other than her counter parts trust her. This is the one thing I can't over look,being a part of some thing so criminal. Personal matters that cause you problems in IA, ok they can be over looked, but this no way.

I can't imagine having to sit in the same car with her for the whole shift. Leave it to the supervisors here to submit another officer to that kind of exsposure. If she has to be on the street put her by herself. Another example of the kind of lack of quality supervision we have to endure here.

If this goes unchecked by this department there will be hell to pay, I don't think we should sit by and let this kind of bull #$@# go unchecked. She is an embaresment to this department and she should be fired. This is one time we as a department should stand together and push to have the right thing done.The hell with she has a family to take care of, so do I and if were me in this spot I would have been fire and left on the street so fast it would make your head spin.

This is a pure example of a BAD COP, we need to cut our loses and move on there are good people out there we can hire with out criminal records that we can trust and work side by side with.This officer has lost the trust of her fellow cops and the community at large. If I see her walking toward me I will turn and go the other way.I can't think of any thing worse you can do as an officer than some thing like this.

This will be one of the biggest tests for IA and the Chief to date. I hope they do the right thing here. It would boost the moral of this department ten fold if they show some true balls and fire her.

I can't imagine having to sit in the same car with her for the whole shift. Leave it to the supervisors here to submit another officer to that kind of exsposure. If she has to be on the street put her by herself.

Working alone requires a great deal of trust because no one is there to watch what you're doing. Can she be trusted to work alone without a witness with her all the time???

First of all lets get something straight - obviously IA has NO intention of looking into this matter, because if they did they already would have done it while she was out on suspension for those couple of months. The investigation was alreay complete, yet the powers that be decided not to investigate it then. The bottom line is this officer has NO integrity, is a bold faced liar and can not be trusted - not to mention the fact that she still has FULL access to DAVID....yes that's right DAVID....the same program she used to give her cousin the address so he could go and commit a home invasion. The truth of the matter is no one wants to talk about the "pink elephant" in the room - that being she is a minority and SPD is hard up for them. Any other department would have cut their losses. But I guess it also helps that the interim Chief endorsed her application - therefore he has to save face and rather than do the right thing and left her go they are going to keep her employed. The people in the department should be outraged by this as it gives all of us a bad name.

The only difference bewteen Katrina Young and the people that get arrested are........I was going to say being caught, but that already happened. If you were smart you would stay far away from this individual and for Gods sake don't let her use YOUR computer!!!

And to make matters worse (if you can imagaine that) they put her up in Newtown to work. Now she can mingle with all of her thug friends. Who knows maybe she can have them do a ride along. Admin needs to get their head out of their butts and DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!!!!!! Cut her loose......we don't need anymore bad press.

Obviously, all of the promises of the city manager, the Police Advisory Panel and the new administration have gone right down the drain. They have set the lowest standard possible - you can commit a Felony - while on duty - and get your job back!
Where is the outrage by the City Commissioners and all of the people who wanted the commuity to trust the police department again?

Whatever credibility these people had left is gone.

[COPONE]

Why don't we all just man up or women up and get the rest of this story out....I'm told, can't get a confirmation, that this Officer has also broken the law by fraudulently getting welfare or somesort of Government assistance when she has a good paying job....I think I.A. needs to be looking into this as well...........
She violated a serious G.O., she needs to be fired........other people have been fired for much less.........Come on Chief, or Mr. City Manager or whomever else is running the show.....step up, set an example and fire her.......No one will play the race card.........she violated a G.O. the G.O. is not a black/white issue....it's a right/wrong issue.

Are you guys crazy, shes going to be the next Captain. She is just padding her credentials. :shock: :shock: :shock:

I can't imagine having to sit in the same car with her for the whole shift. Leave it to the supervisors here to submit another officer to that kind of exsposure. If she has to be on the street put her by herself.

Working alone requires a great deal of trust because no one is there to watch what you're doing. Can she be trusted to work alone without a witness with her all the time???

SPD you need to shut your agency down..you have to many crooks working in your department. The ratio of Bad Cops -vs-Good Cops are to great of a number..How can any of your citizens trust your agency when you have more crooks working for you then are on the street..Let the SSO take over..your agency is a laughing stock in the law enforcement community..Your making the real LEO's look bad...You can say of full of sh-t but looking at your above comments prove my point ...Not only does other LEO's think your agency su-ks but most of your officers do to.

MPD-- I will have to respectfully disagree with you about the percentage of problem officers comparative to good officers at the Sarasota Police Department. I cannot contest what others have said about the particular officer in this thread, nor can I contest the fact that we have had an extended period of time with noone really in charge willing to make changes that would right the Department. The vast majority of Officers at SPD are good Officers who are willing to work if backed in the appropriate manner by their respective chain of command. The issue now is that the City Manager is running things from 1st Street and anyone above the rank of Sergeant that wants to be promoted is walking on egg shells so as to not anger the vengeful Budha in the CM's Office. Command Staff doesn't want to make waves, problems with the new buidling are summarily dismissed without review by the CM, new Chief coming in, new Deputy Chief coming in (both picked by the CM). Things are going to getting worse before they get better. That being said there are many fine officers still showing up for the shifts every day and night in the CIty regardless of the negative atmosphere around them.

now the word on the street is that KY was in newtown hanging out off duty,, and one of the black males from the home invasion threatened her life.. apparently a SPD officer was ordered to write a PCA on this subject. I dont have all the details.. but all I know is that she is putting our Officers in harms way.. SHE NEEDS to go..

SO now whoever is stuck working with her on the street needs to be careful. !!!!!!!!!

Has anyone noticed that the newspaper has never written a story about this? Only an opinion column? Could it be that the editors at the Herald-Tribune are selectively reporting the news? A form of editorial affirmative action most likely!

Who cares if it's not in the paper!? The fact of the matter is that when one of us screws up big it all makes us look bad in the eyes of the public. Unless you have been hiding under a rock or just got back from about 18 months of vacation, we have had enough bad press to last us the rest of our collective careers. The complaint is in I.A., hopefully Ofc. Young will be handled in a manner befitting her actions.

And the bad press will continue because of the incompetent way this case is being handled.

I think it's time for all of the above mentioned to be investigated by the feds , since the corruption goes all the way up to the commissioners office.If you know a crime has been commited and you don't report it to the authorities you are also committing a crime!

So tell me is this over? Is she going to walk away from this unscathed? We all better watch our backs!

[COPONE]

I can't imagine having to sit in the same car with her for the whole shift. Leave it to the supervisors here to submit another officer to that kind of exsposure. If she has to be on the street put her by herself.

Working alone requires a great deal of trust because no one is there to watch what you're doing. Can she be trusted to work alone without a witness with her all the time???

SPD you need to shut your agency down..you have to many crooks working in your department. The ratio of Bad Cops -vs-Good Cops are to great of a number..How can any of your citizens trust your agency when you have more crooks working for you then are on the street..Let the SSO take over..your agency is a laughing stock in the law enforcement community..Your making the real LEO's look bad...You can say of full of sh-t but looking at your above comments prove my point ...Not only does other LEO's think your agency su-ks but most of your officers do to.


So how come the "get" SPD media is not all over this story? You'd think nthey would, we all know they read this stuff......I would like to see them get opn it so that they wuld be forced to deal with this officer......I know, I know, it might make mus look bad, but at the same time it would show everyone that we take care of the bad apples......and not just reward them, like most people in this community think we do.

So where has she suddenly gone to..............

For those who want to know if this is over, no it is not. I call Sarasota I.A office often to find out the status of the investigation. I also have wrote a letter to Governor Crist providing him with an copy of the P.C.A I received from the North Port Police Department. Governor Crist forward the letter to Special Agent Bourgeois of DEP Division of Law Enforcement of Tallahassee Florida. I have been in contact with all the necessary authority that I feel can help my family get this criminal who is walking around with a gun and a badge off the streets. I don’t understand how SPD can hire someone who associates their self with convicted felons.

Governor Crist forward the letter to Special Agent Bourgeois of DEP Division of Law Enforcement of Tallahassee Florida.


DEP-are you talking about the The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Law Enforcement ? Or FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcement)?

For those who want to know if this is over, no it is not. I call Sarasota I.A office often to find out the status of the investigation. I also have wrote a letter to Governor Crist providing him with an copy of the P.C.A I received from the North Port Police Department. Governor Crist forward the letter to Special Agent Bourgeois of DEP Division of Law Enforcement of Tallahassee Florida. I have been in contact with all the necessary authority that I feel can help my family get this criminal who is walking around with a gun and a badge off the streets. I don’t understand how SPD can hire someone who associates their self with convicted felons.


If you are the victim in this I am truly sorry to you. You should know that we are ashamed and disgusted by this. You should also know that most officers did not support this person being hired for the mere fact that she has a criminal record. When this incident took place, most of us were disgusted. I say most of us because there are a few of her female buddies that support her no matter what. You should also know that most of us have wanted her gone since this happened, and are disgusted each and every time we see her wearing the uniform. Most of us do not speak to her and do not acknowledge her as an officer. We dont trust her and dont feel comfortable with her in a uniform and having access to the things she has access to. We have been pushing and inquiring about an internal investigation, but the thing is investigations are hush hush until they are completed. We have wanted to get FDLE involved, but they wont investigate without a complainant to sign a complaint. So, we dont really know what the heck is going on.

My advice to you, would be to call the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and formally make a complaint.

Thank you to those officers who is not supporting this criminal. My children and I have been through a lot dealing with this incident and this officer. I have already been in contact with FDLE. Special Agent Bourgeois is working with me pertaining to this serious crime. My family is so thankful Governor Crist took the time to read and forward my letter to FDLE. Recently, this same officer filed a false PCA, stating my husband threaten her life. This same officer go and file a restraining order against my husband. The Judge dismissed the order against my husband due to the fact Officer Young PCA stated something totally different than what she stated in court. I was present with my husband and provided all the documents to show Officer Young was dishonest and why she has a problem with my husband. But still SPD had the nerves to issue a warrant for my husband arrest. Thank GOD, the State Attorney office took all the evidenced including Officer Young recorded statement I provided them with and dropped all charges against my husband. Again, this so call officer uses her job with SPD illegally. I want to know when SPD will say enough is enough. I have had a meeting with Capt. Bonner who is aware of this Officer affiliation with criminals. This same officer so call boyfriend “baby daddy” was recently arrested for traffican cocaine. I am not and will not stop fighting for my family. I hope those officer who do not support this criminal stop speaking up. Officer Young is a disgrace to that uniform.

Let's get something straight here I have read some posts that say Katrina Young's "counterparts" support her. The only counterpart that I know that supports her is Ryann Coppinger and really she is no better. Other than that I know of no other female or male who vocally support her. Well maybe Lt. Breakstone. But that's only because he has or wants to sleep with her. That being said hopefully she will get what's coming to her.

Anything New?

:) Just got word officer Katrina young just got dismissed from her position. I hope the State Attorney office decides to file charges against this criminal. She should have to sit in jail and answer to charges as any other criminal who does not follow the law. Who is she to have special privileges. This ex-officer use her job not once but twice to commit a crime. I am very thankful IA did a intense investigation. I hope the State Attorney office picks the criminal charges back up then my family will have justice we deserve.

Thank God she is finally gone.. It is all over the news SNN ABC.. She gave a black eye to our agency... She got what she deserved... :evil:

:) Just got word officer Katrina young just got dismissed from her position. I hope the State Attorney office decides to file charges against this criminal. She should have to sit in jail and answer to charges as any other criminal who does not follow the law. Who is she to have special privileges. This ex-officer use her job not once but twice to commit a crime. I am very thankful IA did a intense investigation. I hope the State Attorney office picks the criminal charges back up then my family will have justice we deserve.

The internal affairs investigation showed that Young violated 13 police policies, but she will not be charged with a crime.

The criminal investigation was dashed by prosecutors who said that they did not have enough evidence to prove that Young obstructed justice or knowingly misused the driver's license system -- despite a sworn statement from her cousin that she gave the address to him days before the home invasion

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101211/ARTICLE/12111045/2416/NEWS?Title=Sarasota-officer-fired-over-link-to-home-invasion

FYI, sworn statements are not admissible in court.

In order to charge and try someone for a crime, you have to have the witness testify.

Also, the State can't call a witness for the purpose of impeaching them with a prior statement, so it is not like you can just force the prior sworn statement into evidence. In a trial on this case the jury would never know or hear about the sworn statement or hear from the cousin.