Fire officer accused of hateful language

The Fire Department looks into whether its only female lieutenant made racially charged remarks in front of firefighters and a visitor.

By MICHAEL SANDLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 7, 2002

LARGO -- The Largo Fire Department is investigating a complaint that accuses the department's highest ranking female officer of making racially charged comments at the station, officials said.

Chief Caroll Williams said the department opened an internal investigation last week to determine whether Lt. Jeannine Horton referred to African-Americans using hateful language in front of other firefighters and a visiting St. Petersburg College student.

"Comments were made, and that's what we are looking into, and in what context," Williams said.

Horton, 39, remains on duty pending the results of the investigation.

Williams said Horton supervises four to eight firefighters at Station 41 at 180 Fourth St. SW, one of two lieutenants in charge of a shift of 15.

She declined to comment Wednesday.

"I cannot talk about anything right now," Horton said. "It is currently under investigation."

She declined to listen to questions from a Times reporter who went to see her at the station. Instead, she asked the reporter to have a seat and left the room.

Her supervisor later arrived and said the department's standard operating procedure prevented Horton from commenting until the investigation is complete.

Division Chief Michael Wallace, who is overseeing the internal investigation, said he could not comment on the details. But he said the SPC student, who was shadowing a Largo emergency medical technician for class credit, did not make the complaint.

"He was not the genesis of this," Wallace said. "The student was simply a witness."

Horton has worked for the department since 1984 and became the department's first female officer in 1990 when she was promoted to lieutenant, Wallace said. She remains the only female lieutenant.

Officials said three of the city's 118 firefighters are black and none work under Horton.

Horton, who has served as an acting captain, was disciplined three times since 1998 for violating the department's code of conduct.

According to her file, she received a letter of reprimand in July 2000 for "subverting the chain of command" after she obtained a private memo between chiefs about benefits and faxed it to the local chapter of the union. As a result, she lost her acting captain privileges for six months.

She also received a reprimand in July 1999 for sending a memo to a fire chief that contained "false and critical remarks" about the department and her immediate supervisor, and she was disciplined in 1998 for "violating the chain of command" by sending an e-mail to another city employee inquiring about benefits.

-- Michael Sandler can be reached at 445-4174 or sandler@sptimes.com .

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