A Times Editorial

Unprofessional conduct reflects poorly on police

For officers who feared for their jobs just a few months ago, a pair of Port Richey Police Department members behave as if continued employment is guaranteed. Unfortunately for their co-workers, the unprofessional conduct reflects poorly on the agency as a whole and provides ammunition to critics who advocate significant changes in the police force.

Consider:

Officer James Ruland, who stopped mayoral candidate Bob Leggiere on suspicion of drunken driving, failed to show for the administrative hearing at which Leggiere could have lost his driver's license after declining to submit to sobriety tests. The episode, just days before the April 8 election, allowed Leggiere's supporters to chortle -- inaccurately according to police -- that Ruland ditched the hearing because he was afraid to testify under oath.

Ruland lost five days of accrued compensatory time for his role in the arrest of a supposed theft suspect in a case that involved the officer's girlfriend as the alleged victim.

Ruland, though off-duty at the time, received his supervisor's blessing to take a patrol car outside the city's jurisdiction to investigate the theft case. The supervisor, Ronald "Gene" Blythe, also lost compensatory time for his lack of leadership.

Blythe is familiar with the consequences of taking a car outside the city. He was disciplined and demoted from corporal after driving a department vehicle to Hernando County to visit his mistress.

Skipping the administrative hearing demonstrates poor organizational and time-management skills if Ruland, indeed, believed the Leggiere matter was scheduled for a different date. It is difficult to figure how that happened, however, considering the appropriate time and location were spelled out on a subpoena.

More disturbing is the incident involving Ruland's girlfriend. The woman, after agreeing to join William Griffin in a car for a marijuana cigarette and to show off her breasts newly enhanced by plastic surgery, said he attempted to steal her purse. A police internal affairs report said Griffin tossed the purse contents out his car window as he left a bar parking lot because he feared for his safety when a bystander confronted him about socializing with an officer's girlfriend.

Ruland butted into a case that should have been handled exclusively by the Pasco Sheriff's Office since the bar is located outside the city limits. But, joined by a deputy, Ruland entered Griffin's Hudson home without permission, refused him a lawyer, helped arrest him and then drove him to jail with his girlfriend sitting in the front seat of the patrol car.

The sheriff's deputy, Ronald Heinemann, later conferred with other officers and released Griffin because of a lack of evidence. He drove Griffin home and apologized. Heinemann also was disciplined by his agency.

Plainly and simply, Ruland abused his authority over a personal vendetta, failed to follow appropriate procedures, and put his city at risk of civil litigation. That Blythe authorized Ruland's involvement shows equally poor judgment.

The performance of Port Richey police officers remains under intense scrutiny. The City Council commissioned an efficiency study after a failed attempt to push a referendum calling for disbanding the department. Some council members are concerned about overtime costs at the 14-officer department, and newly re-elected council member Phyllis Grae, in a pre-election interview, criticized the department for accrued compensatory time, for patrol deployment, and for what she believed to be the previously lax discipline of Blythe.

Some of her concerns reflect an inappropriate desire to micro-manage the department. But she is correct that officers' behavior damages their credibility and brings unwanted recognition to the department and the city.

For an agency facing an uncertain future, maintaining professional standards should be a top priority. Failure to do so could trigger politically motivated consequences the department members will regret.

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