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MOLLY MOORHEADThe city manager asks for his resignation after not seeing eye to eye on a number of matters.
ZEPHYRHILLS - After only nine months on the job, police Chief Jerry Freeman is out.
City Manager Steve Spina, citing a loss of confidence in the chief, asked for Freeman's resignation Wednesday afternoon.
Freeman handed him a one-sentence letter a few hours later.
There was no single issue that led to Freeman's forced resignation, Spina said, but rather a pattern of decisions and judgments Spina considered questionable.
"These are issues that are ongoing," Spina said. "It just came to a point that for the good of the department, we just had to move on."
Freeman, 53, beat 73 other applicants in a four-month nationwide search last year to replace Robert Howell, who retired after 40 years with the department.
Freeman came to Zephyrhills from Hialeah, where he was a captain and the No. 3 officer in the department.
He called Spina's action Wednesday "disappointing."
"Being human beings, Steve and I did not agree on everything," Freeman said. "However, I do not feel like there was any problem so insurmountable that it couldn't be resolved. But you have to be willing to work toward resolution."
He said he had not yet decided whether to appeal his case to the City Council.
"Since it just happened, I'm sitting back weighing my options," he said.
The city charter has a provision for department heads to appeal firings, although council members can refuse to hear such cases.
Problems in the Police Department began this year, when a male officer complained about Freeman's habit of hugging and kissing female employees.
Spina got involved and met with virtually every member of the Police Department, where morale was sinking. He stopped short of reprimanding Freeman over the matter but insisted that the behavior stop.
Freeman, who let employees call him by his first name and eschewed the police chief's garb for a black patrol uniform, said at the time he never acted improperly or intended to offend anyone. His friendly behavior, he said, was merely an attempt to be social.
Since then, Spina said, more problems have come up.
Freeman allowed patrol officers to bring family members with them on police ride-alongs, exposing the city to liability, Spina said.
Freeman said everyone who participated in ride-alongs signed waivers. But after Spina expressed his concerns, Freeman said he acted promptly.
He consulted the city attorney, who recommended that the ride-along program limit who could participate.
"I immediately typed up a memorandum, showed it to Mr. Spina and distributed it to our personnel," he said. "We changed the program."
Now, only people with an interest in law enforcement and the department, such as students, media members and city officials, can ride in patrol cars.
Freeman said he thought that issue was dead. "I felt like if a concern was raised, then I did the right thing," he said.
But Spina's objections didn't end there. A current police case was not being handled well, he said, though he wouldn't elaborate.
Freeman's style of supervision, he said, was too lax.
"I just wasn't confident that things would be handled in the manner they should be," Spina said.
He and Freeman met at least three times in the past week, and a few times in the past several months. But they couldn't find common ground.
"We talked about it several times, but it didn't come to resolution," Spina said.
Spina planned to meet today with Police Department employees. Many already knew of Freeman's ouster by Wednesday afternoon.
"I just want to let them have the opportunity to express their opinions and concerns," he said.
Spina will conduct another national search to find a replacement. In the meantime, he said he thinks the department, which is scheduled to move to a new station in December, can continue operating without a chief.
"I think we have some pretty capable employees," he said. "I think we can keep things going."
Freeman remains convinced the situation didn't have to end this way.
"I think it could have worked, would have worked, should have worked," he said.
- Molly Moorhead covers news about Zephyrhills. She can be reached at 352 521-5757, ext. 29, or toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6108, then 29. Her e-mail address is moorhead@sptimes.com