The chief says an investigation indicates that the officer did utter the slurs one night this month.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published September 30, 2003
LARGO - A police officer resigned Monday amid an investigation into allegations he made racial slurs.
Officer Mark Gluski, a 19-year department veteran, used the word "n-----" twice during a ride-along Sept. 12 with a police applicant, the investigation concluded.
The internal investigation was set to conclude this week after investigators interviewed Gluski. But he decided before his interview Monday morning that he would resign.
Police Chief Lester Aradi said the investigation determined Gluski, who had been on administrative leave with pay since the allegations surfaced, did in fact make the racial slurs.
"Based on the fact that it was sustained, I more than likely would have terminated the employee" had he not resigned, Aradi said. "There is no room for that conduct in this organization when the trust of the public means so much."
Aradi said Gluski's comments are isolated and should not erode the public's trust that his officers will treat people with fairness and respect.
"I was completely shocked that these words would be spoken by one of my officers," Aradi said.
Gluski could not be reached for comment Monday. Bill LauBach, executive director of the Pinellas County Police Benevolent Association, who represented Gluski, said: "I think the investigation was conducted in a fair way.
"I think it's in his best interest, the best interest of his family and the department," LauBach said of Gluski's resignation.
Gluski has received written reprimands or counseling sessions nine times since 1985 on charges of tardiness, not coming to work properly equipped and other violations. He also had come under investigation twice in the past year for being rude to residents, most recently for being so abrasive with a woman involved in a traffic crash that she cried.
Aradi also was set to decide Monday what punishment to give Gluski for that incident.
The applicant who rode with Gluski on Sept. 12, Tobey Miller, also reported the officer was rude and abrasive during the ride-along.
Gluski was an hour late picking up Miller from the police station, then refused to answer the applicant's questions, Miller told investigators. Gluski even turned up his radio when Miller said he had to go to the bathroom, making him him wait 45 minutes before he could go.
While they were driving through Tri-City Plaza, Gluski saw a group of kids in front of an ice cream shop, then started telling Miller how he took his children out of a local school because "a n----- had brought a shotgun to school," an internal affairs report states.
A few minutes later, Gluski pulled up next to another officer, Brea Mullins, and started talking to her. He told the same story and again used the slur, Miller told investigators.
Miller, who is Asian-American, later told investigators that Mullins made eye contact with him, suggesting to him that she had heard the slur and thought it was inappropriate, reports state.
But Mullins did not report the slur to her superiors. She acknowledged hearing it, however, when later questioned by internal affairs investigators, corroborating Miller's account.
Aradi said Mullins should have reported Gluski's comment, but added she is a fairly new officer who may have been intimidated by Gluski.
"I think she was as stunned as anybody else," he said.
Aradi said he intends to issue a directive to all his officers requiring them to report to supervisors any racial comments they hear made by other officers.
Mullins' chain of command will determine if she should face any punishment, which could be a reprimand or a counseling session, Aradi said.
Miller told a police recruiter about Gluski's remarks on Sept. 17. The recruiter passed on the information to department leaders, who launched an internal investigation that same day.
The investigation into Gluski's remarks comes after several examples of racial insensitivity in Pinellas County's third-largest city.
In November, Largo Fire Department Lt. Jeannine Horton, the department's highest-ranking female firefighter, was terminated after she confessed to making remarks in front of firefighters that included the comment: "I hate n------."
That investigation came to light about the same time a fair-housing survey showed racial discrimination in Largo. Other city employees soon came forward with accusations of racial harassment.
Aradi said his officers take sensitivity training, which included mandatory citywide training after the incident involving Horton.
