Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Police add minorities to top brass

The racial profile of the department's leadership changes dramatically, but officials admit there's still a ways to go.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published November 22, 2005

TAMPA - Amid criticism about the racial makeup of his department and particularly the top brass, Tampa police Chief Steve Hogue has elevated five Hispanic and five black officers to higher ranks.

With the promotions, a quarter of the department's captains are minorities, as are 28 percent of lieutenants and corporals and 27 percent of sergeants.

But there are still only two people of color on the chief's eight-member executive staff. And overall, the police force remains nearly 13 percent black - while the Tampa's black population is 28 percent.

Hogue, responding to recent criticism of his executive staff's demographics, notes that three are women and two are black.

"I think that's pretty reasonable for a staff of nine," he said, counting himself.

That's more diverse than Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee's sworn executive staff, which is all male and includes only one black major and one Hispanic chief deputy.

Hogue concedes there is much work to be done in diversifying the rest of his force.

"Probably, if I've had a failure in my two years, that's it," Hogue said Monday. "I haven't gotten the numbers up to where I want. I'd like to see in excess of 20 percent."

The biggest of Hogue's recent promotions went to 22-year veteran Sophia Teague, who will be major over the patrol district that includes New Tampa and the University of South Florida.

Teague, who is white, was chosen last week over a handful of other candidates.

Among them: Capt. Joan Dias, who heads internal affairs; and narcotics division leader Capt. Marion Lewis, who sued the department for racial discrimination after his 1988 firing for incompetence was reversed on appeal. Dias is Hispanic. Lewis is black.

The promotion of Teague means assistant chief Tina Wright and Maj. Carl Davis are the only black members of Hogue's staff. They were promoted under Bennie Holder, the first black chief in Tampa police history.

"Since Chief Hogue has been there , he has not appointed anyone of color to any position on the executive staff," said Frank Reddick, president of the Northview Hills Civic Association in East Tampa. "This was a great opportunity to do it and I don't know why he was reluctant to do it."

Reddick is especially concerned that there is no one of color leading any of the department's three patrol districts - including predominantly black East Tampa.

Reddick is scheduled to meet with Mayor Pam Iorio next week to discuss the issue.

"I would definitely like a minority presence within the district among the rank and file as well as the upper level management," said City Council member Kevin White, who represents east Tampa and supported Lewis for major.

Hogue said his choice was not easy.

"Any one of those captains could have been a major," Hogue said. "So you look for someone who has done that little something extra."

Teague wrote legislation last year to protect neighborhood-watch members from assault. She just drafted another legislative proposal to protect children from suspects who try to entice them. When the department's bloodhound, used for tracking children, needed a home, Teague was the only one who volunteered, Hogue said.

"She took that big, smelly dog out there to her house because she felt it was important we have him for missing children," Hogue said. "That says something about her dedication."

Iorio said she'll listen to what Reddick has to say when they meet Nov. 29, but she leaves promotions up to Hogue.

Still, she has directed both Hogue and Fire Chief Dennis Jones to work toward increasing their minority numbers. Less than 10 percent of Tampa firefighters are black.

"We have a long way to go," she said.

Jones, she said, encouraged Hillsborough County school superintendent MaryEllen Elia to establish attractor programs for firefighter and paramedic education at Jefferson and Durant high schools. Those programs are scheduled to start in January.

Police department recruiter Cpl. Curtis Smith, a black Tampa native who grew up in Belmont Heights, said he advertises in minority publications such as the Florida Sentinel-Bulletin and the Historic Black Colleges and Universities career guide.

His all-minority recruiting team goes to community cultural events. Assistant Chief Jane Castor, a former University of Tampa basketball standout, will soon start recruiting from area athletic programs.

The department also wants to expand its recruiting of military veterans, already recruited by the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office. In recent weeks, Hogue's executive staff has proposed working closely with local churches to identify ideal candidates.

The roughly $4,000 tuition for the police academy can be a major deterrent for potential recruits from low-income backgrounds, so the Police Department is putting five black men through the academy with scholarships. The Sheriff's Office has a similar program covered by a grant.

But Smith said the biggest challenge isn't always about money or college requirements. When he joined the Police Explorers at 15, his peers teased him and called him "Goody Two-Shoes."

They couldn't believe he would go work for the cops. That antagonism and mistrust between minorities and law enforcement still exists today, he said.

"How do you pierce the soul of the people who don't have any idea or interest about law enforcement?" Smith said. "How do you get to them?

"We just do the best job we can to make it right."

--Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified November 22, 2005, 02:15:27]