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Tactical errors cited in UCF officer's death

A new report looks at the shooting during a joint police effort at a tailgate party.

ORLANDO - Police failed to properly follow procedures in the fatal shooting of a plainclothes University of Central Florida officer before a football game, a new report said.

There were no backup officers to watch Mario Jenkins, no radios to call for help, no pepper spray, Tasers or batons to use instead of guns on rowdy crowds, according to documents made available Friday.

Jenkins, 29, was part of a team investigating underage drinking at tailgate parties before UCF's Sept. 25 game against Marshall. He was fatally shot by reserve Orlando police Officer Dennis R. Smith during a melee with tailgaters in which Jenkins pulled his gun and fired.

Smith has been cleared of wrongdoing by the State Attorney's Office.

Jenkins was working on a joint operation involving UCF police, Orlando police and the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. But coordination was so loose that the agencies didn't hold a meeting together before the game.

"Hey, I don't have a radio, so if you hear me screaming . . . come and find me," Jenkins jokingly told a colleague 15 minutes before he died, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement report shows.

Maj. Randy Mingo, Jenkins' supervisor, told state investigators he asked Jenkins to wait for another officer before heading into a crowd of fans, but Jenkins said he was okay. Minutes later, Smith shot and killed Jenkins, unaware the man holding his gun over a wounded tailgater was really another officer.

The report, released by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office, disclosed for the first time that a state alcohol agent also was aiming his pistol at Jenkins when Smith shot Jenkins three times. Smith said he fired when Jenkins raised his pistol and started turning toward him.

Jenkins fired two rounds toward Smith before collapsing, narrowly missing.

"The facts that similar enforcement action has been conducted over the past three football seasons without the officers or agents encountering significant physical resistance seems to have led to a sense of complacency on the part of involved agencies, with little attention being given to tactical concerns and issues of officer identification or safety," the report concludes.

Jenkins, who grew up in Tarpon Springs, was an altar boy at St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church and played football for Tarpon Springs High School. He was a Marine Corps veteran.

[Last modified January 22, 2006, 01:01:11]