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Let the Sheriff's Office handle Belleair policing

When even the officers who work for a police department think it needs to be disbanded, the time has come.

The Belleair Police Department, at full staff a tiny agency with fewer than a dozen full-time members, is once again in shambles.

It is without a chief - again - and the deputy chief and administrative supervisor are gone, too. An outside police agency has again been called on to manage the department until the listing ship can be righted.

How often must this cycle be repeated before Belleair residents understand that a well-staffed, professional and stable department like the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office would be far superior?

Belleair police Chief Erv Hill resigned late last month after an officer on the force accused him of secretly, and therefore illegally, taping a conversation between the two, then using the tape to attempt to persuade the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office to investigate the officer. Hill, who came to Belleair as deputy chief three years ago, was asked to leave by Town Manager Steve Cottrell.

Around the same time Hill was asked to resign, Lt. David Keefe, the agency's second in command, was asked to leave, and administrative supervisor JoAnne Fishback resigned. The department's leadership has evaporated.

That's the way it goes in Belleair. Hill had been chief since former Chief George Harmansky resigned in late 2004. Harmansky stayed only four years. He had replaced Chief Michael Egger, who also left after four years. And while chiefs came and went, there were various embarrassing scandals and claims of improper behavior by the rank and file.

Following the recent departures of Hill, Keefe and Fishback, Mayor George Mariani Jr. wondered if the time had come to throw in the towel, saying the department has "fundamental problems with operations." That's an understatement.

But most striking were the comments of Ken Afienko, who represents the Fraternal Order of Police in union negotiations. Afienko said Belleair officers themselves now want the department taken over by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which offers them better training, better support and better pay. In Belleair, Afienko said, "the equipment is substandard, the training is substandard and the leadership is nonexistent."

That apparently doesn't matter to some Belleair residents, who act as if city officers are part private security guards, part personal servants. At a recent meeting to discuss the police issue, one resident noted that Belleair officers know where to take his dog when it runs away from home, and another said, "They even knew my bunny when it escaped." Another liked that officers would call if "the garage door is open and it's raining." Belleair residents have been known to summon officers if their newspaper was not delivered or their garage door was stuck.

One would think that on those rare occasions that significant crime occurs in Belleair, residents would want the best law enforcement money could buy. That is not the Belleair Police Department, which has to rely on other, bigger departments for that kind of criminal investigation.

One would also think that with the threat of severe hurricane seasons in the years ahead, residents would want a well-equipped department prepared to respond in force to a natural disaster. That is not the Belleair department, where one of the previous chiefs discovered that officers were not CPR certified and the first aid kit in the patrol car was rusted shut.

Belleair is a wealthy, well-educated enclave that is proud of its classy image. Isn't it time that Belleair had law enforcement that matched that image?

[Last modified April 30, 2006, 00:58:16]