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Largo outlines Belleair policing flaws

The issues aren't critical but should be addressed when the department gets a new chief, says Largo's chief of the evaluation.

By LORRI HELFAND
Published May 5, 2006

BELLEAIR - The town's new police chief, if Belleair decides to hire one, should be much more involved in managing the department than its previous leader.

That's the main message of a recent evaluation of the agency by the Largo Police Department.

The evaluation, written by Largo police Lt. Brad Seale after Largo temporarily took over Belleair's department, said "immediate attention" needed to be paid to several areas, including writing reports, training, property and evidence storage, scheduling, equipment, dispatch and keeping records.

Largo offered its services following the March 24 resignation of Belleair Police Chief Erv Hill, who was asked to resign partly because he was accused of secretly taping an interview with one of his officers.

Seale's evaluation, which the town received this week, also described the small-town responsibilities of police in Belleair, an upscale enclave of about 4,200. There, the town's 11 full-time officers and two part-time officers spend most of their days watching the homes of residents who leave town for several days or weeks.

While the evaluation pointed out a number of flaws, Largo Police Chief Lester Aradi said none of the issues were critical.

"None of these problems are earth-shattering, glaring problems. Perhaps all we've done is saved a new chief the effort of conducting his own analysis," he said.

Of course, it's also possible that Largo is saving work for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Last month, Sheriff Jim Coats said his agency was interested in running the department. He's scheduled to make a report at Town Hall at a June 6 work session.

A number of residents don't like the idea of the Sheriff's Office taking over.

"It's like sticking Batman in a small neighborhood. You think he's going to be happy in a small neighborhood with nothing going on?" resident Cliff Zurkan said.

There were eight felony arrests in Belleair during the 2005 fiscal year, according to a Belleair Police Department activity report. There hasn't been a murder in the 2-square-mile town since 1993.

Two weeks ago, at a town meeting, a few residents told city leaders they liked how officers knew them and called them when they left their garage doors open or when their pets got loose.

"When somebody does that, at least they're looking out for you," Zurkan said.

Assistant Town Manager Micah Maxwell said the town is holding off on its search for a new chief until the Town Commission hears the sheriff's presentation.

Largo has offered its services for free, but Aradi said Largo will likely have to negotiate compensation if services extend beyond 90 days.

While the Sheriff's Office has offered to run the Belleair Police Department, Aradi said Largo has no such interest.

"We are definitely not seeking long-term contractual services for policing Belleair," he said.

Since the day after Hill left, when Largo police began monitoring the department, criminal reports averaged just three a week, according to Largo's evaluation.

Seale wrote that Belleair officers had no set policy for when to take incident reports and that the agency's computer system was set up so that police reports could be changed by someone other than the officer who wrote them.

Largo also found that, even though officers were fulfilling minimum training requirements and undertaking other training opportunities, training was inconsistent and inadequate in certain areas. For example, he found, there is no record of any training on driving a police cruiser.

Seale's report also mentioned potential problems with the way evidence is stored. While only two people have access to the evidence room, Seale wrote, "numerous employees" know the code to gain access to an area where evidence is stored in secured lockers until it can be placed in the evidence room.

"There is property in the property/evidence room that may or may not be evidence, and some of the property has been in the room since 1997," Seale's report said.

But Aradi said there was no evidence that items were handled improperly.

The report suggested that the Sheriff's Office store evidence instead and that dispatch and record-keeping activities be turned over to another law enforcement agency as well.

The Police Department's dispatchers take the house watch request forms from residents and enter the information into the computer. They also hand out the keys to the municipal tennis court.

While big-city officers rarely have time for house watches, Aradi said there's nothing wrong with officers taking on that role.

"It's part of community policing and every community should decide what part of community policing they desire," Aradi said.

The Belleair Police Department has undergone considerable turmoil. In March, the department's second-in-command, Lt. David Keefe, and administrative supervisor JoAnne Fishback were also asked to leave.

Hill had been chief since former Chief George Harmansky resigned in late 2004. Harmansky, who stayed four years, replaced Chief Michael Egger, who also left after four years.

Mayor George Mariani Jr., who has suggested getting rid of the Belleair Police Department, blames much of the turmoil on Town Manager Steve Cottrell.

"We've been through three chiefs and I don't know how many deputy chiefs," Mariani said. "The ones that seem to be competent, in my opinion, the ones that challenge the manager's popularity, disappear for one reason or another."

Cottrell said Mariani is trying to make him the scapegoat for "the ineptitude of a couple of chiefs."

"He can say what he wants," Cottrell said. "I manage the day-to-day operations of the city. I know what goes on. It's my job."

Despite the recent chaos, Town Commissioner Gary Katica says he's not ready to give up on the town's police force. He thinks town leaders can secure a good department if they hire a strong chief.

"There's nothing wrong with our Police Department that good leadership can't fix," Katica said.

--Times Staff Writer Aaron Sharockman contributed to this report. Lorri Helfand can be reached at 445-4155 or at lorri@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 5, 2006, 02:30:26]