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Officer suspended after taking adult club photos
By MIKE BRASSFIELD © St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- A community police officer has been suspended for two days for taking photos of scantily clad women for a flier advertising an adult entertainment club. Police Officer Cedric Doss, 33, took the photos while off duty, his supervisors said. However, one of the models was 17 years old. Also, Doss photographed another woman while he was on duty, and he kept photos and photography equipment in the trunk of his police car. Police officials decided the photos were not sexually explicit, but that Doss had used poor judgment. Doss was disciplined Thursday for conduct unbecoming an officer and for conducting personal business at work, according to a department memo from Police Chief Goliath Davis III. Doss, an eight-year veteran, is a community officer in the Twin Brooks neighborhood south of Childs Park. Doss took the photos for the adult club's flier in December. The Police Department received a complaint about Doss' activities in January, sparking an investigation. Internal investigators found that Doss was operating a photography business on the side, but it sometimes crossed over into his work time. Once, while Doss was on duty, a 17-year-old girl approached him and asked for photos that Doss had taken of her. Doss retrieved the photos from a portfolio in the trunk of his take-home police cruiser, according to the Police Department. Doss' punishment could have been harsher, but his supervisors noted that he had been candid and cooperative with investigators. Generally, the Police Department metes out harsher discipline to officers who are caught lying to their supervisors or to the department's internal investigators. "He told the truth," said police spokesman George Kajtsa. Doss was given an employee notice -- a permanent entry in his personnel file -- along with the two-day suspension. Also Thursday, four St. Petersburg officers were cleared of allegations that they used excessive force while arresting a man who was kicking and spitting at them.
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