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She says sexual harassment by a fellow recruit and demeaning remarks from police supervisors forced her to quit the force.
By ERIC STIRGUS
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000
LARGO -- A former Largo police department recruit is suing the city, claiming a fellow recruit sexually harassed her and that she was told by police supervisors that she would not make it as a police officer because she was a woman.
Jennifer L. Hallgren said things got so bad that she had no choice but to quit the force on Feb. 27, 1999.
"I've never been treated that way," Hallgren said Thursday. "I don't think anybody should be treated that way."
City Attorney Alan Zimmet denied the charges but he declined to discuss the specifics of the case.
The lawsuit is another troubling example of alleged officer misconduct within the Largo police department.
Two officers were disciplined last week for inappropriate relationships with female members of a Boy Scouts program. One officer had consensual sex with an Explorer Post member who was 18 or older. Another officer told investigators the same Explorer was inside his apartment but denied having sex with her. Department brass ruled the officer never should have let the woman into his home.
In another case, the city's personnel director found police administrators, including Chief Jerry Bloechle, improperly handled a police department volunteer's sexual-harassment complaints, according to a city report.
Bloechle announced last month plans to retire this fall. He cited stress from the Explorer Post investigation as one reason he was stepping down.
And Thursday, the Times learned that another volunteer accused a police sergeant of making unwelcome sexual advances. Police administrators are still reviewing that case.
Hallgren, 30, joined the department in August 1998, seeing it as a step in her goal of becoming an FBI agent. She said she studied criminal justice at the University of Nebraska. She said she interned at the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
Hallgren spent nearly two years as a victim's advocate assistant with the St. Petersburg Police Department. She graduated from the police academy in December 1998.
During her six-month stint, she said she was subjected to a series of negative and demeaning statements based solely on her gender.
"Females are weak," Hallgren said she was told. Women "can't do the job because we're caregivers," Hallgren said she recalled supervisors telling her.
"Don't expect backup," Hallgren claims one supervisor said. "We want to see if you can do it."
Additionally, one male recruit repeatedly rubbed her shoulders and back against her wishes.
"He felt he could get away with it after hearing what was being said," said her attorney, Angela Outten.
Hallgren declined to name the recruit or the supervisors she accused of making the comments.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Pinellas County Circuit Court, said Hallgren took her complaints to Lt. Carla Boudrot, thinking she would find a sympathetic ear because Boudrot was a woman who worked in the division that monitored officer misconduct.
Instead, Hallgren claims, Boudrot told Hallgren she should consider being a 911 dispatcher if she could not handle the talk and the touching from the men.
"It was a low blow to me," Hallgren said. "I didn't train to be a dispatcher. I trained to be a police officer. To hear it from her, it showed I had nowhere to go in the department."
Boudrot declined comment Thursday, citing the pending lawsuit.
Hallgren is seeking damages in excess of $15,000. The city of Largo sued Hallgren in January, seeking the money it spent to train her. The city has a policy that requires anyone who is sent through the academy to work for the police department for at least two years.
Hallgren said she now works for an insurance company. She believes her dream of a career in law enforcement is over.
"It was my career," she said of her resignation from the Largo police department. "That is it."