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Critics say city probe of 'hit list' is dragging
By ANNE LINDBERG © St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2000 PINELLAS PARK -- City Manager Jerry Mudd has searched fruitlessly for weeks for a retired judge to investigate allegations of a "hit list" in the Pinellas Park Police Department. Now he appears ready to accept a substitute if necessary. But he still wants someone to look into those accusations and other, unspecified issues. "The attorney's office is still looking into (hiring a retired judge)," Mudd said Tuesday. "However, I may begin looking at some alternatives." Mudd declined to talk about possible choices, but said he hoped to have an announcement "real soon." The city manager's interest in looking elsewhere for someone to investigate the allegations comes at a time when he is increasingly under fire from those inside and outside the department for the delay in appointing a judge. The lengthy time it has taken to get an investigation going has been cruel to those under the cloud of suspicion, critics have said. One of those, Bill LauBach, executive director of the police union, has said he wants to get the investigation under way as soon as possible. "It is not a good thing for these allegations to be hanging out there for any length of time," LauBach said last week. The allegations have been public most of the summer since two Pinellas Park police officers filed grievances at the beginning of July alleging they were two victims on a "hit list." The hit list allegedly targeted older officers and those who had a reputation for speaking out against the department's administration. Then-police Chief David Milchan denies the existence of a hit list. In early August, Mudd announced he wanted to appoint a retired judge to look into the hit list allegations and other issues that had arisen since that time. The city's personnel department, which had been looking into the matters, apparently felt it was best to have an outsider investigate. Since then, finding a retired judge to take over has been hard. As Mudd promised council members and others that someone would be named soon, the weeks dragged on. Now it appears Mudd is tired of waiting. And Milchan wants to be part of it, no matter who is hired. He faxed the city a memo last Saturday offering to speak with the investigator. "Although under no obligation to do so, I am very willing to speak with the retired judge or anyone else the city decides to hire for the investigation of "hit list' and/or "other matters within the Police Department," Milchan wrote. "Let me repeat, I am absolutely convinced there is not now or has there ever been such a "hit list' in my Police Department," he added. "As for the "other matters' . . . I would like to have an opportunity for comment as soon as I have been told what they are."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
