Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL) Copyright: 2004 St. Petersburg Times Contact: http://connect.sptimes.com/contactus/letterstoeditor.html Website: http://www.sptimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419 INVESTIGATING THE TARPON POLICE The Tarpon Springs Police Department has been the target of various investigations and pronouncements by outside authorities, from a 1987 grand jury finding that the department should be disbanded, to a U.S. Department of Justice inquiry last year into the death of a drug suspect, to investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The Justice Department inquiry and past FDLE investigations were closed when investigators did not find enough evidence to pursue cases against the department or its officers. No one can predict the outcome of an FDLE investigation launched last year after the state heard allegations of improper searches and use of force by Tarpon police in about a dozen cases. FDLE has not indicated when it will conclude its current investigation, and it is still adding to the list of allegations it is examining. The most recent addition results from a claim by Tarpon Springs resident Terry Campsen that officers planted evidence on him after they arrested him in March. An officer on routine patrol in the city's predominantly black Union Academy neighborhood stopped Campsen, who took off running, according to a report. Officers caught him and arrested him after he allegedly gave them false identifying information. Then, according to records, the officers found a knife on Campsen, and tucked between the blade and the handle was a tiny bag they said contained cocaine residue. Campsen complained to the Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender's Office, which is representing him, that the knife was not his, and he reportedly passed a lie detector test administered by that office. Public Defender Bob Dillinger informed FDLE of the complaint. The Tarpon Springs police are tired of being investigated, but Dillinger further aggravated the department by calling it incapable of conducting an internal affairs investigation of the officers who arrested Campsen. Dillinger said the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office should handle it. The relationship between the Tarpon department and the Sheriff's Office was prickly already, with some city officials convinced that Sheriff Everett Rice wants to take over policing Tarpon Springs. The sheriff says, well, yes, he'd be happy to. Dillinger's suggestion that the sheriff is better equipped to handle an objective review of the officers' actions set off police Chief Mark LeCouris and led to an exchange of snippy letters between Tarpon officials and Dillinger. The Tarpon Springs department noted that it had been prepared to proceed with an internal affairs examination of the case until Dillinger refused to turn over Campsen for an interview and a second polygraph exam. Chief LeCouris may be irritated by Dillinger's actions, but he needs to be realistic. It could be months before FDLE issues its findings. Meanwhile, the city and the area law enforcement community are buzzing about the allegations and investigations. The way to quiet the buzz is to open up and invite investigation of the Campsen case, not to wave it off or offer reasons not to proceed. Because the Tarpon Springs department is so small - with only 47 sworn officers, it doesn't even have an internal affairs department - and since Dillinger is reluctant to let Campsen be interviewed by the department that arrested him, the solution seems to lie in asking a third party to investigate. The Sheriff's Office would be the logical choice, but if Tarpon Springs isn't comfortable with the sheriff, there are other police agencies in the Tampa Bay area that could do the job. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth