TAMPA — The tenure of Tampa’s 43rd police chief has ended as it began 10 months ago: amid controversy.
Chief Mary O’Connor resigned Monday, effective immediately, following an investigation into a Pinellas County traffic stop last month in which she flashed a badge and asked a deputy to “just let us go.”
Mayor Jane Castor said Monday that she requested and received O’Connor’s resignation after a review by the department’s internal affairs office found that O’Connor violated department policies on “standard of conduct” and “abuse of position or identification”.
“The Tampa Police Department has a code of conduct that includes high standards of ethical and professional behavior that apply to all members of our police force,” Castor said in a statement. “As a police chief, you not only have to abide by and enforce these rules, but you also have to lead by example. That clearly didn’t happen in this case.”
Castor in the statement was “unacceptable for any public employee, and especially the top law enforcement officer of the city, to demand special treatment because of their position.”
“This is particularly disappointing because I gave Mary O’Connor a second chance, as I believe in second chances for people.” Castor continued. “I had high hopes for Chief O’Connor as he got off to such a strong start by reducing violent gun crime, proactively engaging with our community and focusing on officer well-being. But these accomplishments pale in comparison with the priority I place on integrity.”
Castor said Deputy Chief Lee Bercaw would continue as acting chief.
Summarizing the internal investigation’s findings, Bercaw wrote in a letter that O’Connor “used his official position and insignia to obtain privileges, not otherwise available, in an attempt to avoid the issuance of a traffic citation. These actions compromised the professionalism, ethics, of the police chief and the City of Tampa.”
Castor announced Friday that O’Connor, 52, had been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into the incident.
In a one-page resignation letter to Castor, O’Connor, who was tapped for the job on Feb. 8 and paid $192,920, said she was resigning “with great sadness.”
“I would never want my personal mistake to stand in the way of the progress I have made in repairing relations between the police department and the community, so for that reason, I am resigning,” O’Connor wrote.
Body camera video released Thursday shows Pinellas Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Jacoby pulling over O’Connor and her husband Keith in a golf cart on Nov. 12 near East Lake Woodlands, a gated community in Oldsmar . Jacoby noted that they were driving an unregistered vehicle on the road.
Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor speaks during a press conference Oct. 24 at the department’s headquarters. [ CHRIS URSO | Times ]
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In the video, Keith O’Connor said they stopped to get food at a nearby restaurant and didn’t normally drive the cart on public roads. Mary O’Connor then asked Jacoby if he had the camera on. He said yes.
“I’m the police chief of Tampa,” Mary O’Connor told him, and a moment later handed him her badge and said, “I hope you’ll let us go tonight.”
Jacoby asked if they lived in East Lake Woodlands and the couple said yes.
After exchanging pleasantries, Jacoby said they have “a lot of trouble with golf carts around here.” Mary O’Connor handed over what appeared to be her business card, telling the deputy, “You ever need anything, call me.”
The episode began on a Saturday, November 12, and few knew it. Late last month, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay requested body camera video of the incident from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. According to Bercaw’s letter, it wasn’t until Wednesday, 18 days after the incident and more than a week after Creative Loafing’s video request, that O’Connor first notified Castor that it happened. This came on the same day that the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office notified Creative Loafing that the video would be released the next day, Thursday.
Upon seeing the video Thursday, Castor immediately ordered an internal affairs investigation.
Castor on Monday explained it this way: He said O’Connor received a call Wednesday notifying him of a public records request for the video. She then called Castor to walk her through the November 12 incident. When asked if O’Connor’s failure to notify Castor about the incident after it happened factored into his decision to resign, Castor said no, but acknowledged, “M “I would have liked to have had some advance notice.”
Castor spokesman Adam Smith confirmed Monday that the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office called O’Connor to let him know the office was about to release the video.
O’Connor told the captain she conducted the internal review that she was identified as a police officer during the stop “for safety,” but “admitted she made a mistake in asking more to let her go without ticket,” according to Bercaw’s letter.
“Chief O’Connor advised that he provided the deputy with his business card as he does with hundreds of citizens and law enforcement officers,” Bercaw wrote. “He added that this action was not intended to give any kind of preferential treatment to the deputy.”
O’Connor said she owns the golf cart and “had limited knowledge of the laws involving golf carts.” O’Connor “took full responsibility for his actions, apologized profusely and regrets putting the deputy in a difficult position and pressuring him not to issue a subpoena,” Bercaw wrote.
In a statement last week, O’Connor said she apologized to Castor and wanted to apologize to residents.
“In retrospect, I realize how my handling of this matter could be viewed as inappropriate, but that was not my intention,” O’Connor said.
The part of Castor’s statement about giving O’Connor a second chance was a reference to O’Connor’s behavior, and her subsequent arrest, during another traffic stop some three decades ago, while she was an officer from Tampa rookie.
In 1995, O’Connor was with her then-boyfriend Keith O’Connor, also a Tampa police officer, when they were arrested by a Hillsborough sheriff’s deputy. Mary O’Connor, then known as Mary Minter, repeatedly interrupted deputies trying to give Keith O’Connor a field sobriety test and was asked to sit in a squad car to calm down, according to published reports and police records. staff
He kicked in the windows and punched a deputy in the shoulder and chest. Deputies arrested Keith O’Connor on a charge of drunken driving and Minter on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer, obstruction and disorderly intoxication. She pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and obstruction. A judge withheld the award.
The two officers were suspended and then fired, but were later reinstated. Both reached the first ranks of the department. Keith O’Connor retired in 2019 as assistant manager and is now the city’s neighborhood improvement manager.
O’Connor has said he was an immature person who made a terrible decision and then made the most of his second chance at a police career. He said the experience gave him valuable perspective.
In her resignation letter, O’Connor said she became police chief 10 months ago “against all odds” and is “eternally grateful” to Castor and the residents of the city “for having faith in me to lead this department.”
He ticked off a list of actions he took as chief, including holding public forums and community calls in communities most affected by gun violence and securing more than $1 million in federal funding for crime prevention initiatives .
Many in the city objected to Castor’s decision to choose O’Connor from among three finalists, one of whom was interim chief Ruben “Butch” Delgado, who has since left the department to take a job in the private sector . Some critics said Castor should have selected Delgado, who was already doing the job, would add diversity to the city’s leadership and had no blemishes on his record. Many also said Castor should have made the search for the next chief more transparent and inclusive of community input.
Castor said Monday that he would conduct a national search that would be “thorough” and “thorough,” but that he does not yet have a timetable. I would not remove anyone currently in the department and that would take several months.
“It’s also going to be very inclusive, bringing the candidates together in the community, different community organizations and the City Council,” Castor said.