As we enter week 4 of my blog there has been another local story that caught my attention. This one has to do with Police Chief Steve Singletary of the Plant City Police Department. For those of you who haven't heard, he was recently fired from his job. His firing was the result of his unethical behavior during a nearly three year affair. Please take a look at the clip below for a quick overview on this case.
When I first heard about this story the question that came to mind was whether or not he was fired solely because of his affair. Well that question was very easy to answer as I have seen my share of extra-marital affairs over the course of my 20 year career in law enforcement. While not one of my co-workers was fired for cheating on their spouse there were several who were terminated due to the unethical behavior that occurred either during the affair or immediately afterwards.
I'm sure that some of you are wondering what type of behavior caused these law enforcement professionals to lose their jobs. As you will see below Chief Singletary lost his job for many reasons. He is alleged to have used sick time to take off so he could see his mistress. He is also alleged to have met with his mistress on city property to continue their sexual relationship. While in the course of my career the prevailing theme for why officers lost their jobs after being caught in an extra-marital affair boils down to untruthfulness. I've seen officers get caught up in affairs and then lie to investigators. While the affair is ethically and morally wrong, the officers would've kept their jobs if they would've told the truth during the investigation.
As I read through some documents that were released by the Plant City Police Department(Please see the link below and click on the related documents) it became apparent that the Chief's moral compass was completely off kilter. What started out as an extra-marital affair morphed into the abuse of sick time, using city property for personal reasons, and trespassing on private property for the purpose of meeting up with his mistress.
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/story/24565143/2014/01/28/plant-city-police-chief-fired
As I close week 4 of my blog I will leave you with a couple of questions. The first one is this: Should a law enforcement official lose their job because of an extra-marital affair? What if the affair involved the Chief or Sheriff of that particular agency, would that change your opinion?
I look forward to reading your responses and I will respond next week.
To answer the first question I would say maybe. A lot has to be considered when determining to terminate an employee for their actions outside of the workplace. What also needs to be considered is the impact the affair has on the workplace.
ReplyDeleteIn the story you posted, the chief carried on an affair with a married person and had he not been terminated his work would have been affected. I believe this to be true because the husband of the woman was going to cause problems as he told the chief he needed to resign and leave town. Had the chief tried to ignore the woman’s husband I am confident he would have caused problems.
If the affair has no impact on the workplace I think it should be handled differently. In the state of Florida, it is illegal to live in an open state of adultery, F.S.S. 798.01. I don’t know if this has ever been enforced but nonetheless it is a violation of state law and as such, it puts police officers in a bad position.
In 2005, the sheriff of Pinellas County Florida made it a violation for any member of his agency to engage in an affair with a married person. I have included a link to the news story that describes a violation of this policy and the consequences.
To answer the original questions I would say no to an officer being fired for it but yes for the chief or sheriff. We are all held to a higher standard when we enter this profession and I think that the chief administrative officer (CAO) is held to an even higher standard. When line officers commit adultery, it’s not really news. When the CAO crosses the line and brings discredit to their office through acts committed outside of work then it is time to replace them.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/pasco-sheriffs-daughter-disciplined-for-affair-with-pinellas-deputy/991054
You have presented a very interesting case and I have to agree with the outcome in that particular situation especially considering the details of the chief’s actions beyond the affair itself. In general it is difficult to say that the same outcome should take place for any officer engaged in an affair, their actions overall should be considered before that decision is made, and although I agree with and understand the argument that public officials should be held to a higher standard, I also understand that people do make mistakes and that nobody is perfect. Without knowing all of the details of each case it seems difficult to gage whether or not (and how much of) an officer’s personal life behavior should cause professional consequences to the extent of firing. I think it is only fair to consider those professional consequences when that personal life behavior (or misbehavior) has clearly spilled over into their actions on the job, such as in the case that you have presented. Some may argue that if a person will lie and misbehave at home then they will do the same at work, and that may be true in some cases but we cannot be absolutely certain that it will happen in all cases; therefore an absolute punishment for personal actions could end up being unfair at some point. If the officer was an exemplary performer, completely ethical in all work related actions, and there is no specific code or department rule being broken, then I would say that their personal and private life should be off limits even if I disagree with their personal actions. Although it is a good idea to hold higher positions at a higher standard I still believe that all of the circumstances of the case should be carefully considered, and, if it is found that the individual has broken a department rule, violated the expectations of their position, or abused the public trust in any way, such as misusing public resources and/or violating the very laws they are supposed to be enforcing, then their professional career should be at risk.
ReplyDeleteDeanna Logan
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteI think a law enforcement officer should only lose their jobs if the affair they carried on affected their job in some form. This reminds me of the sex scandals of former President Bill Clinton. I think what it comes down to is whether or not the individual broke any company policies while carrying on the affair. The devil is in the details as they say. So, if an officer used their police car, funds, company time, or abused their authoritative power while carrying on their affair, yes, they should be fired. It would not matter if the individual was the chief or sheriff of a particular agency. Although I would expect more of higher ranking officials, at the end of the day we are all humans and the same rules should apply to rookies as to veteran officers.
The first one is this: Should a law enforcement official lose their job because of an extra-marital affair? Anthony, yet another great example of how one bad decision can spiral into many more. To say that the police chief could have been let off easy and allowed to keep his job is a huge stretch. I say this because based on the write-up, he wasn’t only guilty of having an affair but in allowing the affair to cloud his judgment. He apparently had opportunity to rectify the situation. If it was so serious, he should have divorced his wife and married the mistress. Apparently, to have the relationship drag on for so long it must have meant something to both of them. This would have allowed him to be free to live his private life openly and legally without having to live a double life and abuse his position. Once again, one bad choice, or being cowardly led to his downfall.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the affair involved the Chief or Sheriff of that particular agency, would that change your opinion? In this case, again, this situation would have been no better as it would have had the potential to allow for favoritism, abuse of authority, and negatively affect good order and discipline within the department. Someone in this type of position entrusted to uphold the law blatantly misusing position for selfish reasons should not be allowed to hold such an office and should be relieved of that position as well. If someone in such a position thinks that it is okay to abuse authority and defile the sanctity of marriage, what else would he/she knowingly allow that is wrong. If the wrong person found out, the person could easily be blackmailed or coersed into breaking the law to hide the secret.