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.