TWO NAPLES POLICE OFFICERS SUSPENDED FOR NOT FOLLOWING POLICY IN MAY
CAR CRASH

A Naples police lieutenant and a patrol officer were suspended after
another police officer driving a patrol car involved in a crash wasn't
drug tested according to city policy and a report lowering the amount
of damage to the patrol car was submitted.

Internal affairs reports say Lt. Robb Bock, who was supervisor of the
shift, and Officer David Spearman, who investigated the two-vehicle
crash, served their one-day, without-pay suspension in January,
according to internal affairs reports released this month.

Bock and Spearman were found to have violated city policy on
misrepresenting a record or report and exercising poor judgment.
Spearman was also found to have violated the city's ethics policy
where "employees are expected to use good judgment and integrity ...
"

The reports of estimated damage to the patrol car were decreased from
$500, which meant a drug test was necessary, to $300, at Bock's
direction, according to reports. The actual damage total to both cars
was estimated at more than $7,000, but law enforcement officers'
estimates are often lower than professional estimates.

Allegations and rumors surfaced during the investigation that there
was "professional courtesy" involved and that Bock had told Spearman
to decrease the damage estimate in order to keep Officer Bryan Corns,
who was driving the patrol car, from having to take a drug test.

The report says there were no indications that Corns was under the
influence of alcohol or drugs. And a State Attorney's Office review of
the case in November found no criminal intent by Spearman.

Bock, who telephoned the city's risk manager immediately after the
crash, maintained during the investigation that he believed that a
drug test was only needed if the cause of the accident could be blamed
on someone, in this case the officer behind the wheel of the city
patrol car. However, the city policy says any "preventable" crashes
must include a drug test of the driver of a city vehicle.

Spearman, who investigated the crash, wrote in reports that he
couldn't assign blame to Corns who was on duty or Officer Ralph
Anthony, who was off duty and driving his personal car at the time of
the crash. Corns was counseled about not paying attention to his
surroundings.

There were several different versions of the report submitted. One,
which had the police officers' home addresses on them, which was
improper, listed the damage to the patrol car as $500 and appears to
have been changed from $1,800, according to a memo from risk manager
Lori Parsons. She also wrote that a second version of the report has
$300 as the damage to the patrol car and lists the police station as
their address. A third report has the $300 damage and the officers'
home addresses.

Internal affairs reports released this month give this account:

On May 13, around 4:30 p.m., Corns had just left roll call and was
driving from one side of the parking lot to the other to load some
equipment from his own car into the patrol car. He said while he was
driving, he was adjusting his rearview mirror, camera and computer
equipment. He then struck Anthony's personal car as Anthony was backing up.

When Spearman was interviewed, he said that both officers were at
fault and probably more fault could be blamed on Anthony.

"When asked why he did not indicate this on the accident report, Ptl.
Spearman advised that he was showing professional courtesy to both
Ptl. Anthony and Ptl. Corns," the report written by Lt. Jon Maines
says.

Spearman recalled mentioning to Bock that a drug test might have to be
done on Corns. Bock told Spearman that he wasn't certain about that
and returned inside the station. A brief time later, Bock told
Spearman to reduce the estimated damage on the patrol car from $500 to
$300, but he never said why.

Spearman said he believed the damage was more in the $1,000 range, but
lowered it to $500 as a courtesy to the officers. He said Bock did
tell him that the damage was going to be more than $500, but because
there was no determination of fault, Corns didn't need to take a test.
Spearman said Bock never told him to lower the figure to get Corns out
of the test. Spearman said Corns had volunteered to take the drug test
and the citation.

Corns said that Bock never talked to him about the drug test or said
anything about trying to get him out of the test.

Bock said he asked Deputy Chief Jim Slapp if a Naples police officer
could investigate the wreck because it was minor and in the parking
lot. He said Slapp told him that was OK. He called Spearman to
investigate.

Bock recalled Spearman mentioning a drug test, but said he was unsure
what the dollar amount was. He first asked Slapp, who told him to call
other city officials to get that information and finally talked to
Parsons, the risk manager. He said he asked Parsons, who was filling
in for the safety and fire inspector, what the property damage
requirement was to get an employee drug tested. He said he was told
that $500 was the cutoff. Bock said he told her that the damage to the
patrol car was between $300 and $500 and that Anthony's vehicle damage
was higher. He said she never mentioned that the accident had to be
"preventable" to meet the drug-testing requirement.

Parsons said in a May 18 memo to Human Resources Director Denise Perez
that she told Bock that if damage was between $300 and $500, the
decision to drug test would be a judgment call for him.

Bock said Spearman came to him privately and said he couldn't
determine fault. Bock said he thought he told Spearman to change the
amount of damage to reflect more damage to Anthony's car because there
was more damage to it.

He said rumors around the department probably arose because Spearman
assumed that the amount was lowered to keep Corns from a drug test.
Bock said he wouldn't have made phone calls and talked to Slapp about
whether a test was needed if he was trying to keep Corns from testing.

In a memo dated Dec. 30, Chief Steve Moore wrote: "While there is no
evidence or statements by Lt. Bock of 'professional courtesy,' the
lowering of the damage amount was wrong, brought doubt about the
impartiality of the process and amplified already erroneous
information on the report."

Policy changes he suggested include having either the Collier County
Sheriff's Office or the Florida Highway Patrol investigate crashes
involving city officers or having a Naples police supervisor do the
investigation, according to a Dec. 30 memo. Also, he wrote that there
needs to be a rewrite of city policy, clarifying the role of the
supervisors and the safety and fire inspector. He said these changes
should make investigations impartial.