Tampa police chief resigns after footage shows her flashing badge in golf cart traffic stop - FOX 13 Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. - After 10 months arsenic the apical bull successful Tampa, Chief Mary O'Connor has resigned aft body camera footage surfaced showing her flashing her badge to a Pinellas County lawman during a postulation stop. With her hubby down the instrumentality of the play cart, she asked the lawman to "let america go."

Monday, O'Connor submitted her resignation missive pursuing the controversy. She was placed connected administrative permission Friday and Assistant Chief Lee Bercaw began serving arsenic acting constabulary chief.

"I ne'er privation my idiosyncratic mistake to basal successful the mode of the advancement I person made successful mending relationships betwixt the constabulary section and the community, truthful for that reason, I americium resigning," her missive said successful part.

Read Mary O'Connor's afloat resignation missive here

Mayor Jane Castor said she accepted the resignation.

"It is unacceptable for immoderate nationalist employee, and particularly the city's apical instrumentality enforcement leader, to inquire for peculiar attraction due to the fact that of their position. Public spot successful Tampa's constabulary section is paramount to our occurrence arsenic a metropolis and community," Castor said successful a statement. "This is particularly disappointing due to the fact that I gave Mary O’Connor a 2nd chance, arsenic I judge successful 2nd chances for people. Which is 1 of the reasons that the disappointment contiguous runs truthful deep."

"I had precocious anticipation for Chief O’Connor," she added. "She was disconnected to specified a beardown commencement by reducing convulsive weapon crime, proactively engaging with our community, and focusing connected serviceman wellness. But these accomplishments airy successful examination to the precedence I spot connected integrity."

The politician sat for a one-on-one interrogation a fewer hours aft accepting O'Connor's resignation.

"I don't cognize if betrayal is the word, but disappointment," Castor told FOX 13.

She said she gave O'Connor a 2nd accidental aft a contentious enactment process that highlighted O'Connor's enactment skills, but besides her apprehension from 1995 aft which the rookie bull was fired and reinstated for battering a Hillsborough County sheriff's lawman during a postulation stop.

"I deliberation that she was a bully choice, and I supply those 2nd chances," said Castor. "You tin ne'er cognize what decisions individuals are going to marque down the road. Clearly she made a precise mediocre decision."

The assemblage camera video was released Thursday aft Creative Loafing Tampa Bay archetypal uncovered the postulation stop. Castor enactment O'Connor connected administrative permission the pursuing time for the investigation.

According to investigators, Mary O'Connor and her hubby were riding successful a play cart without a licence sheet extracurricular a residential country successful Oldsmar connected Nov. 12. They were extracurricular a play cart-friendly vicinity erstwhile they were stopped, on East Lake Road and Woodlands Parkway astir 7:24 p.m. The deputy's assemblage camera was rolling during the encounter.

In the video, the lawman explains to the mates that they were pulled implicit for an unregistered play cart. O'Connor is besides seen showing her badge.

"Is your camera on?" she asked.

"It is," the lawman said.

"I'm the constabulary main successful Tampa," O'Connor stated.

"Oh, however are you doing?"

"I'm doing good…I'm hoping you'll conscionable fto america spell tonight."

Moments later, the lawman is heard saying, "All right, well, instrumentality attraction and it was bully gathering you."

Then O'Connor handed the lawman her concern card.

"If you request anything, telephone me. I'm serious," she said.

On Sunday, the probe by the department's nonrecreational standards section was completed, uncovering that O'Connor violated the modular codification of behaviour and abused her presumption arsenic the chief. The last disposition study was signed by Bercaw, the acting constabulary chief.

"Chief O'Connor utilized her authoritative presumption and her badge for obtaining privileges, not different available, successful an effort to debar the issuance of a postulation citation," the study stated. "The actions compromised the professionalism, ethics, and objectives of the Police Chief and the City of Tampa."

Read the afloat study here

The politician says they'll look nationwide for a caller chief, arsenic they did past year.

"We volition guarantee that the assemblage is involved, metropolis council, that everyone has the quality to conscionable the candidates arsenic we did before," Castor said.

New interim main Lee Bercaw sat with the politician during her interrogation with FOX 13, and indicated helium would beryllium funny successful the apical job. But his existent absorption is providing leadership.

"Officers cognize their integrity and ethics, and what happened present is simply a changeless reminder of the professionalism and morals they person to maintain," Bercaw said. 

Mary O'Connor's vocation with TPD

In January, the city of Tampa announced its apical 3 candidates for the constabulary department's adjacent main pursuing a nationwide search: O'Connor, Assistant Chief Cherise Giordani Gause of the Miami Police Department, and Ruben "Butch" Delgado, who was serving arsenic the interim constabulary chief. He aboriginal retired aft O'Connor was sworn-in.

The erstwhile constabulary chief, Brian Dugan, officially retired successful September 2021.

In February, Mayor Castor appointed O'Connor arsenic the adjacent main of police. The 2 worked unneurotic astatine TPD for much than a decade. Since her appointment, contention built up among metropolis councilors and the nationalist starring up to the council's ballot to o.k. the nomination.

O’Connor’s past was called into question pursuing her appointment. In 1995, she was fired from the section aft she was charged with punching a Hillsborough County Deputy during a DUI halt that progressive her eventual husband.

During her clip with the constabulary department, O’Connor dedicated the archetypal 22 years of her vocation to serving Tampa and the radical who telephone it home. She worked her mode done the Tampa Police Department and retired arsenic the adjunct main successful 2016.

"I knew from a young property that this was my calling," O'Connor said aft she was introduced arsenic the adjacent constabulary main successful February. "I judge successful this assemblage and successful this department. Together, we tin bash large things."

Councilman Carlson touched connected O'Connor's arguable past erstwhile FOX 13 reached retired to him connected Friday:

"When we interviewed her, she said, ‘What happened successful the past is successful the past, and it won’t hap again,’ and truthful I’m amazed that thing akin happened again due to the fact that she promised america that it wouldn’t… Then [she] asked for a favor, and astatine the extremity gave her concern paper and said, ‘If you request something, fto maine know, seriously’ which implies peculiar privilege for definite radical and I don’t deliberation that represents the hard-working men and women of our constabulary force.

"Our constabulary unit is precise honest, and hard-working. Our constabulary unit has mostly hard-working radical who privation to beryllium respected, and this full happening is not just to them."