It’s got a name: Police Advisory Panel.
It’s got a task: "foster constructive, task-oriented and problems solving dialogue so that situations that legitimately call for the use of force may be handled in a way that produces an acceptable result from the law enforcement perspective while minimizing the risk of harm to suspects, officers and the public ..."
It has other duties as well.
It’s got membership: 11 people.
It’s got a Technical Support Group: three people.
It’s got a timetable: six months to provide a written report to the Sarasota City Commission regarding its findings.
It’s got its rules, too: not to "participate in any way in any active investigation being conducted by the internal affairs division of the police department; impose discipline, reprimand, or to recommend the imposition of discipline for or reprimand of any police department personnel; discuss or make recommendation regarding any matters which are the subject of pending claims made or filed against the City of Sarasota related in any way to alleged acts or omissions of the police department or its personnel."
The TSG is composed of Peter Graham, Dr. Ernest D. Scott and Dr. James Unnever.
Citizens on the PAP are Father Celestino Gutierrez of St. Jude Church; Dr. Ed James, featured on the "Black Almanac" television show for decades; Dr. John Gruder; Susan Chapman; Manuel Chepote; Stewart Sterns, CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County; attorney Dan Bailey; former Assistant Public Defender Adam Tebruge; Wayne Genther; Barbara Langston; and Maria Gelinas.
City Commissioner Suzanne Atwell said that one focus of the PAP should be to restore the community’s trust in the police department, a suggestion unanimously approved by the other commissioners, as was the formal creation of the boards.
The PAP and TSG were created Monday by the commission in response to a June 26 incident in which Juan Perez, 21, of Sarasota, was arrested on drunk and disorderly charges. Arresting Officer Christopher Childers was viewed on a videotape outside the jail kicking Perez.
Subsequent action or delayed action spurred a state attorney’s investigation against Childers.
An assistant state attorney concluded "the state cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the actions of Officer Childers at the [jail] were criminal in nature. Therefore, a charge of battery will not be filed."
Internal action within the police department was another matter.
Lt. Ken Rainey, who initially was informed of the incident, delayed any report to superiors for almost two weeks. When supervisors and Police Chief Peter Abbott learned of the incident, the matter escalated.
Abbott alerted Sarasota City Risk Manager Larry Hobbs "to advise him of the incident and recommended he meet with Mr. Perez." Abbott assigned Sgt. Kenneth Castro to assist in brokering a deal with Perez. Castro was also tasked with handling the internal affairs investigation into why Sarasota police delayed by nearly two weeks any investigation into the kicking incident after being immediately informed about it by jail personnel.
"I asked Sgt. Castro to act as interpreter for Mr. Hobbs at the Saturday [July 11] meeting, which in hindsight put Sgt. Castro in a very poor position," Abbott has said.
Hobbs, through Castro, eventually offered Perez $400 to sign waivers absolving Sarasota police of any wrongdoing, money that Perez eventually received in the form of a check from the city after Castro had to collect it from the post office on Perez’s behalf. (The post office had had difficulty delivering it, according to reports.) Castro also drove Perez to a bank so Perez could cash the check.
Charges against Perez have been dropped.
After City Manager Robert Bartolotta learned of the matter, he placed Abbott on paid suspension. A determination of Abbott’s status within the ranks is expected by the end of this week.
Rainey received a written reprimand.
The fate of Hobbs is unclear, although Bartolotta has said Hobbs will receive a reprimand.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office investigated the matter and, in a highly redacted 34-page document authored by Col. James D. Pervitera, concluded that "nothing revealed in the investigations of the incidents stemming from the arrest … led investigators to believe that any member of the Sarasota Police Department, or employee of the City of Sarasota, including Police Chief Peter Abbott, engaged in illegal, unethical or immoral conduct."