Police administrators want chat room closed
[SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]

St. Petersburg Times - St. Petersburg, Fla.
Author: LEANORA MINAI
Date: May 1, 2004
Start Page: 3.B
Text Word Count: 540

Document Text
Copyright Times Publishing Co. May 1, 2004

The police administration has asked a Web site to shut down a St. Petersburg police chat room where officers are venting frustration about the agency.

Talk on the independent message board runs the gamut from police Chief Chuck Harmon's handling of a scuffle between a black detective and white officer to the Uhurus, an African-American activist group critical of officers.

"The time has come when you may want to take off the blinders and face reality," said a posting under "Dear Chief" by "Just A Street Cop." "The perception that everything is wonderfulis just an illusion."

But the Web site operator says he will not bow to pressure.

"Absolutely not," said Jim Preston, a retired Tampa officer who launched LeoAffairs.com with a co-worker in 2002. "We're not going to take it down."

This week, Jeff Rink, the chief's executive assistant, asked the local Fraternal Order of Police to intervene. He talked with Tim Ingold, chapter president.

"I asked if there was anything he could do to have that particular chat room closed," Rink said. "Over the course of the past two or three weeks, I had a lot of people telling me that they had concerns about material on the Web site. In their opinion, it was painting a poor picture of the agency."

Rink also met with Web site sponsor SRT Supply, a law enforcement supply company.

Rink said he took action after some St. Petersburg police employees came to him with concerns about the posts being anonymous and written under nicknames. Rink could not cite specific messages that offended people but said some comments had racial slants, another had a reference to a riot and others were critical of supervisors and the chief.

"Some of the characterizations made don't really represent the opinions of people who work here," Rink said.

After speaking with Rink, Ingold talked with Preston, the Web site's operator.

But Preston posted a message Thursday saying the site won't be shut down.

"I think they should listen to the officers and try to address the issues," said Preston, whose Web site gets nearly 4,000 hits daily.

He said other Tampa Bay area police agencies have not asked to shut down message boards about their departments.

Some of the most heated posts on the St. Petersburg police message board refer to the chief's handling of an investigation into a black detective suspected of slapping the hands of a white officer during a scuffle April 17.

The detective, Anthony Foster, had been drinking off-duty and got into an argument with his wife behind the police station. Officer Robbie Arkovich stepped in to separate the couple when Foster allegedly slapped his hands twice.

Some officers are angry Foster was not charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and not put on administrative leave during internal investigations. The president of the St. Petersburg NAACP has asked the department to refrain from a criminal investigation of Foster.

"I'll just wait and see how things are handled in IA (Internal Affairs)," said a message by "Amazing" under "Double Standard." "But if things are swept under the rug, it will be the beginning of a major divide in SPPD."

- Leanora Minai can be reached at minai@sptimes or (727) 893- 8406.

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