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| NEWS > 14 November 2005 |
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Off-duty, off the record, and
DANIEL RYAN chose an audacious name for one of the four businesses he began while he was a police officer: Off Duty Enterprises.
But the former senior constable gave a less-than-slick explanation for why he had never sought official approval for secondary employment from the police service to a credit union officer in a tapped telephone conversation in 2004.
"Cause … if I do that then it's secondary employment, you gotta go through all that shit so I don't," he said. "… Mate, that, especially cause [my business] it's, it involves alcohol and all that, it's just not worth ... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Boca Raton News - FL, USA
14 November 2005
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Hostility lingers between Chie
Top cop says FOP refusing his request for a meeting
More than a month after Boca Raton Police Chief Andrew Scott III vowed to “mend fences” with the union representing the city’s law enforcement officers, hostility between them continues unabated.
Scott told the Boca Raton News last week that the Fraternal Order of Police, Local 35, continues to rebuff his requests for meetings to discuss their differences. Instead, the union has taken its ongoing beef with management to the office of City Manager Leif Ahnell.
Contacted over the weekend, FOP President David Skrabec declined to comment on the situation with Scott.
What some in the union have called long-standing anger between Scott and rank and file officers boiled over Sept. 26 when the FOP filed a complaint with Ahnell, alleging that Scott had violated state statutes by interfering in the arrest of a prominent local developer, Gregory Talbott, who had been taken into custody following an altercation at the Luna Pazza Restaurant on Palmetto Park Road.
Ahnell referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for review, but FDLE ruled that Scott did not break any laws when he showed up at the police station the morning of Sept. 24 and ordered Talbott released from custody, with a date to appear in court on charges of domestic assault and allegedly striking a police officer and the restaurant manager.
The union countered that by asking Ahnell if Scott had violated any city policies when he stepped in and ordered Talbott released.
Ahnell has the authority to keep or fire Scott.
Since then, the FOP has been building a case against Scott, starting with a 152-3 vote of no confidence in the chief last month.
Also, a number of memos have surfaced accusing the chief of using heavy-handed tactics to discipline officers – charges that Scott has denied.
One of the most damning letters told how Sgt. Jeff Kelly, the department’s public information officer, helped a TV news reporter get an interview with developer Hank Schiffer by arranging a traffic stop of the suspect.
“This traffic stop was being done solely for the purpose to let Julie Somers get an interview with Schiffer where he wouldn’t be free to leave,” says the account of the incident.
The letter said Kelly positioned himself near a stop sign not far from Schiffer’s house on Aug. 30, 2005. Somers and a cameraman were in an unmarked car outside the man’s house.
When the man left the house, Somers called Sgt. Kelly’s cell phone letting him know the man was gone.
Kelly said the man rolled a stop sign. Kelly stopped him and issued him a warning citation. “At this time, Julie Somers and her cameraman swooped in… and began drilling him with questions,” says the account.
Hurricane Wilma and city’s recovery effort have diverted attention from the Scott case. However, in a letter dated Nov. 2, former Palm Beach County Sheriff Ed Bieluch, now a minister, urged Scott to resign.
“I am both very disappointed and concerned regarding your interfering in the arrest of Greg Talbott,” said Bieluch, who did not run for re-election last year after serving one four-year term as sheriff.
“Your egregious actions in this situation were not only inexcusable, but they also left a nasty blemish on the Boca Raton Police Services Department.”
“This type of political or personal favoritism and cronyism are absolutely unacceptable in 21st century professional law enforcement,” Bieluch said. “You have truly stepped over the line of professional ethics and integrity.”
“Chief Scott,” the ex-sheriff added, “It is time for you to step down.”
Scott said he has disregarded the letter. He noted that he considered a run for sheriff last year, but never – not then and not since – has he criticized Bieluch.
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