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On Friday, Tampa Police Chief Mary O'Connor was placed on administrative leave after a traffic stop recorded by a deputy's bodycam raised concerns.
She has since resigned.
On November 12, O'Connor and her husband were riding a golf cart without a license plate outside of a residential area in Oldsmar, which is just outside of Tampa, Florida.
A deputy pulled the couple over and the whole incident was caught on his bodycam.
O'Connor, who was in the passenger seat, had her badge ready when the deputy stepped up to the golf cart.
After the deputy explained the golf cart was missing tags, O'Connor replied:
"I'm the police chief of Tampa."
"I'm hoping you will let us go tonight."
When the deputy responded she looked familiar, O'Connor replied:
"Yeah, I'm sure I do."
Eventually, the deputy wished them a good night.
O'Connor did the same and then handed the deputy her card, telling him:
"If you ever need anything, call me. Serious."
You can watch the full exchange below.
Traffic Stop involving Chief O'Connorwww.youtube.com
The recorded stop led to an Internal Affairs investigation, which found O'Connor violated the Tampa Police Department's code of conduct. O'Connor resigned shortly after.
Mayor Jane Castor tweeted:
"I requested and received the resignation of @TampaPD Chief Mary O'Connor."
This was followed by a statement in which Castor shared her disappointment in O'Connor's actions.
Castor stated:
"I had high hope for Chief O'Connor, as she was off to such a strong start by reducing violent gun crime, proactively engaging with our community and focusing on officer wellness."
"But these accomplishments pale in comparison to the priority I place on integrity."
\u201cI requested and received the resignation of @TampaPD Chief Mary O\u2019Connor. Assistant Chief Lee Bercaw will serve as acting chief while a comprehensive national search is conducted.\u201d— Jane Castor (@Jane Castor) 1670249833
Twitter was split on the consequence of O'Connors actions.
Some stated what O'Connor did is a common practice among law enforcement. Those who thought she shouldn't have been reprimanded so extremely noted she did not bully or become aggressive with the deputy, either.
This is absurd. Police do this all the time. No man -- especially no white man -- would have seen this footage made public.
— 🍸🇺🇸 (@Landauer_m) December 5, 2022
I mean, who ain’t doing the same thing if you’re police chief.
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) December 5, 2022
I'd say this is fine, she is did it in a polite way, didn't try to bully the officer and was very respectful.
— ControversialOG (@ControversialOG) December 5, 2022
Am I missing something? She did nothing wrong .....
— Ian T Smith (@BTSworld33) December 5, 2022
How is she suspended bc of this? I have a pba card and get let go bc of it. Of course she should show her badge
— MattyDips (@Dipsy1011) December 5, 2022
No problem here. Its called professional courtesy.
For very minor traffic violations with no victim i see no issue. Hell if that was a regular person and they were that polite, police would probably just left them off with a warning anyway.
— BettingBenji (@Bettingbenji) December 5, 2022
Others, however, argued the incident is a prime example of privilege and abuse of power.
y’all defending this🙄 this behavior is called a form of PRIVILEGE.
If anybody else was out there
They would have been ticketed with no problem.
But because SHE is a CHIEF she’s above the law ?
And y’all don’t think police sweep other things under the rug for each other?
— HimTheA……Artist BTW. (@Himtheartist) December 5, 2022
"If you ever need anything" translates to 'if I ever need to abuse my power to help you, let me know'
— Crazy Goat (@jbay3r) December 5, 2022
are y’all not understanding that she used her badge to get out of getting a ticket or did that part fly over y’all head?
— 🍁🦃A g e n t P 🦃🍁 (@tiggiyz) December 5, 2022
The point is - she abused her power and offered a bribe in giving the cop her card and saying if he ever needed anything to call her. Also, she's in breech of Ethics.
— Zoka (@Zoka_Blackstone) December 5, 2022
In a Zoom interview, O'Connor told Tampa Police Department's Professional Standards Bureau:
"I should not have asked him to let us go."
"You know, I did not want to put him in a bad spot and make him feel like he should have been pressured to not give us a citation."
O'Connor joined the Tampa Police Department 22 years ago and was named chief in February.