Divided loyalties among the personnel of any given department does
not require an issue to occur. This sort of near crippling problem
can take place when groups of officers feel stronger loyalties to one
commander or another, or when those in command throw their lot in
with different local politicians and city officials who may each have
opposing goals.
What follows is a cautionary tale, exemplifying just how far groups
of officers can deteriorate, when loyalties are strained, twisted,
and diverted.
In Crestview, Florida the department's trouble began after Maj.
Joseph Floyd joined their ranks. Unknown to his fellow officers,
Floyd had a record that would have rivaled that of many harden
criminals. For 8 straight years this supposed officer of the law was
fired, quit, or forced to resign from three separate police
departments for charges ranging from falsifying reports, lying,
insubordination, and excessive force. However, Floyd's transgressions
started long before he was ever given a badge. Even as a civilian he
had been arrested for disorderly conduct, assaulting an officer, and
battery.
He would continue his deviancy well into his new career with the
Crestview police department. By 2012 he would be investigated by a
grand jury for such offenses as altering testimonies, forging
incident reports, soliciting sex from residents, beating handcuffed
suspects, intimidating and threatening members of the community,
sexually assaulting a fellow female officer, and causing a pregnant
woman to miscarriage after ramming her vehicle with his car.
How was it possible for such an individual to acquire a job at
Crestview's department? This is where divide in loyalties begin.
Floyd was old friends with police chief Brian Mitchell, who despite
being fully aware of his record and criminal past, shielded him from
the investigation process of normal hiring procedures. Mitchell made
a conscious decision to place his loyalty to his friend above that of
his subordinates. In doing such-- if even unintentionally-- he placed
the safety of those officers, along with the integrity, and
reputation of the entire Crestview department, in jeopardy.
How did the hiring of Floyd lead to the turmoil and divided loyalties
that plagued the department for years? This created a “Us vs Them”
scenario between those officers that went along and covered for
Floyd, and thus stood with the chief, and those who openly resisted
to cover or follow his lead.
The Officers who made attempts to complain about Floyd's less than
professional conduct, or wanted to file a report about some criminal
activity they personally witnessed, Mitchell reportedly ordered them
“to go through the chain of command”, which he was more than
aware meant these very same officers would have to report directly to
Floyd to do so. This was later proven to be nothing more than blatant
scare and intimidation tactics meant to dissuade any further attempts
against his friend.
Of course, in such work conditions where co-workers began to lose
trust in each other, and the command structure, moral quickly began
to rapidly disintegrate. Those officers that wanted to do what was
right found themselves trapped in an increasingly hostile environment
where threats of termination, demotion, and reassignment were not
only constant, but also coupled with overt harassment. Floyd even
began instructing his unit, now more loyal to him than to the rest of
their department, to spy and report to him on fellow officers who
were not loyal.
The growing division lead to a decrease in Crestview police
performance. Floyd's unit routinely harried, arrested, and planted
evidence on members of the surrounding community. By the end their
corruption became some brazen they began investigating members of
other departments, and local politicians simply in search of some
information they could use in bribery.
Eventually the grand jury would charge Floyd with Racketeering, with
others pending further investigation. Investigation would also be
conducted on Mitchell but no criminal charges leveled against him.
Instead a report about the chief said, “His failure to redress Maj.
Floyd's offensive and humiliating conduct toward women and co-workers
was indefensible”. He was summarily fired.
A new police chief, Tony Taylor, would step in with hopes of
rebuilding the badly damaged Crestview department. However, by then,
even after the removal of the trouble elements, the damages were
extensive. mistrust, low morale, and resentment was deeply set among
those remaining officers who found themselves targeted, abused and
mistreated by a system they once believed in.
Even Taylor would eventually admit that the divided loyalties left
him struggling to unite the department once more after all the ruin
left by Mitchell and Floyd. Further making an already tense matters
more difficult was also having to face the erosion of trust from the
surrounding community.
Perhaps it is not much in the wake of so much hardship, but the grand
jurors would note in their report that the officers that remained
dedicated and devoted to their duties, despite such a clearly
dysfunctional and hostile environment were “exemplary and
heartening”. Maybe are a sign that Crestview has a chance at
redemption, and regaining the communities trust.
In the end, an officers of any given department effectiveness, or
integrity should not be judged based solely on how loyal they are to
one another, or to different individuals. This is more inline with
one of the ways members of crime syndicates, or street gangs prove
their worth. If being an officer of the law only required a gang
mentality, numbers, and weapons, then local officials could begin
rounding up members of the Crips, M13, or Skinheads to serve as the
city's enforcement agents.
The men, and women of law enforcement must also have loyalty for the
oath, and duties they have been entrusted with. They are more than
guns, or authority, as they also represent the law, integrity, and
protection. When police officers begin choosing individual loyalties
above the law, tragedy, corruption, and shame is never far behind.
References
Riggs, M. (2012,
March 13). Meet Maj. Joseph Floyd, Leading Candidate for Most Crooked
Cop in America. Retrieved December 25, 2015, from
https://reason.com/blog/2012/03/13/meet-maj-joseph-floyd-the-most-crooked-c
Pruett, T. (2015,
August 20). Court upholds Floyd’s racketeering conviction.
Retrieved December 25, 2015, from
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/20150820/NEWS/150829928
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