Another Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy was fired “on the spot” for DUI over the weekend.

Another Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy was fired “on the spot” for DUI over the weekend. This time a Lt. The story is interesting to me on several levels. First, its been a little over a year since I was forced to resign from Pinellas County SO, albeit not for a DUI accusation. Secondly, the person that was fired was the one who investigated my case. This deputy, along with her partner, is the same one that deceived me and subsequently threatened me with loosing my job if I didn’t hand over my personal phone for forensic analysis. What a tangled web we weave.

Far from reveling in her demise, I feel terrible about the legal troubles she faces and the loss of her job. Her life has suddenly and irrecoverably changed.

This deputy is another glaring example of a person in crisis that was thrown away. Driving in reverse as you beep your car’s horn in the middle of the night while you are intoxicated is not normal. I’m not condoning her behavior. DUI is a crime. There has to be ramifications for one’s actions. At the same time, the agency should have done something to help her. Common sense would dictate that in a high stress profession the abuse of alcohol is a symptom of a bigger problem that needs to be dealt with for the sake of the person in need. Common sense has no place in politics it seems. For doctors, pilots, nurses, teachers, fireman, maintenance workers, even cops at other agencies, there are established procedures in place to support these people and get them back on track. These paths may be refereed to as protocols, procedures or simply common decency towards another human. Especially one that gave 20 years of apparently loyal service to the agency that subsequently turned their collective backs on her. I worked for 23 years of loyal service between St Pete and Pinellas County, but, whatever.......

How quickly they wash their hands of us. If a deputy on a call treated a citizen in the same manner the sheriff has proven he’s willing to treat his deputies they would be disciplined.

I can picture the frantic phone calls between executive staff members as soon as hey learned about the incident. The hushed tones over the “optics” of the situation and how to mitigate the damage for themselves. I bet the term “the Sheriff” was voiced a thousand times before the sun came up. An OODA loop of indecisive phone calls on what to do. Is the deputy a male or female? Gay? Straight? Transgendered? LGBTWTF? White, Hispanic or African American? Are they on the promotion list? Oh my, a lieutenant you say? What does she know that may hurt us later? One can’t make hasty decisions in these situations without all the facts. How can I make myself look good here?

“The word from the field is that she is intoxicated, we must act”. Off to jail she goes. She refused a breath test but was “forced to submit” to an “Administrative Breath Test” (how do they get away with this?). Its administrative because she didn’t have an attorney. It doesn’t seem legal but if the agency does it to their own its fine.

With forlorn looks and a knowing hand on a shoulder, someone, maybe even the sheriff, mustered up their supervisor fortitude and with head up and shoulders back they put the words on her. You are “fired”. You’re “terminated”. Good, bad or indifferent, everything you’ve known for the last 20 years is over. You’re support system, your friends, your routine, the clothes you wore, your medical insurance and your ability to support your family is over. We will have our star and gun back now, please and thank you. They really don’t say that. “You let us down and embarrassed the agency”. And with that, it’s over. She knows it. She was part of it.

But it’s not really over is it. The agency doesn’t want to be perceived as uncaring or cold hearted. So, internally they are going to destroy her in any way they can, even after she’s gone, to make it look like she deserved to be abandoned. You can’t go from hero IA detective (what a horrible title) to a drunk Lt behind the wheel.

The staff will tell each other you never should have been promoted, you were a bad seed. With campaign worthy postures and grim press conference looks they will tell the sheriff it’s better without you. Finally, with knowing “we have such a tough job” back slaps and excessive little league fist bumps they will explain that the mission continues. This time even better because you aren’t there.

What an easy and cowardly thing to do. Throw someone away when they are at their weakest and most vulnerable. Instead of embracing basic fundamentals of leadership and doing the right thing by lifting your people up and helping them get better you predictably failed again. A swing and a miss. Another opportunity to win the respect of your troops gone. In exchange you’ll settle for fear with disdain close behind. Squandered to mitigate a headline and overcompensate for the agency’s shortcomings. “Zero Tolerance” and all that.

Too harsh? Off track? Ask yourself this; if the same deputy would have told her boss “I’m a drug addict”, or “I’m suicidal”, or “I’m an alcoholic” or “I’m a thief”, what would have happened to them? Fired on the spot! Never! How dare you say that! They need help and by god I will do anything for my peoples so they get the help they need. This is a brotherhood/sisterhood. A family. Didn’t you see my Thin Blue Line sticker? We take care of our own! They took care of her didn’t they? (How do you feel about kissing that ring now?). For nearly any other condition she would have been wrapped in the protective warmth of the agency and all the services available to help. Someone may have been promoted or at least recognized for coming to her aid. Her job, rank and position would have been safe while she was away getting well. Her return to duty would have been hailed as an agency success. Maybe. A big maybe actually.

But alas, there will be none of that for her. DUI is a political hot button. She was behind the wheel in her time of need. As such, administratively she will be taken out back and shot. Go away!

In all other occasions deputies are expected to help the public, but they aren’t expected to help each other. You officially exist to advance political objectives, if necessary at the detriment of each other at that.

Deputies will continue to suffer from drug and alcohol abuse and any other ailment and subsequent addiction the general public suffers from. They will be destructive and suicidal. Occasionally they will kill themselves. It’s not in the interest of the politician to save people. Their’s is to gain control and power while delivering cute sound bytes. The staff’s loyalty goes one way, up. It stops at the person above them or the one that can help them advance. They care about you in as much as they don’t want you to get hurt and make them look bad. The longer I’m away the more clearly I see the folly in so much of law enforcement. Yours is a world full of ambiguity and internal threats from overcompensating and micromanaging supervisors. That’s what they have learned from the Man. I don’t envy you.

As for former Lt Ruhtz, If you know her, please call her, reach out to her some way. Facebook wouldn’t be my first option as the Sheriff’s minister of propaganda monitors it closely and you will feel the wrath. Be there for her as her world unravels. If you are too afraid to speak to her for fear of hurting your career I would submit that she is better off without you. A phone call, a voice mail, an email, anything. Even if you don’t get a response please break squelch and let her know you are there.

As for you, former Lt Ruhtz, if you read this know that I’m aware that you are capable of speaking for yourself. Your’s is a cautionary tale and a barometer on the current state of employee relations at Pinellas County SO. I would, however, offer you the following. Know that things will get better. Each day you will stand a little taller, feel a little better and slowly realize that the last 20 years was like being trapped in Alice in Wonderland. You survived in a toxic, cannibalistic profession. Before you made it through booking there were people standing in line to replace you. You will find other ways to make a living. Keep the good parts and leave the rest behind. Semper Avanti, Always Forward.

For the rest of you, I can’t believe you are still reading this. You could have gone for a run or dry fired your handgun 100 times. But, since your still reading, if I can help you in any way please let me know. No questions asked and no judgement given. Unlike the bosses I have a proven pedigree of caring about you, almost all of you anyway. Wear your seatbelt and body armor. Don’t drive fast and don’t kill yourself.

I wish you the best in your careers and endeavors. I also wish you would stop giving so much of yourselves for an organization that currently gives so little in return.