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Sarasota police chief joked about using Taser on mentally ill homeless man

The Herald-Tribune
Jan 19, 2021

Jan. 19—Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino is under fire from city officials for joking about using a Taser on a mentally ill homeless man who heckled her officers during a special performance by the Sarasota Opera, according to people familiar with the incident.

The performance was held Nov. 18 — outdoors and socially distanced — on the west side of police headquarters.

The audience consisted of officers and detectives as well as civilian police employees.

During the performance, a homeless man who is mentally ill, frequents the downtown area and is well known by police began heckling the officers from a nearby park, allegedly saying "SPD sucks," and "SPD can kiss my ass."

After the performance, as the crowd was walking back into the building, DiPino allegedly turned to a group of officers and said: "Anybody have a Taser they can give me so I can get rid of him?"

The homeless man had reportedly not made any verbal or physical threats to anyone attending the performance.

One of the officers who heard DiPino's comments made a complaint to the city manager's office via email.

The city has not yet responded to a public records request filed Friday by the Herald-Tribune for a copy of this complaint.

Since DiPino is a department head, the city's human resources department was assigned to conduct an inquiry.

When city officials confronted DiPino about her comments — a conversation described as a reprimand — DiPino allegedly admitted she made the comments and apologized, according to persons familiar with the case.

DiPino declined to be interviewed for this story.

Instead, she sent a statement through her spokeswoman Genevieve Judge, who said the chief was "made aware of the complaint last Monday."

"City Manager Marlon Brown counseled her in reference to the complaint," Judge wrote.

Sarasota was once named the "meanest city in America" for its treatment of the homeless.

Officials have worked hard to overcome that reputation by forming multidisciplinary coalitions and increasing housing opportunities to address homelessness.

Both the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office and DiPino's department have created homeless outreach teams (HOT Teams).

According to its website, SPD's homeless outreach team "has several ways of assisting people in need which includes conducting outreach, case management, a voucher program, the Homeless Outreach Team program at the Salvation Army, and partnership with local outside agencies."

Despite the department's efforts, Dipino's comments brought a swift and strong response from homeless advocates.

Chris Johnson, CEO of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, called DiPino's comments "disgraceful," and "counter to the great strides the city of Sarasota has made in transforming its approach to our homeless citizens."

"Comments like this from the Chief of Police can shape the thoughts of those under her command as well as their attitudes towards our homeless population or those that suffer from mental health issues," Johnson wrote in a statement. "And although I do not think this demands her resignation or her termination, I do think that she must set the example for the officers in her employ. These types of comments have no place coming from the Chief's mouth and if she were to hear her officers say these types of things, I would expect her to be the first in line to reprimand those officers.

"Words shape thoughts and thoughts shape actions. We want to see the continued positive direction the SPD HOT Teams have pioneered in our region by moving homeless individuals into services and housing, meeting their needs and ending their homelessness," Johnson wrote. "Words like this shape the wrong thoughts and they have no place in our upward march towards an increased quality of life for all our citizens.,"

Michael Barfield, president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said DiPino's comments "encourages an atmosphere of lawlessness in the city's unrelenting war on the homeless."

"The threatened use of a Taser for the exercise of First Amendment rights is a criminal act. It's unacceptable from any officer," Barfield said. "The City Manager should act decisively and send the message that this conduct will not be tolerated and disqualifies Chief DiPino from holding the position of Police Chief."

Contact topics editor Lee Williams at lee.williams@heraldtribune.com

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