Rick Kriseman‘s strong advocacy of St. Petersburg police chief Tony Holloway has become a campaign issue in the race against Rick Baker, but it won’t be in the race for City Council District 2. Both Barclay Harless and Brandi Gabbard both support Holloway staying on the job, regardless of who is elected mayor in November.
Although the Suncoast Police Benevolent Association endorsed Rick Kriseman re-election two months ago, a formal press conference touting its backing didn’t take place until Friday – three days after former mayor Rick Baker announced he was challenging the incumbent. “Senior leadership under the previous administration was one of the main causes of the low morale and tension in the community that we had between some of the police officers and the people that we serve,” said George Lofton, the president of the Suncoast PBA…
Of all the relationships that a big-city mayor has, the one with their police chief is considered paramount. Last summer in St. Petersburg, Rick Kriseman alienated some City Council members who felt they deserved more of an opportunity to weigh in on a replacement for outgoing chief Chuck Harmon. The mayor then surprised everyone by chucking his four finalists and picking Clearwater Police Chief Tony Holloway to lead the SPPD. Now it’s Bob Buckhorn’s turn. Although the recently re-elected mayor…
Now that Dontae Morris has been captured and life can begin to return to normal in Tampa — at least for some, certainly not the grief-struck families impacted by Morris’ actions — I believe it’s fair to look objectively at one of the aspects of this story: the bold, strong leadership of Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Police Chief Jane Castor, which should be contrasted with the nebulous relationships St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon has had with Mayors Rick…
Now that Dontae Morris has been captured and life can begin to return to normal in Tampa — at least for some, certainly not the grief-struck families impacted by Morris’ actions — I believe it’s fair to look objectively at one of the aspects of this story: the bold, strong leadership of Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Police Chief Jane Castor, which should be contrasted with the nebulous relationships St. Petersburg Police Chief Chuck Harmon has had with Mayors Baker…
Article appearing in tomorrow’s St. Petersburg Times: In the city’s first weekend with longer drinking hours, police saw a marked uptick in calls for service. They responded to 131 calls after 2 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings, a 22 percent increase from the previous weekend. Those calls resulted in 38 incident reports after 2 a.m., up from 23 last weekend. The increase validates St. Petersburg police Chief Chuck Harmon’s warning to the City Council before its May 6 vote…
Before I write anything else, let me be clear that I think it was just ridiculous for Mayor Foster to allow the police to engage in high-speed pursuits. As City Council Chair Leslie Curran got Police Chief Chuck Harmon to admit, there is not one shred of evidence that the police can point to that shows allowing high-speed pursuits does anything but create mayhem. When asked by Curran what data he had showing that the policy change would reduce crime,…
