In St. Petersburg, Florida, Officer Thad “Stu” Crisco is under investigation after a supervisor learned that he told the father of a robbery victim that one part of town was a bit dangerous for his 16-year-old daughter to be hanging around after she was robbed. Crisco has an unblemished record, but he is being hammered for the well-intentioned advice. In his comments in the article below,
Mayor Bill Foster does not appear to be concerned about an officer being disciplined for simply informing a parent about a rough area. He stated “I always want to know my officers are representing this city in a very positive light.” Well, how about a positive statement like “hey, you know this area excels in robberies and is second to none in homicides.”
Crisco was warning St. Petersburg father Bob Esposito about letting his 16-year-old daughter hang around a pool at night after she was robbed with five other teens at 10:30 p.m. He simply said “I wouldn’t come down here at night. Esposito mentioned to another officer that he used to loiter in the area as a teen “and I was told by one of the police officers not to come down here either.” That was enough to launch an investigation for “disparaging comments against the city.”
Esposito was thankful that the officer cared enough to warn him. It sends a troubling message to officers that they could be suspended if they go out of their way in dealing with citizens. It suggests that officers should just keep their mouthes shut when they see a potentially dangerous situation for a citizen. In Chicago, I recall a case when one of my sisters took a wrong turn and got lost in the area around Cabrini Green Housing Project. Two officers (both African American) actually stopped her, warned her about the danger, and escorted her out of the area. There had been a number of white people attacked in the area which was one of the most dangerous places in Chicago. It was a disturbing racial reality. However, these officers did not want to see her end up as a statistic and decided to take the time to show her the way back to the freeway. I realize that such warnings can have racial undertones, particularly when there is a problem of officers enforcing a type of segregation (particularly in harassing minorities in largely white areas). Yet, the officers wanted to warn my sister of the dangers in light of prior attacks and, if she wanted to leave the area, to help her out. We were grateful to them.
Crisco cared enough that he wanted the father to understand the risks for his daughter in the area. His priority was the safety of the citizen not the sensibilities of city officials. The fact that a supervisor would even order an investigation (and that Foster — shown right — would appear to defend the action) is astonishing. If Mayor Foster wants to accent the positive, he can do so. However, officers are sworn to protect citizens and should be commended (not condemned) for efforts to inform parents of risks to their children.
Source: WTSP
Jonathan Turley
I was living in the combat zone in Boston in the mid 1970s. At night I would take a fifth or two down to the waterfront and drink till dawn. Killing the screams in the back of my head from Vietnam.
I had a couple of police officers come across the street toward me. I slid a bottle in my pocket and raised both hands palms facing the cops. I held them there as they came up.
I told them that my hands were cold and asked if I could slip them down in the front of my pants to warm them up.
They told me that they had seen me before and I didn’t act like the people in the zone.They suggested that I buy 8 D cell flashlight batteries and carry them in a plastic bag as a legal weapon. They warned me that I was in a dangerous area and suggested strongly that I carry a weapon.
I thanked them and walked off toward the waterfront. When I got around the corner, I died away laughing. Here were two of Boston’s finest helping me to stay alive. I had had my hand on a pistol in a belly holster while they were telling me to arm up because I did not know why they had approached me.
The hands thing was strictly to convince them that I wasn’t a danger. If I had asked to put my hands behind my head, there was a German tool steel flick knife on a breakaway necklace hanging down between my shoulders.
Yea though I walk through the shadows of death, I shall fear no evil because I am the meanest mother in the valley.
Hey, Mayor here’s a nomination for City Song from a former Florida citizen:
That Esposito parent was thankful and this one would be too. Another Potemkin Village and a phony mayor to go with it.
“Have we gone mad?” -rafflaw
Simply, yes.
This sounds alot like the defamation case against Knox’s parents in Italy. Have we gone mad? At least he didn’t Taze anyone.
Ummmm . . . the smell of politically motivated revenge . . . smells vaguely like barbequed pork ribs . . . oh wait . . . no, that’s here that smells like barbeque. This just smells like politically motivated revenge.
lottakatz 1, July 4, 2011 at 7:51 am
If the cop had given her an unprovoked beat down then arrested he probably been supported but stray from the feel-good promotion of the city and you can expect some discipline. Crazy is as crazy does. Of course it’s Florida.
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And that pretty much sums it up… (Well said.)
You have to be kidding me right….And I always liked St Petersburg…..It is a nice clean town…but every city has someplace you should not be….
Clearly a ridiculous response to good advice unless it was wrong and based on some unfounded prejudice.
I don’t understand the Cabrini comment. Everyone was at risk around Cabrini. African-Americans most of all. It was an economic reality not a racial one.
If the cop had given her an unprovoked beat down then arrested he probably been supported but stray from the feel-good promotion of the city and you can expect some discipline. Crazy is as crazy does. Of course it’s Florida.
LOL. Happy 4th.