It is hard to blow an awards ceremony like the one meant to honor Pinellas County deputy Michael Szeliga hosted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving . . . except when you appear stumbling drunk after being sighted walking around in the hallway of the hotel in your boxers.
Szeliga reportedly brought booze to a 2-day training event in Fort Lauderdale and was described as “staggeringly drunk” after he and two other officers went to the hotel pool and skipped training to drink heavily. When a police chief from Gulfport, Florida suggested Szeliga not go to the event, Szeliga reportedly made “disrespectful comments” toward the police chief. Another officer reported seeing him wearing “nothing but boxer shorts” in the hallway of the hotel.
As you might expect, he has been transferred out of the DUI unit. He now works as a detective in the sheriff’s crimes against children unit.
Let’s hope they do not plan an award from a Children’s group in the near future.
You can’t make this stuff up!
Reblogged this on John Drake.
Addendum –
Tytler –
Unions and union “…people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.”
To wit,
CNBC
“Last year, Moody’s estimated that U.S. public pensions don’t have nearly enough to pay what they owe
current and future retirees. The top 25 biggest public retirement systems alone — covering 40 percent of the
$5.3 trillion in total public plan assets — are at least $2 trillion short of what they’ll need to make good on the
promises to millions of police, firefighters, teachers and other public sector workers.”
Unions keep criminals on the job in every type of work.
Police and officials that hold the “public trust” must be held to a higher standard.
Unions have been allowed to usurp the power of the voters; the citizens.
Police unions, teachers unions, etc., defeat the voters; the citizens.
Power under the Constitution is of the People, for the People, by the People.
Illicitly, power has been transferred to the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” the unions, and the collectivist, socialist-cum-communist liberal democrats.
America, by constitution, is not a theocracy or plutocracy of unions.
Ben Franklin, we gave you “…a republic, if you can keep it.”
Ben Franklin’s was a restricted-vote republic, not a one man, one vote democracy – a union plutocracy.
California, the one-party state, is a harbinger.
__________
Alexander Fraser Tytler
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy–to be followed by a dictatorship.”
Behaving this way at a corporate training event could easily get someone fired. Clearly this officer needs to get investigated. Let us hope he had no plans to drive that day. He may be burning out and need intervention, training, a reprimand …something. Wearing that badge brings responsibility. There needs to be accountability, and they need to determine if he’s fit to work as a police officer. This can be a warning sign that he’s having issues, and alcoholism is unfortunately common in high stress jobs such as this.
BarkinDog – what you suggest is already a group: DAMM – ‘Drunks Against Mad Mothers’.
Most Americans respect these constitutional officers that have a true respect for the constitutional rule of law and it’s subordinate statutes – even if those constitutional officers that make an honest mistake with bad results.
Think Americans are fed up with constitutional officers that have contempt for their oath of office perceiving themselves to be above the U.S. Constitution and it’s subordinate local, state and federal statutes – usually due to bad police leaders and police unions.
Americans like loyal officers that follow their oath of office and are fed up with disloyal officers like this one who is above the law.
How about he is transferred out of the police station altogether.
That is how it would work in any private security service.
No name, no blame.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving should be pistol whipped. Whenever you get an organization of females and combine that with mothers, you have a group of class A bitches. They should not be given the time of day. BitchinDog needs to chime in on this one.
Really, really poor decision making. I would be all over my 11 year old if she showed the immaturity of this tush head. Is this the biggest thing in the world? of course not. But we don’t really know if he then drove home drunk or has a bigger drinking problem on the job. Simply put, I wouldn’t feel comfortable being pulled over by an officer carrying a weapon who has exhibited such questionable decision making. Investigating children’s crimes, stay the hell away from my kid.
Since he didn’t “train” at this weekend event, I wonder if taxpayers will be reimbursed for his costs?
btw – any of us who truly know someone with a drinking problem……….
I am with bam bam on this one. No harm, no foul.
It’s MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVERS–NOT MOTHERS AGAINST THOSE WHO ARE INCAPABLE OF CONDUCTING THEMSELVES WITH A CERTAIN DEGREE OF DIGNITY BY REMAINING SOBER AT AN AWARDS CEREMONY. I didn’t read that he got behind the wheel of a vehicle, drove while intoxicated and endangered the lives of others on the road. Big difference.
His guilt and hypocrisy “outed him”. He put 100 harmless people in jail who all lost their licenses and paid the system 15k – for nothing – I’ll bet not one of those 100 he busted did any property damage or bodily injury. Somewhere deep down, his conscience got the better of him.