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Sheriff's Lieutenant Demoted After Internal Affairs Inquiry

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 9, 2007

LARGO - She brought two female deputies in her command to the brink of tears, and she talked to one male deputy so disparagingly — he likened it to being treated like a fifth-grader — that he considered quitting.

A fellow lieutenant thought she was undermining her.

And a captain was convinced she lied to him.

This is the portrait of Pinellas sheriff's Lt. Stephanie Cope that emerges in a 1,000-page internal affairs investigation made public today. One of the most voluminous probes of its kind in recent memory, it has been fodder for water-cooler speculation at the agency since Cope was put on administrative leave with pay in July.

Rather than fire the 25-year veteran, Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats struck an unusual deal with her attorney. If Cope agreed not to appeal, she could remain at the office, albeit at the lesser rank of sergeant, the sheriff said.

She also served a three-day suspension that ended Sunday, agreed to a year's probation, will take a course on supervisory skills, and agrees not to apply for a lieutenant's post for five years.

"Until recently she's been a good employee," Coats said. "I think you get different opinions depending on whose statements you read and who you talk to. Different folks have had different experiences, some positive and some not so positive."

Cope defended her management style and denied the allegations against her.

"If I want somebody to work, if I am a supervisor and I want somebody to work … how do I supervise and say it in a stern manner without them taking it, you know, they took it personally," Cope told internal affairs investigators. "It wasn't personal."

Technically, the suspension and demotion were for general infractions such as failing to fulfill her professional responsibilities, and inefficiency, documents say. She paid overtime, for example, to deputies working the north part of the county rather than use on-duty deputies available elsewhere.

Here are highlights from allegations in the documents released:

Cope changed a day-shift schedule for someone she didn't supervise then lied to Capt. Wayne Morris about it three times, Morris told internal affairs investigators. Cope took the unusual step of filing a court motion to keep supervisors from using this against her.

The two female deputies who said Cope brought them to tears were Crystal Akridge, criticized for wearing eye glitter while working a desk job, and Sgt. Virginia McKenna, who thought Cope was micromanaging her and singling her out.

Deputy James Robert Tanner said Cope spoke to her as if he were in the fifth grade after he balked at her request for help in a traffic stop. Tanner said he was about to give a deposition in the courthouse at the time.

Three sergeants told internal affairs investigators they thought Cope changed their evaluations of subordinates without discussing it with them and invariably gave them lower scores than they originally had, internal affairs investigators said.

Cope was accused of having a relationship with another sheriff's employee without telling her supervisors.

Cope reassigned a deputy out of Indian Rocks Beach, claiming the city manager had received complaints about him. The city manager told investigators that wasn't the case. A similar incident occurred in Belleair Bluffs.

In her responses, Cope sometimes attacked the performance of those who made the allegations against her.

"I think a supervisor should supervise someone that is not doing what they are supposed to be doing," she said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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