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Instructor Accused Of Showing Porn In Police Class

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By JOHN DAVIS

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Published: February 5, 2009

NORTH PORT - The Sarasota County School Board shut down a police training class on Tuesday after a complaint that the instructor, Mike Treubert, had shown a pornographic movie to the six officers taking the course.

Treubert, 50, is a North Port city commissioner and retired Venice police officer. He also teaches driver's education and has been a longtime youth sports coach.

He refused to comment Wednesday on the complaint or the personnel investigation by the school board.

The school board also refused to provide any details about the video in question or how long it was reportedly shown to the class, saying that the investigation is ongoing.

Charlotte County Deputy Ryan White said in a statement released through the Charlotte sheriff's office that the video was graphic and "shocked everyone" in the class.

The investigation is not criminal because there were no minors in the room at the time of the incident, though Treubert's job as a police trainer is at risk over the complaint.

The training class, at the Sarasota County Technical Institute on Beneva Road, was for working officers from Charlotte, Sarasota County, North Port and the Florida Highway Patrol. At least one student was a woman.

The school board refused to say who had complained.

The technical institute runs the Sarasota Criminal Justice Academy and dozens of other job training programs for adults and high school students in their junior and senior years.

Treubert has been teaching there since 2006 and was paid $50 an hour for the two-week, 80-hour class.

The district informed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement of the investigation and complaint about Treubert on Tuesday.

After the school board investigation, the state panel that certifies police trainers could do its own investigation and possibly revoke Treubert's teaching certification.

Treubert, elected to the North Port City Commission in November, worked in the Venice Police Department from 1981 until he retired in 2006; he was a sergeant and traffic supervisor. He is also a past chairman of the county's Community Traffic Safety Team.

"It was a very good course, and I was disappointed it was canceled," said White, the Charlotte deputy. "But I understand why."

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