The police chief of one of Florida’s largest cities was forced to resign in disgrace after she was caught on camera asking an officer to “let her go” at a traffic stop.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor Announced on Monday that he accepted the resignation of Police Chief Mary O’Connor “following the completion of an Internal Affairs investigation into a recent traffic stop.”
O’Conner and her husband, Keith, were pulled over by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Jacoby on November 12 at 7:30 pm when they were caught driving a golf cart on an unmarked road.
He tried to pressure the officer, the body camera footage from the traffic stop was revealed, and he asked if his camera was on before telling Jacoby: “I’m the Tampa police chief… I hope we just go tonight .
O’Conner and her husband, Keith, were pulled over by Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Jacoby on November 12 at 7:30 pm when they were caught driving a golf cart on an unmarked road.
Shocking body cam footage showed O’Conner brazenly using his position to evade any penalties.
She had asked Jacoby if his camera was on, and when he confirmed that it was, O’Conner showed the unassuming agent his badge.
Jacoby later said she thought she recognized O’Connor and let her and her husband leave after a handshake.
O’Connor left her his card and a message as they walked away: “If you ever need anything, call me, seriously.”
Local reporters tried to obtain the footage, which the cops claimed they did not have, for weeks before it was finally released Thursday and O’Connor admitted to the public that he used “poor judgment in noting my position with the Tampa Police Department.” .
“I want you to hear it from me first before the news gets out,” O’Connor told the audience when the video was first released.
She said it was “the first time we had brought the golf cart onto a public road, which prompted the need for a license plate.”
“During our conversation with the officer, who knew I was being recorded on a body camera, I used poor judgment in pointing out my position with the Tampa Police Department and apologizing for our mistake,” she admitted.
O’Connor claimed at the time that while “in hindsight” the interaction might “be deemed inappropriate, that was certainly not my intention.”
The chief said she was “sorry” and offered to pay any potential citations, while apologizing to the mayor and “also to you employees of our police department.”
Mayor Jane Castor (pictured) announced Monday that she has accepted O’Connor’s resignation as police chief.
But later, Castor placed O’Connor on administrative leave before announcing that he had requested and received the resignation of the police chief.
