After Taser Comment, Sarasota Police Chief DiPino Steps Down

SARASOTA, FL — Police Chief Bernadette DiPino has resigned from the Sarasota Police Department effective Friday at 5 p.m., according to a news release.

She will receive five months’ pay, a lump sum equal to the amount of 982.5 hours of accrued time off, a service weapon of her choice and her badge, according to the separation agreement between the chief and the city.

City Manager Marlon Brown “will immediately begin the process of appointing an interim chief,” Jason Bartolone, a communications specialist for the city, said in an email.

The chief has been under fire in recent weeks after a Sarasota police officer filed a complaint against her for a comment she made about using a Taser on a mentally ill homeless man.

The man heckled officers during a Nov. 18 Sarasota Opera performance outside Sarasota police headquarters. As officers walked back into the building after the opera performance, DiPino reportedly said, "Anybody have a Taser they can give me so I can get rid of him?"

An officer who overheard the comment filed a complaint and the city's human resources department was assigned to look into it. When asked about the incident, she admitted to making the comments.

Jan Thornburg, the city’s senior communications manager, said DiPino was counseled by the city about the incident.

DiPino was appointed the city's first female police chief Dec. 13, 2012. Prior to SPD, she started her career as an officer with the Baltimore County Police Department and later worked for the Ocean City Police Department in Maryland, rising through the ranks from narcotics detective to police chief.

“It’s been my privilege to serve as the Chief of Police for the city of Sarasota. I am proud of my 35 years of honorable service as a law enforcement officer, eight of those to the city of Sarasota,” she said in a statement. “As your Chief of Police since December 31, 2012, we have worked together to accomplish incredible things. I am leaving feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride at what the Sarasota Police Department has been able to accomplish over the last eight years.”

During her time as chief, overall crime was reduced by nearly 38 percent and violent offenses are down by nearly 17 percent, she said.

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The department has also “adopted a philosophy of community policing, implemented the Drug Market Initiative to eliminate open-air drug markets, created a Homeless Outreach Team, and began the Turn Your Life Around diversion program. We have worked hard to build relationships and restore trust with our community,” DiPino said.

Though she didn’t say what her plans are when she leaves the department, she said that she is “looking forward to the opportunity to continue to serve the law enforcement field in another capacity.”

“I’d like to express my sincere thanks to the chief for her eight years of service to the city of Sarasota,” Brown said in a news release from the city. “Through her leadership and dedicated efforts with community policing she helped reduce crime by nearly 40 percent and strengthened trust between residents and officers through extensive community outreach initiatives from the Citizens Police Academy to Coffee with a Cop and family movie nights on the SPD lawn. SPD has many initiatives ahead including the implementation of body worn cameras and I will immediately begin the process of appointing an interim chief of police.”

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