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Abuse Accusations Plague Key West Police Department
By NICK MADIGAN
KEY WEST, Fla., April 30 — The messages appeared a few days ago, stuck to the otherwise cheerful windows of stores selling T-shirts and paintings of blue, grinning dolphins.
"If you do not resist being cuffed by Key West cops," one of the handwritten signs said, "you may be giving up your final chance."
Another used an expletive to insult people who felt safe under the protection of the police. A third recalled the Nazis in referring to the beating of a handcuffed sailor.
Accusations that Key West officers have acted with excessive force over the last few years have tainted the reputation of the police department and cast a shadow over a town better known for its tropical charm and an air of unabashed, rum-fueled hedonism.
One former officer, Michael Beerbower, is to stand trial on May 19 on charges that he punched a sailor he had handcuffed outside a bar. Another officer was accused of pepper-spraying a suspect who was offering no resistance, a third reportedly beat a man with a baton, and two more officers were accused of falsifying reports about the beating.
Mr. Beerbower's is the only case to come to trial, but he and three of the other officers accused of wrongdoing have left the police force.
Most of these cases came to light in a two-year investigation by the Monroe County state attorney's office, which found that the department had failed to act upon, or even look into, some of the accusations against its officers.
"I don't think it's a department out of control," said Catherine Vogel, chief assistant state attorney for Monroe County, who will prosecute Mr. Beerbower. "It needed a wake-up call."
Last fall, after months of lobbying by a group of residents, voters here approved a measure to create a citizens' board to review complaints against the Key West Police Department. The process of choosing board members has already begun, said City Manager Julio Avael, who, along with Police Chief Gordon Dillon, had initially resisted the notion of citizen oversight of the police.
"There were some problems with the police department that we needed to address, and it was addressed," Mr. Avael said in an interview.
Sandra Butler Whyte, a resident who was a vigorous advocate of the citizens' review board, described "a real level of anxiety and mistrust in this community." She said, "There have been many, many cases of abuse, especially against minorities, that we haven't heard about."
The litany of complaints against officers is long. Four were suspended after shooting at a couple who were fleeing the police on Front Street, on the city's waterfront, in July 2001. The police chief and the city manager later overturned the suspensions, calling the policy on shooting in public places ambiguous.
One of the officers in the Front Street case was Sgt. Eric Biskup, who was accused of battering a tourist with his baton later that month, on July 29, 2001. Sergeant Biskup said at the time that he had resorted to the baton after the man tried to tackle him during a street brawl in front of Sloppy Joe's Bar.
Investigators from the state attorney's office found, based on accounts of bystanders and other officers, that two of the officers at the scene, Patrick Saunders and Geoffrey Harris, had falsified incident reports to cover up the circumstances of the melee. Both of those men left the force. Sergeant Biskup, the only accused officer still working in the department, attended counseling sessions as part of his deal with prosecutors to keep his job.
Chief Dillon said that Sergeant Biskup had been "picked up and slammed to the ground" in the Sloppy Joe's incident and that he had responded appropriately.
But the chief acknowledged, "We've had a couple of bad incidents."
One involved Lt. Al Flowers, who resigned last year after the state attorney's office found that in 1998 he had told a subordinate to falsify the record of an arrest in which he pepper-sprayed a man who was offering no resistance.
No one disputes that the 85 police officers in Key West, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, have their hands full. The town's main thoroughfare, Duval Street, boasts dozens of bars, clubs and restaurants, most of which do a thriving business until the 4 a.m. closing time. A spring-break atmosphere prevails, especially on weekends, and loud carousing often spills into the narrow streets.
"Early in the morning on Duval Street, my guys sometimes go from one fight to another," Chief Dillon said. "There's too much alcohol and too many people in one small area."
Ms. Vogel, the assistant state attorney, said the department had made "great strides" in correcting its problems.
"Unfortunately, it took us filing charges for that to occur," she said.
By NICK MADIGAN
KEY WEST, Fla., April 30 — The messages appeared a few days ago, stuck to the otherwise cheerful windows of stores selling T-shirts and paintings of blue, grinning dolphins.
"If you do not resist being cuffed by Key West cops," one of the handwritten signs said, "you may be giving up your final chance."
Another used an expletive to insult people who felt safe under the protection of the police. A third recalled the Nazis in referring to the beating of a handcuffed sailor.
Accusations that Key West officers have acted with excessive force over the last few years have tainted the reputation of the police department and cast a shadow over a town better known for its tropical charm and an air of unabashed, rum-fueled hedonism.
One former officer, Michael Beerbower, is to stand trial on May 19 on charges that he punched a sailor he had handcuffed outside a bar. Another officer was accused of pepper-spraying a suspect who was offering no resistance, a third reportedly beat a man with a baton, and two more officers were accused of falsifying reports about the beating.
Mr. Beerbower's is the only case to come to trial, but he and three of the other officers accused of wrongdoing have left the police force.
Most of these cases came to light in a two-year investigation by the Monroe County state attorney's office, which found that the department had failed to act upon, or even look into, some of the accusations against its officers.
"I don't think it's a department out of control," said Catherine Vogel, chief assistant state attorney for Monroe County, who will prosecute Mr. Beerbower. "It needed a wake-up call."
Last fall, after months of lobbying by a group of residents, voters here approved a measure to create a citizens' board to review complaints against the Key West Police Department. The process of choosing board members has already begun, said City Manager Julio Avael, who, along with Police Chief Gordon Dillon, had initially resisted the notion of citizen oversight of the police.
"There were some problems with the police department that we needed to address, and it was addressed," Mr. Avael said in an interview.
Sandra Butler Whyte, a resident who was a vigorous advocate of the citizens' review board, described "a real level of anxiety and mistrust in this community." She said, "There have been many, many cases of abuse, especially against minorities, that we haven't heard about."
The litany of complaints against officers is long. Four were suspended after shooting at a couple who were fleeing the police on Front Street, on the city's waterfront, in July 2001. The police chief and the city manager later overturned the suspensions, calling the policy on shooting in public places ambiguous.
One of the officers in the Front Street case was Sgt. Eric Biskup, who was accused of battering a tourist with his baton later that month, on July 29, 2001. Sergeant Biskup said at the time that he had resorted to the baton after the man tried to tackle him during a street brawl in front of Sloppy Joe's Bar.
Investigators from the state attorney's office found, based on accounts of bystanders and other officers, that two of the officers at the scene, Patrick Saunders and Geoffrey Harris, had falsified incident reports to cover up the circumstances of the melee. Both of those men left the force. Sergeant Biskup, the only accused officer still working in the department, attended counseling sessions as part of his deal with prosecutors to keep his job.
Chief Dillon said that Sergeant Biskup had been "picked up and slammed to the ground" in the Sloppy Joe's incident and that he had responded appropriately.
But the chief acknowledged, "We've had a couple of bad incidents."
One involved Lt. Al Flowers, who resigned last year after the state attorney's office found that in 1998 he had told a subordinate to falsify the record of an arrest in which he pepper-sprayed a man who was offering no resistance.
No one disputes that the 85 police officers in Key West, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, have their hands full. The town's main thoroughfare, Duval Street, boasts dozens of bars, clubs and restaurants, most of which do a thriving business until the 4 a.m. closing time. A spring-break atmosphere prevails, especially on weekends, and loud carousing often spills into the narrow streets.
"Early in the morning on Duval Street, my guys sometimes go from one fight to another," Chief Dillon said. "There's too much alcohol and too many people in one small area."
Ms. Vogel, the assistant state attorney, said the department had made "great strides" in correcting its problems.
"Unfortunately, it took us filing charges for that to occur," she said.
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