TAMPA, Fla. — The very public downfall of Tampa police Chief Mary O’Connor has sparked questions about police ethics and what’s long been called “professional courtesy” between cops.
O’Connor brought the pinnacle of her policing career to an end with a flash of her badge on a Saturday evening in November. Body cam video that would later make national news and get mocked on The Daily Show caught her and her husband — also a high-ranking city employee — as they were pulled over by a Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy because their golf cart had no tag.
Police badge in hand, O’Connor identified herself the top cop from the neighboring city and said she hoped the deputy would just let them go. When he did, she handed him her business card and said, ”If you ever need anything, call me. Serious.”
