Post by KC on Oct 27, 2006 22:36:41 GMT -5
Winter Haven, Florida - It's dinner time in Winter Haven, which means many of the local fast food places are hopping with business. The drive through at McDonalds is packed, Long John's is busy, and so is Burger King and Taco Bell. But the other thing these places have in common is the customers they don't have, which are Police Officers. Significant because Winter Haven Chief of Police Paul Goward sent an e-mail to his 83 sworn officers saying lay off the burgers, booze, and ice cream. The subject line asked, "Are you a jelleybelly?" It went on to say "…we didn't hire you unfit and we don't want you working unfit."
The public is applauding the chief for being direct.
Winter Haven Citizen:
"If you are overweight, how can you catch someone, so I think they should be physically fit."
Winter Haven Citizen:
"There are so many people that are overweight."
Winter Haven Citizen:
"In the navy and the marines you have to be a certain weight, so police should be a certain weight also."
But Chief Goward wasn't Chief for very long after that e-mail. He resigned after complaints surfaced that his e-mail was "offensive". Police Officers told me the majority of the department supports him and see the e-mail for what it is… strong leadership.
Perhaps in the end, you the viewer might have to just read between the lines on this story. City Hall never called us back and the Chief said he really couldn't talk on camera about this. All we know is that a respected cop with 36 years experience isn't on the job anymore, all because of an e-mail with the subject line asking "are you a jellybelly?"
An important footnote here... a police officer recently told us that a new Chief has already been hired. But as mentioned, no one from City Hall called us back, so we can't confirm it.
www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=42329
The public is applauding the chief for being direct.
Winter Haven Citizen:
"If you are overweight, how can you catch someone, so I think they should be physically fit."
Winter Haven Citizen:
"There are so many people that are overweight."
Winter Haven Citizen:
"In the navy and the marines you have to be a certain weight, so police should be a certain weight also."
But Chief Goward wasn't Chief for very long after that e-mail. He resigned after complaints surfaced that his e-mail was "offensive". Police Officers told me the majority of the department supports him and see the e-mail for what it is… strong leadership.
Perhaps in the end, you the viewer might have to just read between the lines on this story. City Hall never called us back and the Chief said he really couldn't talk on camera about this. All we know is that a respected cop with 36 years experience isn't on the job anymore, all because of an e-mail with the subject line asking "are you a jellybelly?"
An important footnote here... a police officer recently told us that a new Chief has already been hired. But as mentioned, no one from City Hall called us back, so we can't confirm it.
www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=42329