by Laura Burdick-Sherman
Correspondent
Serving as a law enforcement officer is stressful enough under normal circumstances, but, for members of the Hollywood Police Department, the job has taken on new pressures as they cope with arrests of colleagues targeted by a federal sting operation.
Scarberry has no doubt been under the most pressure. Several weeks before the Feb. 22 arrests, the police chief was advised by federal authorities of the two-year undercover probe that entailed FBI agents, posing as mobsters, enlisting the aid of unknowing officers.
“I knew for about seven weeks, but I couldn’t let on,” Scarberry said. “I had to act like everything was normal, and, knowing what they did, it was a tough thing to look at them, especially when they were in uniform.”
After being briefed in January on the FBI investigation, Scarberry did advise a half-dozen command-level officers, as well as Hollywood Mayor Mara Giulianti and City Manager Cameron Benson. Then a leak occurred, with two of the targeted officers becoming aware of the probe, and the “Operation Tarnished Badge” sting had to be terminated.
Scarberry is now focusing upon maintaining trust and morale among the more than 500 remaining department employees.
Referring to the alleged willingness of the four subsequently arrested officers to accept cash offers to assist FBI agents posing as mobsters, Scarberry said, “They should have said, ‘No.’
“But we are focusing on the 300-plus great sworn individuals and 200-plus nonsworn civilian employees who have done nothing wrong and do a great job for the city,” he continued. “We got rid of the four bad apples that we had.”
Those facing corruption charges include Detective Kevin Companion, Sgt. Jeffry Courtney, Officer Stephen Harrison and Detective Thomas Simcox. A federal complaint alleges that the four combined to take payments of nearly $100,000 to perform such acts as furnishing security for what they thought was an illegal high-stakes poker game, helping with what they thought was the theft of a truckload of cigarettes and escorting what they thought was a heroin shipment.
Two other longtime officers took early retirement.
“A lot of people were devastated,” Scarberry said. “The Hollywood Police Department is like a family, and these were family members who let us down.”
In addition to meeting with department employees with a psychologist present, plus advising all employees via memorandum that they had nothing to fear if they had engaged in casual conversations with the suspect officers, Scarberry made sure to contact the wives of the targeted officers.
“I feel terrible for the families,” Scarberry said. “They had no involvement in this and I’m sure are just as shocked and devastated, and to a much greater extent. They have a lot of friends in the police department and outside the department. Hopefully, they have not been discouraged and have encouraged people to feel they can go over to their friends and support them at this time.”
Hollywood police Capt. Tony Rode commented, “To say that we as an agency are upset or trying to heal from this would be an understatement.”
That is understandable, according to Sloane Veshinski, a Hollywood licensed marriage and family therapist who has counseled police officers and their families.
“These are guys who lead very stressful lives and can’t share a lot of their jobs with their family,” Veshinski said. “I would suspect there’s a lot of conversations that are going on or should be going on amongst the officers just because this breach happens. How do you trust your partner who covers your back?”
She said she can also appreciate how Hollywood police are approaching the concern within the department.
“It makes sense,” Veshinski said. “They have the public trust. When parents have problems, do they share those problems with the children? No, because they have to protect their children from whatever difficulty they’re having because that’s appropriate.
“And,” she continued, “in this case, I think it’s appropriate for the police to work on resolving their issues internally. I don’t know that every detail needs to be conveyed to the community. They just need to know that they’re safe and the police are caring for the community in the way they’ve always done.”
Scarberry, whose law enforcement career spans more than three decades, remains confident of the ability of his department.
“We’re focusing on the 500-plus employees who have done nothing wrong,” he said. “We will get through this, and it will be as good as ever, if not better.”
