City to employ 2 police chiefs at once

Largo will have a police chief and an acting chief on its payroll for the next two months. The city manager doesn't cite a reason.

By JANE MEINHARDT and ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 28, 2000

LARGO -- By today's end, the Largo Police Department will have an acting chief.

But Chief Jerry Bloechle, who makes $75,732 a year, will still be on the city's payroll. He will be paid until his retirement begins Oct. 1.

Why two police chiefs? City Manager Steve Stanton would not say Thursday why he has decided to name a new chief two months before Bloechle is scheduled to retire.

Bloechle, 49, will finish his 20th year at the department at the end of September. He has not responded to repeated requests for interviews and has not been around police headquarters much since he abruptly announced his retirement last month.

He was off Thursday. On Wednesday morning, he was shopping at a business that sells utility trailers and similar equipment. On Tuesday, he left his hours-long command staff meeting after five minutes.

He has no real calendar of appointments other than keeping track of when he will be gone for military reserve duty next week and court appearances. His staff does not know exactly when to expect him at the office.

Bill LauBach, executive director of the Police Benevolent Association, has had few dealings with Bloechle since the chief's retirement announcement June 6. The union represents Largo officers.

"If I need to talk to someone at the department about something operational, I go see Capt. (John) Carroll," LauBach said. "If it's about something administrative, I go see the deputy chief."

Carroll, who returned this week from vacation, said he and the department's other captain fill in for Bloechle at some meetings. Otherwise, his duties have not really changed much.

"It's a difficult situation for the department when you have a lame-duck chief," Carroll said. "I'm in the same role basically as before, except for filling in at a few meetings."

Deputy Chief Judy Gershkowitz did not return telephone calls Thursday.

Stanton refused to reveal Thursday whom he will name as chief, saying, "I'm not ready to make a decision yet."

Last month, Stanton said he would likely name Gershkowitz to the position, although he listed Carroll as another possibility. At the time, the department was reeling from accusations involving sexual misconduct of officers, talk about the Pinellas County sheriff taking over Largo police service and plans for overhauling the community policing program.

In announcing his retirement after three years as chief, Bloechle acknowledged that an investigation of officers' relationships with members of the youth Explorer post took a toll on him and his family. The investigation, which began in March, focused on allegations about misconduct in the early 1990s.

Investigators determined that one current Largo office had sex with a female Explorer, a Boy Scout program for youths 14 to 21. Another officer took the Explorer, who was 18 or older, home with him, but denied having sex with her. Two other officers knew or should have known about misconduct, but did not report it to supervisors, investigators concluded.

More recently, the department has been the target of two sexual harassment complaints. On Tuesday, Sgt. Scott Doerflein was demoted to patrol officer in connection with one of the complaints.

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