A conflict over a Sunrise police sergeant’s conduct at an arrest scene escalated swiftly this week, as the police union and police chief issued dueling statements over a few seconds of videotape captured late last year.
The union denounced Police Chief Anthony Rosa for criticizing Sgt. Christopher Pullease, who was seen grabbing a fellow officer by the throat and pushing her against a police cruiser as she tried to deescalate a confrontation.
The chief responded Tuesday by doubling down on his comments, issuing two single-spaced statements that totaled nearly four pages in which he praised the officer who was the apparent victim of the sergeant’s action.
The sergeant has been placed on administrative duty during the investigation. Meanwhile, the widely-shared footage from Nov. 19 has renewed a heated debate over how officers are held accountable when bodycam footage shows them using force.
“How would a civilian be treated under these circumstances while that, quote, investigation goes on?” asked Craig Trocino, the director of the University of Miami Law School’s Innocence Clinic. “He gets to sit at his desk. If I did that to her, I’d be in jail while everybody figured out what was being said.”
He called the sergeant’s actions the “textbook definition of battery.”
But others say don’t rush to judgment. If the sergeant was justified using pepper spray, it could be the female officer who could theoretically be charged with obstruction of justice, said criminal defense attorney Eric Schwartzreich. “I’m not saying that’s the case, but a video doesn’t always tell the full story.”
He said “everyone is so quick” to fault police, “but it’s not always so clear cut.”
Trocino said, “She couldn’t be obstructing justice because the gentleman was already in handcuffs in the back of a police vehicle. So that police function of arresting the detaining and securing this gentlemen to go downtown and processed, that was complete by the time any of this happened.”
Wednesday marks two months since Pullease placed his hand around an unnamed officer’s throat and backed her into the cruiser.
Many, including a retired interim police chief, an expert witness on police matters, a professor and the Broward Public Defender say the footage speaks for itself and charges of battery on a law enforcement officer should have happened by now.
James Wright, an assistant professor in the Askew School of Public Administration at Florida State University, said if anyone else had put their hands around the officer’s throat, they’d be treated far differently.
“It may be signaling to people there may be a double standard,” Wright said.
Philip Sweeting, a retired deputy chief for the Boca Raton Police Department, said it should have taken a few days at best to bring charges against the sergeant.
Joseph Guida, a former New York City Police detective and expert witness with the police consulting firm NYPDTruth.com, said he was horrified watching the video and the officer should be fired.
“He attacked her,” Guida said. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s got to be fired. He just assaulted a police officer.”
Rosa, not the Sunrise city manager, would have the final say of Pullease is terminated.
Even though the internal affairs investigation is not complete, Rosa has publicly called Pullease’s behavior “disgusting” and said the female subordinate acted appropriately when she tried to intervene to deescalate a confrontation at a crime scene.
“I find this behavior to be disgusting and I think the video speaks for itself,” Rosa told WSVN Chan. 7 which broke the story last week.
Rosa did not go into detail about what was said between Pullease and the suspect but he told the television station “I find it to be inappropriate and unprofessional. What he did is he escalated the situation when calm was actually required.”
On Monday the union shot back, saying the chief’s remarks indicated he’d already made up his mind in the case and that was unprofessional and uncalled for.
“We support the sergeant receiving a fair investigative process and await an unbiased and objective conclusion. However, we do not support Chief Rosa’s bias, prejudicial and unprofessional behavior,” wrote Steven Negron, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 80, in a Jan. 17 letter to the Sunrise city manager and elected officials.
“Chief Rosa should not be opining as to his personal feelings or assisting in publicly ridiculing the sergeant to the community or his subordinates.”
Rosa didn’t back down, sending out two more statements Tuesday.
In the video, Pullease appeared to be arguing with a handcuffed suspect being put into a police car. Pullease pulls out and points a pepper spray dispenser at the suspect who is already in the police cruiser. The audio of the footage was not released, but footage shows the female officer racing toward Pullease, grabbing onto his belt and pulling him away.
“Although he did not deploy the spray, the sergeant’s actions unnecessarily elevated the demeanor of the suspect,” the chief wrote in a statement to the media. “A nearby officer who was concerned with things escalating further is seen moving into camera view and approaches the sergeant from behind. In accordance with our department policies and procedures that call for intervention when there is an imminent fear of engagements escalating unnecessarily…”
After the sergeant shoved his fellow officer into the side of a police car, the video shows, he went back to the cruiser with the suspect inside, opened the door and slammed it before heading back to the female officer. The video shows him pointing at the officer as he says something to her.
“I am very proud of the officer involved in this incident and believe that the actions taken were definitive and demonstrative of good leadership during a tense situation,” the chief wrote. “The men and women of the Sunrise Police Department are expected to de-escalate emotionally charged situations and intervene immediately if it appears that a fellow officer is losing control of themselves or displaying inappropriate conduct while engaged with the public. The actions of our officer involved in this incident are exemplary of the professionalism the personnel of the Sunrise Police Department regularly display while honorably serving the public in a profession that is all too often difficult and dangerous.”
Pullease was placed on administrative duty five days after the incident and an internal affairs probe was launched. The union claims that on Nov. 29 Rosa attended several patrol briefings to talk about the incident telling officers that he has launched an investigation against the sergeant. The union claims the chief released details about the situation that should not have been disclosed until the conclusion of the investigation.
In his statement to the union, Rosa said he had a duty to protect all his officers from workplace violence which include both physical and emotional attacks.
“For many years our practice has been to be open and transparent with our employees whenever possible,” the chief said. “This has included the chief and /or his staff attending briefings and speaking with everyone when controversial situations arise within the department. Many times the things discussed during these briefings are intended to address those who might otherwise openly talk about situations they did not witness. These briefings are an attempt to inform and control the spreading of misinformation and rumors before they become so egregious that those spreading the misinformation may also violate our policy.”
Broward Public Defender Gordon Weekes praised Rosa for speaking out against the sergeant’s actions but questioned why no criminal action has been taken against Pullease.
Battery on a law enforcement officer is a felony. Weekes told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that if Rosa doesn’t take action against the sergeant, he will bring the matter to the Broward State Attorney’s Office for review.
Eileen Kelley can be reached at 772-925-9193 or . Follow on Twitter @reporterkell.
