Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 3-29-19

Features
Popular Activist, Retired Educator Passes
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A popular educator who taught children in schools throughout Florida and in Lansing, Michigan passed away on March 17, 2019. Mrs. Thelma Knight Evans was 91-years-old.
Mrs. Evans graduated from Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg. She continued her education at Florida A & M, where she earned a B. S. De- gree in Social Science. She was also crowned “Miss Famcee” in 1948 during her senior year.
She then launched her ca- reer as an educator working as a high school teacher in San- ford, Florida and an elemen- tary school teacher in Tampa.
She married Dr. Matthies Evans, Jr., and to that union, two children were born, Matthies Evans, III, and Susan Elizabeth Evans.
The family relocated to Lansing, Michigan after Dr. Evans graduated from
MRS. THELMA K. EVANS May 21, 1927 --- March 17, 2019
Meharry Medical School.
She became active at The Peoples Church of East Lans- ing and later attended Friend- ship Baptist Church in
Lansing, Michigan.
A community activist as
well, Mrs. Evans was a par- ent volunteer in the East Lansing Public School Sys- tem. Actively involved with the American Association of University Women, Ingham County Medical Auxiliary, Lansing Symphony, Lansing Art Guild, The National Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and numerous other organiza- tions.
In 1973, Mrs. Evans be- came the first African Ameri- can and the third female to be appointed to the East Lansing City Council.
A widow after 58 years of marriage, Mrs. Evans was a strong supporter of higher ed- ucation and a two-time breast cancer survivor, generously donating for the advancement of breast cancer research.
In support of the Thelma K. Evans Cancer Research En- dowment, donations may be sent to Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation, Inc. to the atten- tion of:
Erika V. Everett, Exec- utive Director, 5656 South Stony Island Av- enue, 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60637; email: akaeaf@akaeaf.net; phone: (800) 653.6528.
Funeral services were held for Mrs. Evans on Wednes- day in St. Petersburg.
10 Police Officers Involved In Body Camera Probe
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Ten Tampa Police officers are linked to an internal investi- gation of wrongdoing. Their punishment can range from no wrongdoing found to severe dis- cipline.
The investigation began on September 19, 2018, after a citi- zen complained that Officer Mark Landry and Officer John Laratta had threatened the citizen with physical vio- lence during a self-initiated call for service the day before.
While investigating the com- plaint, Officer Laratta’s body camera footage was reviewed. The examination revealed possi- ble violations of department policy by both officers.
Officials began reviewing footage from the body camera of both officers, dating back to May 15, 2018, when the equipment was issued. The expanded probe uncovered additional policy vio- lations by both officers as well as eight other officers.
According to the Internal Af- fairs report, in one incident the officers initiated as a “suspicious vehicle” call. The officers were out on the call for thirty-two minutes. However, the body camera was turned off three minutes and forty-seven sec- onds into the call. It was deacti- vated prior to the interaction with the citizen and the officers.
Investigators could not sub- stantiate the threat because there were no witnesses and the camera had been turned off. However, the review widened and revealed a pattern of policy violations, which included not submitting required reports.
During the investigation, 349 separate incidents were re- viewed from body camera footage. The review revealed 29 of the incidents involved policy violations. Of the ten officers in- volved, Officer Landry, Offi- cer Laratta, and Officer Algenis Maceo were immedi- ately placed on administrative leave as a result of the serious- ness and volume of policy viola- tions.
BRIAN DUGAN Tampa Police Chief
The Internal Affairs investi- gation ended earlier this week. The investigation revealed that the officers did not document vehicle searches and the detain- ment, handcuffing, and search- ing of citizens. The report also stated that the violations in- cluded disposing of contraband instead of entering it into the Evidence Control Section.
The investigation did not un- cover any violations of law of use of excessive force, the report stated. It also did not produce any evidence that the officers were planting drugs on citizens or otherwise falsely arresting or charging citizens.
The other officers involved in the investigation are: Officer Sarah Brown, Reserve Offi- cer Jonathan Darling, Offi- cer Jose Estrada, III, Reserve Officer Daniel Falk, Officer Jessica Gillotte, Officer Andrew Lepochat, Officer Bryan Tracy, and Officer Ryan Zenko.
In an interview with the
Sentinel, Chief Brian Dugan said, “The disciplinary phase of the investigation has not been completed. I normally don’t talk about an incident until then. But I want the com- munity to have faith that I’m going to handle this situation. The punishment can range from no wrongdoing to heavy disci- pline. I want the community to know that I will hold people ac- countable.”
Chief Dugan said the de- partment has 180 days to con- duct an investigation and they nearly reached that limit be- cause so many people were in- volved.
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