Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 11-27-20

Feature
Fire Chief, 2 Others Suspended Amid Investigation
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last week, Mayor Jane Castor announced that three employees of Tampa Fire Rescue have been placed on Administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. The investigation was prompted by allegations of misconduct and a lack of su- pervisory oversight associ- ated with the misconduct.
Mayor Castor said, “The City will conduct a fair, thorough and expeditious investigation to determine the facts of what took place. I will take appropriate and swift action to address this issue, while ensuring our
NICK LOCICERO Tampa Fire Chief on Administrative Leave
community and taxpayers continue to receive the high level of service they expect and deserve.”
She did not elaborate on specific allegations, but as- sured residents that “this by
SUSAN TAMME Division Chief of Training on Administrative Leave
no means is a reflection of the department as a whole.
“We hold all of our em- ployees to high standards and this should not dimin- ish the hard work and dedi- cation of the men and
JOHN MURALT Training Officer Placed on Administrative Leave
women of our fire depart- ment who serve our com- munity with dignity every day.”
The three employees placed on administrative leare are Tampa Fire Chief
Nick LoCicero, Division Chief of Training Susan Tamme, and Training Of- ficer John Muralt.
The leave was made ef- fective immediately, pend- ing the outcome of an internal investigation.
Chief LoCicero and Tamme were placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with the City of Tampa’s administrative leave with pay policy. Mu- ralt was relieved of duty with pay pending the out- come of the investigation.
City of Tampa Rescue Division Chief, Barbara Tripp, will serve as the in- terim Fire Chief pending the outcome of the investiga- tion.
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