A police chief flashed her badge to try and dodge a traffic ticket after she was caught in a golf cart on a main road.
Mary O'Connor, police chief of Tampa, has been placed on administrative leave after a video emerged of the officer flashing her badge from the passenger seat of a golf cart on November 12.
On Friday, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor placed O'Connor on leave pending an investigation after the incident in Oldsmar, a city northwest of Tampa.
The body camera video, posted online by the Tampa Police Department, shows O'Connor's husband driving the cart and the chief in the passenger seat when a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy pulls them over for not having a tag.
"Is your camera on?" O'Connor said. "I'm the police chief in Tampa."
"I'm hoping that you'll just let us go tonight," she says, showing the deputy her badge.
The deputy let them leave without a ticket, saying "it's nice meeting you."
In a statement, O'Connor said it was "poor judgement" for them to have taken the cart out on public roads without a tag.
The police chief added it was the first time they had driven it outside of a golf cart-friendly community where they own property.
She said: “This was the first time we had exited the golf-cart friendly community in which we own property with this vehicle, prompting the need for a license plate.
"In hindsight, I realise how my handling of this matter could be viewed as inappropriate, but that was certainly not my intent.”
"As someone who has dealt with, taken ownership of and grown from my past mistakes, I know that no one is above the law, including me.
"I knew my conversation was on video, and my motive was not to put the deputy in an uncomfortable position.
"I have personally called the Pinellas County Sheriff offering to pay for any potential citation.”
The mayor said an internal review is underway as assistant Chief Lee Bercaw steps up to acting chief.
"We hold everyone accountable, no matter their position, and this behaviour was unacceptable," Castor said.
"Chief O'Connor will go through the due process and face appropriate discipline."
Mrs O’Connor was appointed Tampa's police chief in February and has served in the police for 22 years.
