A South Florida police chief was suspended after going on a tirade in which he criticized subordinate officers for raising concerns about the risks posed to their health during COVID-19 pandemic, and attributed the COVID-related death of a county sheriff’s deputy to his sexual orientation.
In a letter to Davie Town Administrator Richard Lemack, the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police alleges that Davie Police Chief Dale Engle dismissed officers’ concerns during an April 7 patrol meeting.
Officers were asked to line up in formation in the parking lot, where they were subjected to criticism from Engle, who allegedly berated and “belittled” them for raising concerns about safety protocols and personal protective equipment needed to prevent them from contracting COVID-19 while on the job.
During his rant, Engle raised the death of Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Shannon Bennett, a 12-year veteran of law enforcement who died last week after being diagnosed with COVID-19, reports NBC Miami.
According to the Fraternal Order of Police, Engle told officers that Bennett had died because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual events.”
Officers say Engle implied that Bennett’s “homosexual lifestyle” had contributed to his illness.
“[Members assumed] there was an attempt by the chief to minimize the concerns they had, the dangers they were facing, by using Deputy Bennett as an example,” Mike Tucker, the chief of staff for Florida’s Fraternal Order of Police, said in the letter.
Officers say Engle later sent out a department-wide email walking back his comments. He said his comments had been “taken out of context’ and had merely been an attempt to “provide as much information as possible” about the COVID-19 safety protocols.
The State Fraternal Order of Police has since requested that a third party investigate Engle’s actions. Fellow police officers and friends of Bennett began circulating a petition addressed to Mayor Judy Paul and the Davie Town Government calling for that investigation, and for Engle to be fired if it’s found that he engaged in wrongdoing. More than 11,000 people have signed the petition thus far.
On Sunday, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said that if Engle indeed made the comments, they would be considered offensive and homophobic.
“It would be lack of decency and character to make such a suggestion because there’s no accurate information out there that would support such a notion,” Tony said. “And it would only be something done under derogatory aspect, which would be offensive to me and this agency.”
Lemack, the town administrator, told NBC Miami that Engle has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Engle has declined media requests seeking comment on the accusations lodged against him.
David Hanbury, a professor from a Baptist university was reported missing while attending a conference in Orlando, Florida. He was later found dead in a popular gay sauna.
The 37-year-old Hanbury was an associate professor and co-chair of the psychology department at Averett University, a small Baptist university in Danville, Virginia.
He was attending the Southeastern Psychological Association Conference in Orlando, and was last seen alive on the evening of March 15 at the Miller Ale House around 7 p.m., according to a Facebook post from his brother, J.J. Hanbury.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers stirred up a hornet's nest when he made comments accusing the U.S. government of engineering the AIDS outbreak of the 1980s.
During an appearance on the Look Into It with Eddie Bravo podcast in February, the NFL quarterback suggested that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical advisor to the president of the United States, and the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had played a key role in the creating AIDS epidemic, which served as the "blueprint" for the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Pennsylvania school board canceled an appearance by Maulik Pancholy at a local middle school's anti-bullying assembly due to concerns over his "lifestyle."
The Cumberland Valley School District school board voted unanimously to cancel the gay actor's scheduled May 22 appearance at Mountain View Middle School in Mechanicsburg, a town of 9,000 people in the state's center, just 10 miles outside Harrisburg.
Pancholy, who played Jonathan on the hit TV show 30 Rock, Sanjay in Weeds, and voiced the character of Baljeet for Disney's Phineas & Ferb, is also an author of novels for young adults, including The Best at It, the story of a gay Indian-American boy and his experience dealing with bullying in a small Midwestern town, and Nikhil Out Loud, about a group of eighth-grade theater kids rising up against homophobia in their community.
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A South Florida police chief was suspended after going on a tirade in which he criticized subordinate officers for raising concerns about the risks posed to their health during COVID-19 pandemic, and attributed the COVID-related death of a county sheriff’s deputy to his sexual orientation.
In a letter to Davie Town Administrator Richard Lemack, the Florida State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police alleges that Davie Police Chief Dale Engle dismissed officers’ concerns during an April 7 patrol meeting.
Officers were asked to line up in formation in the parking lot, where they were subjected to criticism from Engle, who allegedly berated and “belittled” them for raising concerns about safety protocols and personal protective equipment needed to prevent them from contracting COVID-19 while on the job.
During his rant, Engle raised the death of Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Shannon Bennett, a 12-year veteran of law enforcement who died last week after being diagnosed with COVID-19, reports NBC Miami.
According to the Fraternal Order of Police, Engle told officers that Bennett had died because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual events.”
Officers say Engle implied that Bennett’s “homosexual lifestyle” had contributed to his illness.
“[Members assumed] there was an attempt by the chief to minimize the concerns they had, the dangers they were facing, by using Deputy Bennett as an example,” Mike Tucker, the chief of staff for Florida’s Fraternal Order of Police, said in the letter.
Officers say Engle later sent out a department-wide email walking back his comments. He said his comments had been “taken out of context’ and had merely been an attempt to “provide as much information as possible” about the COVID-19 safety protocols.
The State Fraternal Order of Police has since requested that a third party investigate Engle’s actions. Fellow police officers and friends of Bennett began circulating a petition addressed to Mayor Judy Paul and the Davie Town Government calling for that investigation, and for Engle to be fired if it’s found that he engaged in wrongdoing. More than 11,000 people have signed the petition thus far.
On Sunday, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony said that if Engle indeed made the comments, they would be considered offensive and homophobic.
“It would be lack of decency and character to make such a suggestion because there’s no accurate information out there that would support such a notion,” Tony said. “And it would only be something done under derogatory aspect, which would be offensive to me and this agency.”
Lemack, the town administrator, told NBC Miami that Engle has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. Engle has declined media requests seeking comment on the accusations lodged against him.
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