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Acting Haines City Police Chief Details Problems With Department

Posted Nov 21, 2008 by Jennifer Leigh

Updated Nov 21, 2008 at 03:34 PM

The man tapped with conducting an internal review of the Haines City Police Department issued a five-page report to the state attorney’s office this week detailing a host of deficiencies at the agency.

Michael Pruitt, a major on loan from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, took the helm of the Haines City Police Department in late October. He was asked then to conduct an internal investigation of the department’s operations.  In his report to State Attorney Jerry Hill, Pruitt spells out significant concerns.

Pruitt says there is an “overall lack of leadership within the agency.” He also cites “insufficient systems of accountability” as well as a “lack of internal office security.” Pruitt expresses concern that there have been keys issued to a number of department personnel over the years, but those keys have never been properly accounted for.  Some of those keys provide access to sensitive locations such as property and evidence areas and supply sites as well as the armory.

Pruitt also raises red flags about some officers’ ability to write reports. “Many of the reports I have reviewed have had grammatical errors, punctuation errors, and spelling errors,” Pruitt writes in his report.

In an interview, Pruitt said the agency has to get back to basics in order to function properly.  “You have a willingness for people here to do the job. That’s not the problem. They want to do the right thing. The problem is, I don’t think they’ve been given the equipment, the tools, the knowledge to do those.”   

Pruitt says he is taking Polk County Sheriff’s Office policies and procedures and adapting them, where possible, to fit the Haines City Police Department.  He hopes to begin implementing some of those policies as soon as possible to get the troubled agency back on track.