Terminated Tampa police officer rehired following misconduct investigation

Posted: Jul 22, 2020 / 06:50 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 22, 2020 / 06:50 PM EDT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – One of three Tampa police officers fired last year for misconduct, is back on the force.

His termination is the result of a months-long investigation that eventually expanded to include a total of 11 officers which began September of 2018, after someone complained two now-former officers, threatened physical violence during a call.

When investigators looked into it, they found John Laratta did not record the incident on his body camera, that led to an expanded investigation that eventually involved 11 officers.

In the end, Laratta and partner Mark Landry were fired, along with officer Algenis Maceo. The other eight officers were reprimanded and one was demoted.

Chief Brian Dugan told 8 On Your Side, an arbitrator found, Maceo’s firing was too harsh and he got his job back, with a 15-day suspension.

“I had to make a statement to our community that I will not tolerate that type of behavior and make a statement to officers that that type of behavior will not be tolerated,” said Chief Dugan.

Dugan also said none of the cases rose to a criminal level, but there were serious policy violations, as a result, the state attorney’s office vacated 18 convictions.

Today Tampa Police told 8 On Your Side:

“‘We respect the process and the officer’s right to appeal. This does not change our decision on the 18 convictions we are vacating; we are still not comfortable with those cases. Going forward, as we would in any similar situation, we will need to evaluate each case where this officer is involved to determine whether we can use his testimony.”

That 18th case dropped, was a client of attorney Michelle Lambo.

”Why is the Tampa Police Department rehiring dirty cops,” Lambo said. “I don’t know that they will ever be able to overcome his credibility issues,” Lambo said.

8 On Your Side asked Chief Dugan can Officer Maceo be trusted.

“That’s my biggest concern is that they’re not going to do this again,” Dugan said.

Dugan added the other two officers who were fired are entering into the arbitration process and in the end, they too could get their jobs back.