On Thursday, Ryan Gorman spoke with former Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan to get his thoughts on the resignation of now former Police Chief Mary O'Connor.
O'Connor resigned just days after video of her flashing her badge to a Pinellas County police officer - to get out of a possible golf cart tag citation - was made public.
Dugan retired in September and was replaced by O'Connor, despite some concerns about her history with the department.
I knew Mary as a good cop and I think that got lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately, when you have some of those, uh, baggage with you, so to speak, that's what people tend to focus on. I don't know if a chief of police really can have that type of baggage these days. Ever since 2020, the scrutiny that cops and chiefs in general are under... This is what happens when you have baggage, and so I'm sure... I know we love to give everybody a second chance, but I'm sure the next candidate is probably going to be squeaky clean, if there is such a thing.
Former Chief Dugan also talked about his reaction to the video.
He said a current police officer called him and told him about it the night before it was released to the public. He initially thought the story "didn't sound right" and that it was probably "over-dramatized... gossip and rumors." When he actually saw the video the next day, he realized, "that's not gonna end well."
Listen to the full interview here.