DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Jim Newcomb isn't the only captain in the Daytona Beach police force to have been involved in alleged wrongdoing that Chief Michael Chitwood has managed to keep under the radar while all too eager to publicly make examples of patrol cops accused of wrongdoing under supervision of these very captains.
Such perceived favoritism begs the following questions: Is there a double standard in the DBPD? And what, if anything, is City Manager Jim Chisholm doing to correct it? And why isn't traditional media that gives Chitwood favorable publicity at every turn, not digging deeper as Headline Surfer?
Headline Surfer, the 24/7 Internet newspaper in New Smyrna Beach, brought to the public's attention, the willful action of a second captain, Kerry Orpinuk, who altered a traffic ticket issued by a street cop against a lawyer who refused to pull over to allow an ambulance with lights and sirens to pass by.
Even though Headline Surfer has confirmed through a public records request that Orpinuk was issued a written reprimand from Chitwood, Daytona's top cop has kept this embarrassing situation under wraps since July and continues to remain silent as 2012 winds down.
Headline Surfer, the 24/7 Internet newspaper in New Smyrna Beach, brought to the public's attention, the willful action of a second captain, Kerry Orpinuk, shown here, who altered a traffic ticket issued by a street cop against a lawyer who refused to pull over to allow an ambulance with lights and sirens to pass by.
Even though Headline Surfer has confirmed through a public records request that Orpinuk was issued a written reprimand from Chitwood, Daytona's top cop has kept this embarrassing situation under wraps since July and continues to remain silent as 2012 winds down.
Ironically, the same police officer who issued that traffic ticket in January, was re-hired by Chitwood -- no questions asked -- after he fired her two years earlier following an extended IA investigation spearheaded by Newcomb.
Previous Coverage:
Investigative Story: