By Robert Eckhart
Sarasota Herald Tribune
SARASOTA, Fla. — Two months after a surveillance video recorded him kicking a handcuffed suspect, Sarasota police officer Christopher Childers got a pay raise and top marks for keeping his cool.
“Very calm under stressful situations,” noted his supervisor, Sgt. Robert Resch, in explaining why he gave Childers an “exceeds standard” rating on his ability to maintain composure.
The raise means a $1,300 salary bump for Childers, who has been on paid administrative leave since July 13.
His salary is $62,738.
Two police spokesmen did not return phone calls for comment about Childers’ raise on Thursday.
Sarasota Human Resources Director Kurt Hoverter said that because the investigation into the June 26 arrest of Juan G. Perez was not completed by September, when Childers’ review took place, it could not be considered in this year’s review.
Childers’ reviews take place each September. The police union contract calls for officers with above-average marks to get an annual “step” increase that ensures their pay gradually goes up as they stay with the city.
Childers, an officer in Sarasota since 2000, scored about the same on the September 2009 review as in past years -- in the mid-80s on a scale of 100.
An ongoing investigation will determine whether Childers is disciplined by the city for kicking Perez.
A jail sallyport camera recorded Perez, 21, as he shimmied out a back window of Childers’ patrol car and landed on his head.
The video shows Perez trying to struggle to his feet as Childers climbs out of the squad car. Childers kicked Perez twice in the chest, knocking him back to the ground, and then stood over him with a foot on him for about 5 minutes.
Two women who witnessed the initial arrest told detectives that Childers also punched Perez in the head and pushed his face into the concrete while he handcuffed him.
Much of the controversy over the Perez case has centered on how the department responded to it.
Police learned of the video shortly after the arrest, but did not open an investigation of the incident for two weeks.
And the detective who went to get Perez’s statement also offered Perez a $400 settlement if he would sign a waiver saying he would not sue the city.
Police experts say that mixing the civil settlement with an ongoing criminal investigation of Childers was wrong, and have suggested that police may have broken the law in the way they handled the case.
The state attorney’s office decided in September not to file battery charges against Childers.
Both Childers and Police Chief Peter Abbott have been on administrative leave since July, pending the outcome of an investigation being conducted by Hillsborough County deputies.
Copyright 2009 Sarasota Herald Tribune