MSO captain keeps rank after hearing

MANATEE — A Manatee County Sheriff’s Office captain won a career services board appeal Friday allowing her to keep her rank after she kissed and had intimate encounters with a detective in her division.

Capt. Kristin Kennedy, who oversaw the Child Protective Investigative Division, won her appeal in a 3-to-2 vote by board members.

The board found that Kennedy did violate the sheriff’s office general orders for fraternizing with Detective April Dugan, who worked under her supervision.

The two had five separate intimate encounters between 2009 and this year, according to testimony.

Alcohol was a factor in most of the incidents, which took place off duty, according to reports.

The board opted to give Kennedy a 172-hour suspension without pay, transfer her our of the child protection division, require her to go to alcohol counseling and submit to random testing while on duty.

The proposed punishment before the hearing was a 258-hour suspension without pay and demotion to lieutenant.

“We’re very happy with the outcome and think the sanction is a fair one,” said Peter Lombardo, who represented Kennedy at the hearing.

The perception of favoritism toward Dugan was broached during the hearing.

Investigators noted Dugan was facing a transfer out of Kennedy’s unit for insubordination with a sergeant at about the same time as one of the incidents.

“We were a little bit more than friends at the time,” Dugan said at the hearing, referring to Kennedy.

Kennedy initially recommended the transfer, but stated Dugan should remain in the unit and argued she was a valuable asset. Kennedy denied her relationship with Dugan influenced her decision.

Both women stated at the hearing that the encounters never rose to the level of a dating relationship.

Wayne Evans, who spoke Friday for internal affairs, argued the women were in a relationship.

He disagreed with the argument of “chance encounters.”

“That works for the first time and maybe even the second time, but the third, the fourth and the fifth? ... the nature of the job is you are held accountable for your decisions,” he said.

Detective John Kenney, who Kennedy selected as a board member and is also her ex-husband, criticized the policy because Dugan faced no punishment.

“I believe the captain exercised poor judgment,” he said. “I also believe Detective Dugan exercised poor judgment.”

Kennedy has worked for the sheriff’s office since 1988 and has been a captain for the past eight years.