Mount Dora police chief is fired for misconduct
MOUNT DORA — Police Chief John O’Grady was fired Tuesday after an investigation found multiple incidents of misconduct, including an accusation that he made a “derogatory” comment referring to a Puerto Rican police officer, initially refused to give back a lost puppy and set traffic stop “targets” for officers to achieve.
O’Grady “engaged in behavior unbecoming of a city of Mount Dora employee,” city attorney Sherry Sutphen told reporters at a news conference to announce the dismissal.
“The investigation concluded that there was overwhelming evidence of a department fraught with distrust and lack of respect for O’Grady’s leadership,” she said.
O’Grady, 56, had been chief for 5 1⁄2 years, coming to Mount Dora after a 26-year career at the Orlando Police Department. In 2017, the city expanded his duties to include oversight of the Fire Department and gave him an additional title, public safety director.
The investigation was spurred by an incident at an April 12 charity event hosted by the Mount Dora Heroes Foundation. At the event, O’Grady asked Officer Ivelisse Severance to accept an award on behalf of Las Palmas Cuban Restaurant owners Luis and Edna Gonzalez, the investigation found.
“Ivy, you are Puerto Rican, or whatever, so you can accept this” for the couple, O’Grady said, according to Severance’s complaint.
The couple sponsored and catered the event but couldn’t attend because of a family emergency, their lawyer said.
O’Grady was placed on paid administrative leave days after Severance filed a hostile work environment complaint with the city and said she was humiliated in front of an audience of about 70 people.
“In an era where police officers are being subjected to harassment due to ethnicity, it could not be more inappropriate for a Chief of Police to insult an officer in a public forum,” Severance wrote. “His comment implied because we are both Hispanic we are all the same.”
O’Grady hasn’t publicly spoken about the investigation and couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
The investigation was conducted by an Orlando law firm and detailed a lengthy history of O’Grady making insensitive comments under the guise of joking.
“An overwhelming number of employees interviewed believe that Chief O’Grady gets pleasure out of making employees uncomfortable and often makes comments at their expense,” the report said.
For Severance, the incident at the charity event was the “tip of the iceberg,” according to the investigative report. It cited multiple examples of misconduct that included the chief asking her several times to translate conversations with his landscapers because both spoke Spanish.
The first incident Severance documented in her complaint occurred in November 2017 while she was working as a school resource officer. She found a small puppy and took it to the police department after attempting to find its owners near campus.
O’Grady took the dog home but allegedly refused to give it back after the family came forward, saying he gave the puppy to a family friend who would take better care of it, the report said.
Severance accused O’Grady of trying to persuade an animal control officer to issue a citation to the owners so they would feel pressure to surrender the canine.
The dog — whose breed was not listed eventually was picked up by an animal control lieutenant and returned to its family.
Although other employees interviewed described O’Grady as “pleasant,” most of them didn’t have regular contact with him because of the nature of their jobs, the report said.
Many officers told investigators that they questioned O’Grady’s “ethics, judgment, consistency in treatment and mere ability to exhibit kindness,” the report said.
He also was criticized for issuing a “traffic stop mandate” and imposed sanctions on officers who didn’t meet the required targets, according to the report.
Patrol officers interviewed said they felt pressure to “stop citizens for nominal and petty offenses” in an effort to meet requirements that could be used to argue for a greater need in funding for the department.
The investigation was conducted by the DSK Law Group in Orlando. Lindsay N. Greene, a partner in the firm, concluded the report by offering “no opinion as to whether to retain Chief O’Grady, however, it is evident that major structural changes may be necessary.”
City Manager Robin Hayes, who oversaw the investigation, terminated O’Grady though she did not attend the brief news conference outside the police department. Neither Mayor Nick Girone nor other City Council members responded to requests for comment.
Acting Police Chief Robert Bell will remain in that position until a search for a permanent replacement is concluded.
O’Grady came to Mount Dora as deputy police chief in February 2013 and became police chief in December 2013.
After he became chief, O’Grady commented on the step he was taking after working at the Orlando department.
“I think I’m a perfect fit coming from a bigger city, but still having the smallcity values, ” he said.