A fired Florida Highway Patrol trooper this week filed an appeal that alleges a “quid pro quo” policy of giving leniency to state lawmakers during traffic stops.
Charles Swindle, 30, of Perry, is appealing his firing that stemmed from a November 2012 traffic stop of state Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville.
Swindle pulled over McBurney on Interstate 10 in Madison County. He said McBurney was driving 87 mph — which McBurney disputed — but did not write a speeding ticket. Swindle gave McBurney a $10 citation for failing to have proof of insurance, though McBurney told investigators he had proof of insurance.
McBurney filed a complaint that, ultimately, led to Swindle’s dismissal.
Swindle told the News Service of Florida on Tuesday that the highway patrol has long had an unwritten practice of not ticketing lawmakers, as the agency is dependent on the Legislature for such things as pay raises.
“We’ve always been told to take it easy on legislators,” said Swindle, a trooper for more than six years.
But Julie Jones, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, told the Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau that such allegations are “horse hockey.” She said the department, which includes the highway patrol, is compiling information that will show nearly a dozen lawmakers getting cited for speeding or other moving violations in recent months.
“There is no policy that says we give anybody a free pass because they’re elected officials,” Jones told the Times/Herald.
McBurney, who had a distinctive legislative license plate on his car, said he thought Swindle acted improperly.
“I didn’t think that was the way he should have acted towards me, or anyone else for that matter,” McBurney told the Times/Herald. “I felt obligated to write the letter. My concern was, if he did that to me, he would do that to anybody.”
Swindle appealed his firing to the state Public Employees Relations Commission.
