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Former Florida police chief Larry Scirotto was fired after investigations found that the 48-year-old participated in discriminatory HR practices. In August, he took over the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. But he was fired by the city manager last Thursday after a 12-page report found that he created a “divisive atmosphere” in the workforce.
The investigation uncovered that Larry Scirotto was unfairly promoting minority candidates for jobs. In one instance, it was found that he asked “which one is blacker” while considering promotions. Scirotto told CNN that he promoted 15 officers during his time as police chief. Six of them were ethnic or gender minorities. Scirotto defended himself by saying that they were enabled based on merit.
Larry Scirotto told 7News:
“None of them were promoted because they were in a protected class. They were promoted because they were the best candidates.”
It was also found that the police chief referred to a display of photos that showcased the department’s command staff at one point. He said, “that wall is too white” in the conference room and “I’m going to change that.”
Along with the discriminatory practices, Larry Scirotto has also been accused of working as a high school basketball referee while on the clock as a police chief. A memo from the city auditor read:
“The Chief was paid by the City for these unauthorized schedule adjustments, totaling an estimated 55.50 hours.”
More about Larry Scirotto
The former police officer was the youngest assistant chief in Pittsburgh prior to taking on his role in Florida. He was the first openly gay chief hired in Fort Lauderdale. Scirotto was raised in a multi-cultured family and public housing as a youth.
As the Commander of Major Crime, Scirotto was responsible for reducing and solving violent crimes. He did so by implementing the Violence Intervention Strategy, which heavily relied on the participation of social services and community partners.
Chief Scirotto also led a team to develop a curriculum to deploy task force practices and decision-making carried out by the bureau.
Prior to taking on the role of a police officer, Larry Scirotto attained a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Ashworth University. Scirotto also graduated from Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.
Scirotto defends himself
In an interview with 7News, Larry Scirotto claimed that the ethnic minorities “deserved to be promoted.” He also claimed that he had never made the “which one is blacker” remark found in the report.
On Friday, Chris Lagerbloom, Fort Lauderdale’s City Manager, told 7News that the police department promoted minorities illegally. He said:
“We strive to be diverse in our organization. We strive to represent the community that we serve. There’s just certain lawful ways to allow that diversity to happen. And in this case, the investigative report indicated we didn’t quite follow the law in how we were working towards those diverse positions.”
An investigation was launched against Scirotto after two Fort Lauderdale police officers alleged that there had been unfair promotions based on racial discrimination and s*xual orientation taking place in the department. Chief Lagerbloom had also halted promotions to “address concerns in recent police department promotions.”
