Rick Neale

FLORIDA TODAY

The former Melbourne police sergeant who supervised the Special Investigations Unit got drunk on the job, made lewd sexual comments during squad meetings, and restricted detectives from conducting drug investigations, an internal investigation report shows.

What's more, higher-ranking police officials had been warned about his conduct for years — revealing a "culture of looking the other way" within the department, City Manager Mike McNees said.

​Sgt. Jeff VanGilder retired effective immediately Feb. 22 amid an internal investigation into his activities. The 26-year departmental veteran led Melbourne's seven-detective Special Investigations Unit, which handles narcotics complaints, gambling and prostitution cases, and other "sensitive-type" investigations as deemed by the police chief, Cmdr. Dan Lynch said.

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The department's investigation concluded that VanGilder violated 10 departmental policies: responsibility of supervision, conduct on and off duty, professional demeanor, honesty, harassment, sexual harassment, efficiency, professional competence, operation of official vehicles and consumption of alcohol.

"The information provided in this investigation is very disturbing and has the potential to erode the public trust," Police Chief Steve Mimbs wrote in a statement provided to FLORIDA TODAY.

"This behavior does not represent the values of the men and women of the Melbourne Police Department," Mimbs stated.

As a result of the investigation, Mimbs stated that he has directed:

• Comprehensive changes to departmental policies regarding undercover investigations.

• A formal staff inspection of the Special Investigations Unit.

• A review of citizen drug complaints highlighted in the investigation.

• Additional training for all supervisors.

McNees plans to hire an outside consultant to review the department's operations.

Working in an "inebriated state"

The 317-page report includes sworn statements and summarized testimony from 24 current and former law enforcement officers. Among the incidents described:

• VanGilder was in an "inebriated state" during an undercover operation at the Krave Music Fest last May at Wickham Park, and he fell asleep on a bench — while an officer stood watch over him. Two officers gave him a ride home.

Afterwards, he submitted receipts totaling $219 in departmental funds for "investigative cost" during the two-day music festival.

• During a two-day January 2015 operation investigating illegal narcotics sales in downtown Melbourne, VanGilder made unprofessional comments in reference to females’ bodies and clothing as they walked by; was visibly intoxicated during a debriefing; and drove away in his city-leased vehicle.

He later submitted receipts totaling $161 for “downtown bar detail.”

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• During a 2 a.m. operation to install a GPS unit on a vehicle behind a Palm Bay facility, VanGilder drove up in a city-leased vehicle — and he was swaying, “unusually animated” and smelled of alcohol.

He rode with a lieutenant for the rest of the operation.

In January, two of VanGilder's Special Investigations Unit detectives were suspended without pay for buying and drinking alcohol during an undercover prostitution operation.

Detective Eric Gould was suspended for 40 hours without pay, removed from the unit, and reassigned to road patrol. Detective Ron Anderson was suspended for 80 hours without pay.

The investigation reveals that VanGilder instructed detectives — including female officers posing as prostitutes — to drink alcohol during these operations.

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A Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association attorney represented VanGlider during the investigation. The Coastal Florida PBA also represents Gould and Anderson. Mike Scudiero, union spokesman, called the Special Investigations Unit "critical" to Melbourne police operations.

“We’d like to help the chief get that unit running the way we like it. It’s time to turn the page," Scudiero said.

“I don’t think anyone can fault the chief for wanting to thoroughly examine all of this. I hope that once it’s all said and done, and you’ve got different people pointing different directions, that there’s no hostile conclusions reached. I don’t want anyone to overreact and try to blow up the entire department or the entire unit," he said.

Drug investigations "severely hampered"

The investigation shows that VanGilder lied to his chain of command and "severely hampered" efforts to investigate citizens' complaints of illegal narcotics sales in high-crime neighborhoods. Detectives said VanGilder cited safety concerns and reluctance to deal with unidentified suspects, among other reasons.

Also, the investigation shows that VanGilder's fellow officers had complained about him to superiors as far back as August 2009. That's when an unidentified officer hand-delivered a letter to a police commander detailing VanGilder's "abusive, insulting, and degrading behavior."

"(His) offensive jokes, slurs, epithets, name calling, threats, intimidation, ridicule, mockery, insults, and put-downs are interfering with work performance," the officer wrote.

Moreover, an unidentified sergeant testified that he had previously spoken with a lieutenant and four commanders about VanGilder’s improper conduct.

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The result? "They knew that it was ... an issue, that it was an ongoing issue back there. Uh ... nothing was ever really done as far as I know. I just went, voiced my opinion several times," the sergeant told an investigator.

VanGilder is the second Melbourne police sergeant to be heavily criticized within the department in recent months. Last October, Sgt. Blake Lanza was fired after an internal investigation found that he shouted expletives at women and used racially tinged nicknames such as "cashew" — during briefings and over the police radio — to describe minority officers.

VanGilder joined the department in November 1989. His annual salary was $68,704 when he retired. He refused to provide an interview for investigators, Mimbs wrote in a memo.

In 2013, VanGilder was reprimanded for consuming alcoholic beverages on duty. He was also retrained that year after he used investigative funds for personal use.

VanGilder declined an interview request for this story, Lynch said. VanGilder does not face potential repercussions to his pension or retirement benefits, Scudiero said.

Consultant to examine MPD culture

McNees plans to hire an outside consultant to review the operational culture of the Melbourne Police Department, then deliver a written report identifying strengths and weaknesses. Proposals are due to City Hall by April 7, and a consultant may be hired April 26.

"One of the advantages of our department — and one of the disadvantages of our department — is it's very much made of people that progressed from within," McNees said.

"And that gives us great strength, because it's people who really care about and come from this community. But on the other side, the weakness is when you grow up in it, your perspective is more limited," he said.

McNees said Mimbs is "wholly supportive" of the cultural assessment. Mimbs declined an interview request for this story.

On a citywide front, McNees said supervisors in all departments have been taking training classes since last year on ethics and accountability. He said he identified these as organizational weaknesses during his first years on the job after starting work in Melbourne in February 2013.

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"I would say, in all honesty, that the type of thing that we're running into in the police department is a perfect example of the type of situation that develops over time when you don't have good supervisory training. When you don't have good skills at the supervisory level, these are the kinds of things that happen," McNees said.

Lt. Scott Mostert has supervised the SIU since VanGilder retired, Lynch said.

"What makes you so mad about something like this is, it clouds the perception of all the other officers out there who are doing incredible work and serving the community," McNees said. "And now, it's incumbent on us to make sure that we show people that that is the vast majority, and that these other things are an aberration."

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638, rneale@floridatoday.com or follow @RickNeale1 on Twitter