Wed, May 05, 2010
Says He Was Let Go After Reporting Maintenance And Other
Discrepancies
It's a story that almost reads like an episode of "The Wire",
an HBO series that focused in part on the Baltimore police
department ... but this one is true. A pilot who says he was
recruited from Arizona to Baltimore to fly helicopters for the
police department there claims to have been dismissed after writing
a report critical of the way the helicopter unit was run. The
report was supposed to go to a top police commander, but instead
found its way to pilot Samuel K. Miller's sergeant.
Miller says he had always been given above average or excellent
fitness reports, and had even won a Medal of Valor in 2004. But
when, two years later, he wrote a letter complaining about lax
maintenance, absent supervisors, and certification of inexperience
pilots along with other issues, he says he was reassigned to a foot
patrol at Baltimore's Inner Harbor at reduced pay. Miller described
the ground job as "more dangerous" than flying, and says he was
forced to resign.
The Baltimore Sun reports that the letter also charged
the aircraft was used for "dog and pony" shows outside the
department's jurisdiction, including a visit to the school where
the daughter of the helo unit's sergeant is enrolled. The paper
reports that the letter, which was intended for top police brass,
was intercepted by that sergeant, and Miller contends that was the
reason for his reassignment.
Miller is seeking $5 million in damages and reinstatement to the
police force. The unit is the same one that was involved last year
in an incident in which a state legislator requested the helicopter
to stage a mock "raid" on a boat in Baltimore Harbor for an
elaborate marriage proposal.
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