Nov. 16--The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detective who has resigned over threatening comments about President Barack Obama and members of the Democratic Party.
Secret Service agent Lisa Kline confirmed on Friday the investigation of detective Sam Koivisto, who quit in the face of an internal affairs probe. She would not detail how the agency is conducting the investigation but said it looks into all threats against the president.
Koivisto, a 26-year veteran with the Sheriff's Office who did undercover work, quit after Sheriff John Rutherford learned on Nov. 9 of "threatening" statements made following the election.
In a memo Thursday, Rutherford said a preliminary interview was conducted with Koivisto, "who acknowledged making the statements."
Read Rutherford's letter
Rutherford said Friday he was planning an internal investigation, though the remarks did not appear to rise to the level of being criminal.
"Then he quit," Rutherford said. That ended the investigation.
Rutherford called the comments unacceptable workplace conduct, though not a legitimate threat.
"You still don't make those kinds of comments," he said.
He said the Secret Service was notified.
Koivisto, who was in the city's pension program and would have been eligible to collect benefits in the spring, will be able to do so after using vacation time to bridge the gap, said Lauri-Ellen Smith, the sheriff's special assistant. In 2010 Koivisto was paid $82,400 as an officer.
Travis Bridges, chairman of the Duval County Democratic Party, said he has not been contacted by authorities or told what was said.
Bridges said he was not troubled by the incident and would chalk it up to a case of sour grapes unless new information changes his mind.
"One party loses," he said. "It's not that unexpected."
Koivisto could not be reached for comment. He was hired by the Sheriff's Office in October 1986.
In March 2000 he was issued a written reprimand for improper action, according to personnel records. He also received formal counseling in 1997 and a performance referral in 2004. Information letters were placed in his file in two citizen complaint cases.
Earlier in Koivisto's career, dubious tactics he and another detective used resulted in dropped charges against several people accused of selling crack cocaine. In 1996 the State Attorney's Office dropped the cases because questions about entrapment and denial of due process could have surfaced, the Times-Union reported at the time.
The issue came up after Koivisto and the other detective videotaped themselves selling drugs undercover in Fernandina Beach and provided an 18-year-old suspect with crack, a pipe and a lighter so she could smoke the drug in her car.
Times-Union writer Clifford Davis contributed to this report.
Dana Treen: (904) 359-4091
Copyright 2012 - The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
