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Highlands Today

Mercurio's Resignation, While Inevitable, Is A Sad Ending

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Highlands Today staff

Published: September 20, 2007

Like everything, there's a lot of gray area with Avon Park Police Chief Frank Mercurio's resignation. He's an honest man who worked hard to clean up the city he was hired to protect. His tactics and personality, however, didn't mesh with enough people, and most importantly, the people he worked for. That's always a recipe for failure.

Time finally caught up with Mercurio. After years of service, he made enough enemies, fought a lot of battles, and the city council finally tipped against him. That happens in many situations, and it doesn't necessarily mean anyone was wrong. Perhaps it's just time for a change. Unfortunately, it happened in a bad way.

We like Mercurio. On a personal basis, he was friendly and honest. As a police chief, there were no questions about his qualifications. His personality, however, did cause some issues. He was more secretive than he needed to be, and his intensity turned some people off. That was noted by some voters during his run for the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Avon Park's black community has not been a fan of Mercurio's. Some have claimed officers used more force than necessary during arrests, but no legal action has ever been taken nor have any of the claims been proven.

In Mercurio's defense, he was tasked from his first day as chief to clean up the city. That sometimes means aggressive law enforcement. Often the people who most want crime to go away then complain when law enforcement does what's necessary to make that happen. We're not saying that's the case in Avon Park, but that's likely a part of it.

Mercurio's downside, we believe, was his inability, or unwillingness, to be more a part of the county law enforcement team. His department cooperated on solving crimes and catching bad guys, but when it came to centralized dispatch and other mutually beneficial plans supported by Sebring, Lake Placid and the Sheriff's Office, he sometimes scoffed. Other agencies respected Mercurio, but were left dumbfounded by his unwillingness to be a part of a larger team.

Perhaps Mercurio's decisions were not always wrong on these matters, but as any leader understands, teamwork and diplomacy are vital. A good leader knows when to stand strong and when to negotiate. The line probably was blurred too many times.

Because of Mercurio's maverick tendencies, it's no surprise that he butted heads with the city council. Considering they are the police chief's boss, that's a problem. Eventually it led to the chief being asked to resign.

We're sorry it's ending like this. It didn't have to be this way, but too much water has flowed under the bridge and it was probably inevitable. We wish Mercurio well. At the same time, the city has a tough job finding a quality replacement for some big shoes.

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