Officers Commit A Crime Of Passion Kissing Pair Gave Lip Service To Police Duties

Their colleagues complained police officers Robert Davis and Tammy Merritt spent too much time in a department substation, presumably filling out paperwork.

Investigators set up a hidden camera and found out why: The two were whiling away the graveyard shift smooching.

Davis, a married 42-year-old, and Merritt, 32, were suspended, then resigned in late September when internal affairs investigators asked whether they had sex while on duty. Both refused to answer.

Co-workers complained earlier that month, saying they couldn’t rely on the two for backup. Investigators recorded several occasions where they reported on the log they were out on crime calls while they were actually in the substation.

The matter had remained a secret in this community north of Miami until this week when a television station with a penchant for steamy stories requested the file and broadcast the videotape.

“Anytime you put an attractive man and woman together working, you’re just asking for trouble,” said retiree Rose Marie Baille, who lives across the street from the tiny stucco substation.

The on-duty romance was no cause for mirth among the 34-member Miami Shores police force.

Officers, forbidden to talk about the case, provided the investigative files and grimly replayed the videotape upon request. The video of four overnight shifts shows Davis and Merritt hugging and kissing - after dutifully removing their gunbelts.