Report: Inside TPD's firing of assistant police chief

Between the lines: Tensions between Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw and the department's highest-ranking woman escalated over the past year after her promotion to assistant chief, according to the Times.

• Cate alleged that her support for a female sergeant in a dispute over a transfer from a K-9 unit back to regular patrol, during which Cate described the department as "a boys club," ultimately led to her ouster.
• She wrote in her complaint that she also experienced hostility from Assistant Chief Brett Owen during staff meetings.

The other side: Bercaw said he fired Cate because a "pattern of behavior" led him to lose confidence in her leadership, according to the Times.

• He referenced a mass email sent by Cate to the department's female officers — which stated that in many cases, women officers perform their jobs better than their male counterparts — as an example.

• Bercaw also said that she scheduled the department's Christmas lighting while he was out of town, and that she often missed meetings and acted outside the chain of command.

The city, in its review of her complaint, found no evidence to support that Cate's comment about the department's "boys club" resulted in her firing, and faulted her for not having expressed that concern earlier.