Former Deputy Chief Tired of Dirty Cops

Robert Ploof spent his childhood building Lego police stations and playing cops and robbers with friends. He idolized police officers and dreamed of a career in public safety. Ploof landed a security job on his 18th birthday and began preparing for police entrance exams. Months after taking his first civil service test, Ploof received an excited phone call from his mother. She had mistakenly opened his mail that day and discovered that he had scored 100 percent. A job offer soon followed.

Life Someplace New

Ploof wanted to experience life somewhere new. So, Ploof moved to Maryland where he graduated as valedictorian of his police academy class. Ploof says he rarely sat idle. His proactive approach sometimes drew the ire of dispatchers.

Ploof is proud of his accomplishments but humble. Ploof reluctantly showed investigative journalist Shabazz Washington a stack of awards, commendation letters, written compliments from citizens and a governor’s citation. Ploof was named Officer of the Year twice. Among the documents was a note from Alonzo Joy, a now-retired Prince George’s County deputy police chief, predicting that Ploof would become a chief or deputy chief within 10 years. Ploof also kept a 2012 Christmas card from his police chief stating that hiring Ploof had been a highlight of the chief’s career.

Dishonest Cops

Ploof was appointed deputy chief of the Seat Pleasant Police Department in 2019. His responsibilities included overseeing applicant screenings, criminal investigations, office services, special operations, training, the canine unit, the drone program and internal affairs. Ploof says he enjoyed work until dishonest cops brought turmoil into his otherwise peaceful life. According to Ploof, employees who break the rules often portray themselves as victims and harbor resentment toward those tasked with investigating misconduct. He says disgruntled employees have posted comments online, sent anonymous letters to elected officials and even produced videos falsely accusing him of racism, having sexual relationships with employees and being fired from a law enforcement agency for having sex with minors.

Record Requests

In February and March 2021, USA Today requested body-worn camera footage from the Seat Pleasant Police Department. Ploof, the department’s records custodian, notified Chief Devan Martin because of the circumstances. Ploof was told to make

sure he charged for the vidoes. When the videos showing Chief Martin and other officers using obscene language, conducting illegal searches, and threatening suspects sparked contraversy, Chief Martin accused Ploof of illegally releasing the footage.

Chief Martin claimed Ploof had never been the records custodian, despite state documents and email messages to the contrary.

A yearlong, multi-agency investigation did not substantiate wrongdoing by Ploof. Chief Martin nevertheless fired Ploof, alleging that Ploof had failed to take action to stop widespread misconduct. Ploof says Chief Martin had condoned and participated in serious misconduct for nearly a decade, including sexually abusing an employee. Ploof provided DBlastMedia News with text messages and emails that prove he repeatedly asked city officials to intervene but nothing was done. Before Chief Martin started his policing career, he was convicted of felony assault for brutally attacking a man. A judge granted Martin probation before judgement which prevented a criminal record.

The ordeal profoundly affected Ploof. He declined job offers for two years before eventually accepting a deputy chief position with the District Heights Police Department. There, Ploof oversaw administrative services, including procurement and vendor billing. In June 2025, Ploof discovered evidence that Police Chief Ronald Tarpley and John O’Connor were conspiring to defraud the City of District Heights. The scheme involved fictitious business names, inflated invoices, charges for services and equipment that were never provided, falsified grant applications and improper reimbursement requests.

Tarpley fired Ploof as the fraud began to unravel. Ploof says Tarpley threatened to kill him and warned that he and O’Connor intended to concoct criminal charges against him. Ploof provided evidence and testimony against Tarpley and O’Connor to the Maryland State Prosecutor between July 2025 and December 2025. Tarpley involuntarily resigned from District Heights, and O’Connor’s business dealings with the City were terminated. Tarpley had been accused of embezzling money from an employees union when he worked for the District of Columbia Housing Police. Investigators were confident Tarpley stole the money but did not bring charges because the union's record keeping and financial practices were abysmal.

Ploof moved to Florida in September 2025. Just last week, he learned that O’Connor retaliated by filing court proceedings alleging blackmail, extortion and harassment. Before Ploof was made aware of the case, O’Connor had already persuaded a judge to issue an injunction and restraining order and to hold Ploof in contempt. Ploof says O'Connor submitted fabricated evidence and deliberately misaddressed the court summons to prevent him from receiving notice and contesting the case. Court records show O'Connor attempted to do the same thing against District Heights City Commissioner Xander Harcourt who had accused O'Connor of misconduct. A Prince George’s County judge dismissed that petition.

Ploof says he is tired of dirty cops or in O'Connor's case, dirty ex-cops. Ploof filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Seat Pleasant last week and is filing a civil lawsuit against O'Connor. Ploof has never been accused of untruthfulness, never been arrested, and never had sustained work discipline.

 John O'Connor has a history of bad conduct including:

• Terminated by the Prince George’s County Police Department for drunk driving, vandalizing government property, and untruthfulness.

  
  

• Fired by the Brentwood Police Department for suspected unauthorized firearm purchases.

• Filed complaint against a Prince George’s County police officer alleging conduct for which the officer was later exonerated.

• Involuntarily resigned from Opto-Traffic for tampering with corporate systems.

  
  

• Fraudulently attempted to claim found money to which he was not entitled.

  
  

• Reprimanded by the Seat Pleasant Police Department for disobeying orders.

  
  

• Reprimanded by the Seat Pleasant Police Department for violating policy.

  
  

• Reprimanded by the Seat Pleasant Police Department for an unauthorized vehicle pursuit that resulted in injuries. He was suspected of untruthfulness.

  
  

• Resigned from the Seat Pleasant Police Department after arrangements were made to interview him about misconduct.

  
  

• Name added to the Brady List in Prince George's County for suspected untruthfulness about the details of shooting at a suspect vehicle.

• Involuntarily resigned from the District Heights Police Department for suspected falsification of his job application.

• Contract for applicant-screenings terminated by the City of Glenarden for improper conduct.

  
  

• Involuntarily resigned from the Town of Forest Heights in August 2026 for suspected fraud.

  
  

• Pleaded guilty in August 2026, to willfully filing a false tax returns.

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