Tampa police officer arrested on solicitation of prostitution charge, department says

A Tampa police officer was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of soliciting prostitution, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies took Stanley Clerveaux, 25, into custody in the 4800 block of West Cypress Street, Tampa police said in a news release.

He was booked into a Hillsborough County jail Wednesday morning and later released on a $500 bond, jail records show. He faces a misdemeanor charge of soliciting another to commit prostitution.

Clerveaux was hired as a recruit in 2020 and sworn in as an officer in May 2021, Tampa Police Chief Mary O’Connor told members of the media Wednesday evening.

Clerveaux was “relieved of duty” after his arrest, the release said.

O’Connor, who was arrested as a young officer herself in May 1995 and fought to get her job back, was asked whether Clerveaux’s situation also might merit a second chance.

“I’m going to let the process play itself out, just like it did in most second-chance situations before. He’s been relieved of duty. Now we have an internal affairs investigation, and he has due process throughout the entire investigation. And then we determine what discipline, if any, and where we go from there. So I’m going to let it play out.”

She said Clerveaux’s arrest violates department policy, and the investigation will go forward regardless of whether the state attorney’s office ultimately files the charge.