Alabama city's entire police force on leave after grand jury finds 'rampant' corruption
FILE - Cells inside a jail facility in 2019. (Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)
HANCEVILLE, Ala. - A small Alabama city placed its entire police force on administrative leave after a grand jury recommended the department be disbanded after it found evidence of "rampant corruption."
Mishandling evidence
The backstory:
Hanceville Mayor Jim Sawyer said Thursday in a statement that the Cullman County Sheriff’s Department will temporarily take over law enforcement duties as city officials mull the next steps.
Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker announced Wednesday that the grand jury had indicted the Hanceville police chief and four of his officers, who are accused of mishandling or removing materials from the department's evidence room.
Dig deeper:
Charges included misuse of state criminal databases and distribution of controlled substances to each other, according to the indictments.
Citing what it called a "rampant culture of corruption," the grand jury recommended that the department be "immediately abolished."
What they’re saying: "It is disturbing on many, many levels," Crocker said Thursday by phone. He said there had been unfettered access to the evidence room but declined to discuss specifics of the allegations.
The grand jury found that the department’s mismanagement left the evidence unusable.
The probe began after the State Bureau of Investigations was called in to investigate when a dispatcher who had access to the evidence room was found dead at work, according to Crocker.
Dispatcher found dead
The probe began after the State Bureau of Investigations was called in to investigate when a dispatcher who had access to the evidence room was found dead at work, according to Crocker.
An autopsy found that the man died from the combined toxic effects of fentanyl and other drugs, The Cullman Times reported.
Crocker then took the matter before the grand jury.
What’s next: The city council will meet Feb. 27 to discuss the future of the police department, the mayor said.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Los Angeles.