Ahh...Small-town Alabama. Still corrupt after all these years.
apnews.com
apnews.com
Nearly 60 felony cases will be dropped in a small Alabama town because they were compromised by what a grand jury called a “rampant culture of corruption” in the local police department, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The grand jury determined that 58 felony criminal cases had been tainted by corruption in the Hanceville Police Department in northern Alabama, after four officers and the police chief were indicted on a variety of charges related to mishandling or removing evidence from the department’s evidence room.
The indictment included a recommendation that the department be “immediately abolished.”
The case roiled the town of approximately 3,200 people about 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of Birmingham.
Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said that even one compromised case “is too many” but that “the Grand Jury had no other recourse,” in a statement on Wednesday night. He added that most of the cases were drug-related and only a few were personal crimes with victims.
The audit found that nearly 40% of all 650 evidence bags and almost a third of all firearms weren’t documented before being stored in the evidence room. There was also a wide array of evidence that appeared to be missing, including firearms, cash and illicit drugs.
Hanceville Mayor Jimmy Sawyer placed the whole department on leave in February, and then following weeks of polarized debate, announced in March that the department would be disbanded and rebuilt from scratch.
Nearly 60 cases dismissed due to corruption in Alabama police department
Almost five dozen criminal cases will no longer be prosecuted because they were tainted by rampant corruption in a northern Alabama police department.
apnews.com
Grand jury recommends abolishing Alabama police department because of a 'culture of corruption'
A grand jury recommended abolishing a small Alabama police department that it said operated as a criminal enterprise.
apnews.com
Nearly 60 felony cases will be dropped in a small Alabama town because they were compromised by what a grand jury called a “rampant culture of corruption” in the local police department, according to a statement on Wednesday.
The grand jury determined that 58 felony criminal cases had been tainted by corruption in the Hanceville Police Department in northern Alabama, after four officers and the police chief were indicted on a variety of charges related to mishandling or removing evidence from the department’s evidence room.
The indictment included a recommendation that the department be “immediately abolished.”
The case roiled the town of approximately 3,200 people about 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of Birmingham.
Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said that even one compromised case “is too many” but that “the Grand Jury had no other recourse,” in a statement on Wednesday night. He added that most of the cases were drug-related and only a few were personal crimes with victims.
The audit found that nearly 40% of all 650 evidence bags and almost a third of all firearms weren’t documented before being stored in the evidence room. There was also a wide array of evidence that appeared to be missing, including firearms, cash and illicit drugs.
Hanceville Mayor Jimmy Sawyer placed the whole department on leave in February, and then following weeks of polarized debate, announced in March that the department would be disbanded and rebuilt from scratch.
