I already a made a brief post to Peach Pundit about one of the controversies embroiling the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. And Jan Skutch and Eric Curl have a relatively lengthy piece already at the Savannah Morning News about the report released today.
From UPDATE: Investigation blasts former Savannah-Chatham police chief Willie Lovett:
Former Savannah-Chatham police chief Willie Lovett’s conduct “was inadequate and unprofessional†and ignored available evidence in the case of two officers under investigation in a 2010 drug trafficking scheme, an independent investigation has found.
The report by Alexandria, Va.-based Manuel, Daniels, Burke International also found that Lovett “withheld vital information from Internal Affairs … and instructed Internal Affairs to prepare (an official document) with patently false and incorrect information.â€
While no evidence of improper influence with the department’s Internal Affairs unit was found, the report said, “their handling of the entire case was negligent and unprofessional.â€
Given the suddenness of Lovett’s departure a couple of months ago, I would expect further revelations on this matter and/or other issues.
And a quick reminder: most of the folks in uniform show up and do their jobs the best they can day in and day out, night in and night out. We shouldn’t let issues like this infect the reputations of everyone on the force.
Here’s the full report (you can use the tool bar at the bottom to zoom, go full screen, etc.):
Investigation of former Savannah-Chatham police chief Willie Lovett by savannahnow.com