Jerry Bledsoe continues his series with an installment that discusses the RMA report's treatment of the infamous Hinson bachelor party. The installment is found here. This is a brief synopsis.
Bledsoe primarily demonstrates the errors and omissions made in the RMA report with respect to the investigation of this incident. RMA claimed this was Sanders' investigation, and that he made the bachelor party the focus of his work. But it was, in fact, a departmental investigation. The party was a matter of interest because of certain police officers' associations with two of the "entertainers", both of whom served as prostitutes and also as couriers for a drug kingpin. This was all part of a federal drug investigation.
It was alleged in RMA there was no credible evidence of criminal behavior, but that was untrue. It was not enough to bring to trial, however, partially because the statute of limitations had expired.
The report alleged Scott Sanders attempted to entrap other officers in connection with this investigation. But that was not true. There was also a suggestion that his investigations of Brian James and Lawrence Alexander were not part of the federal drug task force investigation; but in fact, they were. And the city later used this fact in its own defense when Nicole Pettiford sued the city.
There was also a claim that Sanders worked outside of the normal chain of command, but this was untrue also. Finally, RMA raised the issue that a white officer who attended the bachelor party, Craig McMinn, was not investigated as the black officers were. But this was because Dwight Crotts-- now a part of the higher GPD command structure, and then a captain-- made the determination that McMinn did not "know anything".
This installment otherwise contains considerable information discussed during previous segments.
I can't wait for the movie!
Posted by: Ken Hill | May 01, 2009 at 06:36 AM
And some of the newer theaters have popcorn with different flavors available. It adds to the experience.:)
Posted by: Joe Guarino | May 01, 2009 at 09:12 AM
This series has been a quite revealing, and has done a lot of good. But I think Bledsoe is running out of steam on this topic. This week's installment largely seemed like a rehash of stuff he reported two years ago. Might be time to call it a day on "Cops in Black and White."
Posted by: just saying | May 01, 2009 at 03:06 PM
I understand how the story factors into the big picture, and I think we are fortunate to have Mr. Bledsoe's work printed in the Rhino, but there has to be another medium for him to get these stories out, and I don't mean stories about a bachelor party that took place years ago. I mean all the mess with the cops slacking off on duty, moles in the department, incompetence being rewarded with promotion, Bellamy's habit of keeping the public in the dark about everything even to this day. It really seems, that now that Mitch Johnson is history, that no one is even talking about the police department like there was ever a problem in the first place. Oh yeah, and I'd just like to say thank you to the many officers who haven't sold their souls.
Posted by: brandonB | May 01, 2009 at 03:07 PM
"moles in the department, incompetence being rewarded with promotion"
--Surely this would make for some interesting round table discussions at Harvard, right?
Posted by: brandonB | May 01, 2009 at 03:08 PM