An Alabama grand jury recommended that a local police department be “immediately abolished’ after indicting a local police chief, four officers and an officer’s spouse as part of a corruption investigation, Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker announced Wednesday.
The grand jury alleged that the “rampant culture of corruption” within the Hanceville Police Department meant that it “operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency department,” Crocker read aloud from the grand jury recommendations.
The department, which stands accused of compromising evidence in numerous cases, has “abused public trust by its failure of oversight, lack of leadership and negligent training and hiring,” Crocker continued.
The charges against department employees were made public months after Hanceville police dispatcher Christopher Michael Willingham, 49, was found dead in his office in August last year, according to WBMA-LD. Coroners found that he had died from an accidental overdose of drugs including fentanyl, gabapentin, diazepam, amphetamine, carisoprodol and methocarbamol.
No officers were charged in direct connection to Willingham’s death, but the grand jury concluded that his death was a direct result of the department’s negligence, Crocker said.
Willingham had access to the unsecured police evidence room on his last day at work before his death, according to Crocker.
He added, “I’ll just say nothing was secure about the evidence room, and when Mr. Willingham was discovered, there was evidence in his office.”
The “anything but secure” evidence room was one of the most concerning discoveries made during the investigation, according to Crocker. The evidence room was allegedly accessed routinely by people who were not authorized to do so, with staff using a broomstick to open the door through a hole in the room’s exterior wall.
Hanceville Police Chief Jason Shane Marlin, 51, was charged with two counts of failure to report ethics crimes and tampering with evidence, according to Crocker. Three of his officers, Cody Alan Kelso, 33, Jason Scott Wilbanks, 37, and William Andrew Shellnutt, 39, were also charged with tampering with evidence.
Officer Eric Michael Kelso, 44, and his wife, Donna Reid Kelso, 63, were also charged with four counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and two counts of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute a controlled substance.
Cody Kelso and Wilbanks each face additional charges of computer tampering, using an office for personal gain and solicitation to commit a controlled substance crime, according to Crocker.
All charges are felonies except tampering with physical evidence and computer tampering, which are misdemeanors.
John C. Robbins, a lawyer for Cody Kelso, told The New York Times that he had “not seen any evidence that supports these charges.” It was not immediately clear if the other people charged had attorneys.
Crocker also read out that the grand jury recommended “that the Hanceville Police Department be immediately abolished,” calling it an “ongoing threat to public safety.” The jury recommended that another state or local law enforcement agency be tasked with protecting the people of Hanceville.
In a statement posted on the police department’s social media page, Hanceville Mayor Jim Sawyer responded to the grand jury’s findings in a press release, saying the department has “fallen short in its mission to serve the people.”
“It is unfortunate that the actions of a few have tarnished our city’s good name,” Sawyer said. “Those entrusted with serving and protecting our community must be individuals of integrity and honor.”
It was not immediately clear if the charged officers are still employed by the police department.
Sawyer noted that he had spoken with Crocker and hasagreed to have the police evidence room audited by the appropriate authorities.
“While the vast majority of police officers and deputies are dedicated public servants, the misconduct of a few casts a shadow on the profession,” said Sawyer. “Such individuals must be held accountable without delay. We will uncover the truth, and justice will be served.”