By Javon Williams
Published: May. 22, 2024 at 4:43 PM CDT|Updated: May. 22, 2024 at 7:53 PM CDT
DECATUR, Ala. (WAFF) - Decatur Police Chief Todd Pinion provided a statement to 48 News on Wednesday afternoon addressing criticism the department has been receiving.
A gag order hearing was held in connection to the murder trial of former Decatur officer Mac Marquette on Friday. Numerous Decatur Police officers, as well as Chief Pinion, were called to testify during the hearing.
The Morgan County District Attorney called for the hearing to determine who leaked the body camera footage of the shooting of Steve Perkins.
Community reacts to gag order hearing in capital murder case against former Decatur Police officer
All of Decatur Police’s leadership were subpoenaed and ordered to testify on how the police body camera footage of the night when Perkins was shot was leaked to an online media outlet.
Officers testified about the body camera footage of the shooting and the way the video file was handled with no clear chain of custody to protect it from being copied.
Many members of the community are calling for Pinion’s resignation but Pinion says he is committed to serving Decatur.
“I understand there’s lots of concerns in the community over lots of different things. My commitment remains with this department, I’ve been here 20 years [and] I want to continue serving this department,” he said.
Community members also say the believe they are being harassed by a Lieutenant in the department who testified that he created a Facebook account “for investigative purposes.”
According to testimony, Lieutenant Joe Renshaw admitted to running the account. Some members of the public claimed they were harassed by the same account.
Raven Ryder, a Morgan County resident, was one of the people with this claim.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wake up and wonder if I’m going to be targeted that day,” she said. “Him and my husband went back and forth before he sent a final message to my husband that said ‘You f’d with the wrong group of people.’”
She said the account brought up her personal information.
“Right now, there is no trust in the community when it comes to Decatur,” she said. “It’s really infuriating because there are good officers out there, and this makes police as a whole look bad.”
A similar message was echoed by Alainah Dailey, who said she had run-ins with the same account.
“I have children growing up in this world,” she said. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to trust that they can have a social media presence knowing there are that kind of people out there that are intent on harassing and threatening citizens because they’re hiding behind a badge.”
“It’s important for me that our citizens understand I do not condone officer misconduct,” Pinion said. “As such, we are currently reviewing those concerns which are in various stages at this time,” Pinion said. “We’ll continue this review. Certain officers will be reassigned to administrative deputies to better facilitate that process.”
Pinion released a full statement to the public regarding the criticism to the public on Wednesday afternoon. The statement reads as follows:
I feel it is necessary today to address public concerns over some recent negative interactions between Officers of the Decatur Police Department and a few members within our community. It is important to me that our citizens understand that I do not condone officer misconduct, and as such, we are currently reviewing those concerns, which are in various stages at this time.
As is our usual practice, while the review continues certain officers will be reassigned to administrative duties to better facilitate this process. Once the review is completed, the results will be provided to the Legal Department for a determination of what suggested personnel action, if any, is appropriate.
That determination will be forwarded to the Mayor, as the appointing authority, for him to decide whether a hearing with any employee is justified in order to provide the employee an opportunity to respond. Since this is a personnel process, it will proceed internally and any action taken will remain internal until the process is completed.
It is my commitment to address concerns and provide counseling, guidance and other personnel actions, including discipline for the betterment of our Citizens, our City and our Police Department.
The process will continue but due to this being a personnel issue, it may not appear to move as quickly as some would like.
I prefer complete transparency in all matters that concern the safety of our community and officers. However, laws dictate what that level of transparency looks like in personnel and criminal cases.
The permanent gag order has not been ruled on by the judge yet.
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