MONTGOMERY, Ala. โ In the small town of Hanceville, Alabama, nearly 60 felony cases will not move forward due to issues stemming from a pervasive โculture of corruptionโ within the local police department, as found by a grand jury. This announcement was made on Wednesday, shedding light on a major issue affecting the town.
The grand juryโs findings revealed that corruption had compromised 58 criminal cases handled by the Hanceville Police Department. This discovery was due to allegations against four officers and the police chief, who have been charged with various offenses related to the mishandling and removal of evidence from the departmentโs storage area.
Alarmed by these results, the indictment included a suggestion that the existing police department be dismantled. This has caused considerable unrest in the town of approximately 3,200 residents, located about 45 miles north of Birmingham.
Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker emphasized that even a single corrupt case is unacceptable. In a statement made on Wednesday evening, he indicated that the grand jury had no other option but to recommend dismissing the compromised cases. Most of these cases involved drug-related offenses, with only a few relating to crimes involving personal victims.
The selection of the 58 dismissed cases followed an audit performed by the Alabama State Bureau of Investigations. The audit uncovered significant discrepancies, revealing that almost 40% of the 650 evidence bags and nearly one-third of all seized firearms were not properly logged before being placed in evidence. Additionally, numerous items including firearms, cash, and illegal drugs appeared to be unaccounted for.
Earlier this year, Hanceville Mayor Jimmy Sawyer placed the entire police department on administrative leave. After facing weeks of contentious discussions, in March he declared that the police force would be disbanded and completely restructured.
Attempts to obtain a comment from the Hanceville municipal government were unsuccessful as requests sent on Thursday afternoon received no response.