| |
Detroit
mayor
suspends
police
chief
during
probe
By COREY
WILLIAMS
Associated
Press
DETROIT
-
Detroit
Mayor
Dave
Bing
suspended
the
city's
top law
enforcement
officer
Tuesday
amid
allegations
that the
married
police
chief of
police
had a
sexual
relationship
with a
subordinate.
Chief
Ralph
Godbee
and
Angelica
Robinson,
an
internal
affairs
officer,
had been
in a
relationship
that she
eventually
tried to
end,
said her
attorney,
David
Robinson.
"There
was a
sexual
relationship
between
my
client
and
Godbee,"
Robinson
told The
Associated
Press on
Tuesday
evening.
"She was
trying
to end
the
relationship,
and
Godbee
didn't
want to
let it
go."
She
posted a
photo
with her
service
weapon
in her
mouth on
the
social
media
site
Twitter
after
learning
Godbee
was at a
police
conference
over the
weekend
with
another
woman,
David
Robinson
said.
He said
Godbee
had
other
officers
locate
the
37-year-old
Angelica
Robinson
and put
her
under
surveillance.
"Obviously,
it
raised
the
implication
of
suicide,"
David
Robinson
added.
"The
story is
that she
was hurt
he was
at a
conference
with
another
woman.
Certainly
this has
created
a lot of
pressure.
Unfairly,
her
future
is a
little
bit
uncertain.
She has
to
suffer
the
humiliation."
Angelica
Robinson
has been
reassigned
from
internal
affairs
to other
duties.
This is
the
second
time in
two
years
that a
Detroit
police
chief
has been
embroiled
in
scandal.
Godbee's
predecessor,
Warren
Evans,
was
fired by
Bing in
2010
partly
because
he was
romantically
involved
with a
female
officer.
"After
learning
of the
allegations
regarding
Chief
Ralph
Godbee,
I have
placed
him on a
30-day
suspension
pending
a full
and
thorough
investigation
of this
matter,"
the
mayor
said in
a
statement
Tuesday
that did
not
specify
the
allegations.
Godbee
could
not be
reached
Tuesday
afternoon
for
comment,
police
spokeswoman
Sgt.
Eren
Stephens
said.
Angelica
Robinson,
who is
married,
told her
attorney
the
relationship
with
Godbee
lasted
about a
year.
Godbee
is
separated
from his
wife.
David
Robinson
said the
relationship
was
consensual.
Without
being
specific,
Robinson
said he
will
approach
the city
"and see
what
their
position
would be
and
hopefully
(the
city
will) do
the
right
thing"
in
regard
to his
client.
"The
chief of
police
exceeded
his
professional
status,"
David
Robinson
said.
"He's
breached
the
trust of
the
department."
Godbee
and Bing
have
been
assailed
by
officers
in
recent
weeks
over a
10
percent
pay cut
and
implementation
of
12-hour
workdays
to help
cut
millions
of
dollars
from the
police
budget.
Officers
complain
the cuts
and new
work
rules
are too
much to
take in
a city
with one
of the
highest
violent
crime
rates in
the
country.
The 287
murders
committed
through
Sept. 23
in
Detroit
are 26
more
than at
the same
point
last
year.
Godbee
was
named
chief in
2010
after
Bing
fired
Evans.
Evans, a
former
Wayne
County
sheriff,
was
appointed
chief by
Bing in
2009 and
fired
after he
raised
the
mayor's
ire by
taking
part in
a
promotional
video
for a
cable
police
reality
show.
Bing
later
said he
also
fired
Evans
because
the
chief
was
romantically
involved
with Lt.
Monique
Patterson.
Godbee,
too, had
a
romantic
relationship
with
Patterson
before
she
began
dating
Evans
and when
she was
Godbee's
subordinate.
The
prior
relationship
between
Godbee
and
Patterson
was
disclosed
publicly
after
Godbee
was
named
interim
chief,
and Bing
issued a
strongly
worded
statement
after
its
disclosure
saying
he
wasn't
considering
firing
Godbee
for
having
an
affair
with a
subordinate.
Godbee,
44,
joined
the
department
in 1987
and rose
to
assistant
chief in
2007. He
later
retired
only to
be
reappointed
assistant
chief in
July
2009
when
Evans
was
hired.
Assistant
Chief
Chester
Logan
will
assume
Godbee's
responsibilities
during
the
suspension,
Bing
said. |
