Alabama city leaders vote to replace and rebuild ‘corrupt’ police department

An Alabama city plans to replace and rebuild its police department after a grand jury indicted its chief and four other officers and recommended abolishing the small force.

The Hanceville City Council voted unanimously Monday to suspend department operations and search for a new chief who will build out the force.

Mayor Jim Sawyer placed the department’s entire staff on administrative leave last month after the grand jury determined that it “operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency” and that it is “an ongoing threat to public safety.”

The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office will continue to handle law enforcement duties in Hanceville, about 45 miles north of Birmingham, until the new force is operational, officials said.

Former police chief Shane Marlin, four officers and one of the officers’ wives were indicted on charges that included mishandling or tampering with evidence and using performance-enhancing drugs. The six are scheduled to be arraigned this month.

Marlin, 51, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and phone numbers listed for him appear to have been disconnected.

The police department employed about 12 people, officials said.

The grand jury’s findings were prompted by the death of Christopher Michael Willingham, 49, a 911 dispatcher who was found dead at work.

The Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences ruled his death an accidental overdose from fentanyl and other drugs. The grand jury did not charge the officers in connection with his death.

Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker said at a news conference last month that the death was “the direct result” of the police department’s “negligence, lack of procedure, general incompetence and disregard for human life.”

He also said that there had been unfettered access to the evidence room, that some evidence was unusable and that any pending cases would go through a review process.

At the news conference, Crocker showed photos of a hole in the wall of the room and a broomstick that he said was used to jimmy open the door.

Crocker released preliminary results Monday of an audit of the evidence room. Among the missing items were: 1.5 grams of cocaine, 67 oxycodone pills, 4 Adderall pills, 0.5 grams of heroin, a .25-caliber handgun and about 30 undocumented firearms, according to a copy of the audit obtained by NBC News.

“These results of the evidence audit are shocking but not surprising,” Crocker wrote to the mayor in a letter Monday. “The security camera footage revealed how unsecure the evidence room was — with various individuals going in and out, routinely sticking a broomstick through the hole in the wall to gain access.”

Crocker also wrote in the letter that after Willingham’s death, he recommended that Marlin, who was still the police chief, call the State Bureau of Investigation for assistance. But Marlin declined to do so, he said.

Crocker said he then asked the State Bureau of Investigation to review Willingham’s death.

At the City Council meeting Monday night, some people said they welcomed the decision to rebuild the department. Others said it was unfair to employees who had done nothing wrong.

Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said the policing provided by his office costs $25,000 a month.