Bradenton
In her first detailed response since accusations were lobbed against her six months ago, Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan says recent allegations about her leadership came from officers who either resigned or were terminated while under investigation.
Bevan, who has served as the agency’s leader since 2016, has faced sharp criticism from some of her officers during a public disagreement with police union leaders. Last year, the department’s union conducted a survey that determined more than half of the agency had concerns about salary, morale and favoritism.
But now that two Internal Affairs reports have been completed by an outside agency, the North Port Police Department, Bevan is firing back against her accusers.
“Everything that you’re seeing is from members of this unit,” Bevan said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald. “It’s just time we get beyond all this. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to continue to my job, work with my officers and the union to make sure our officers perform their duties with integrity and honesty.”
After various officers accused Bevan of suggesting illegal tactics to make arrests and failing to properly discipline officers, a separate investigation determined that those officers had broken several department rules.
“There were outlandish comments thrown out and put forward, and they all seem to be false,” Bevan said.
In a press release, police union leaders with the Southwest Florida Police Benevolent Association criticized Bevan for firing an officer who “exposed corruption” at the department.
“The PBA has a long list of members who will continue to come forward and expose the Chief’s abuse of power through litigation and incontrovertible evidence,” PBA President Mick McHale wrote in a statement.
Police chief denounces former officers
Last year, Bevan published a response to the accusations but on Thursday, she released her most detailed statement yet, denouncing the officers who submitted the complaints and the police union for standing behind them.
“Today, I’m setting the record straight,” Bevan wrote in a nearly two-page letter.
“For nearly a year, I have been the target of several allegations of misconduct by a small facet of officers within my agency, most of whom were assigned to a specialized unit that was under investigation for suspected department policy violations.”
Speaking with the Herald, Bevan explained that the complaints had been filed by members of the Special Investigation Unit, a team of primarily plainclothes officers whose investigations ranged from narcotics to violent crimes.
“In total, four members of the now-dissolved specialized unit are no longer employed with the Bradenton Police Department, not because of any personal vendetta that I, or other senior staff members, have against them,” Bevan wrote in her statement. “Rather, they either resigned during the investigations or were terminated because they lied, engaged in conduct unbecoming members of this agency, utilized excessive force or violated department policy in some manner.”
Bevan said the unit had come under scrutiny after a retired officer submitted a tip about the unit’s behavior. Both IA investigations determined multiple officers had submitted affidavits with false information, which led to their termination or resignation from the department.
It’s not the first time false allegations have been raised against Bevan. In August, a former officer accused Bevan of conducting an improper search, but an independent review determined that Bevan did not break department protocol during the arrest.
Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown previously weighed in on the accusations against Bevan, doubling down on their support for the chief. He called the accusations a “distraction” for the department and the city.
Reached for comment Friday morning, Brown praised Bevan’s handling of the situation.
“I think she’s the perfect leader for the department at this time because she’s willing to hold everyone accountable for their actions. If there’s a bad police officer out there, it shouldn’t reflect on the good ones.”
Bevan said she believes the accusations were an attempt for union representatives to gain the upper hand during ongoing negotiations last year. The city reached a contract agreement, which included raises for existing officers, higher starting salaries and better retirement benefits, with the police union last fall.
This story was originally published March 31, 2023 2:27 PM.
