MOBILE,
Alabama -- The commander of the Mobile Police Department's Third Precinct has
been demoted and an officer has been suspended after an internal investigation
revealed the pair had inappropriate sexual relations while on duty, according
to MPD.
Carla
Longmire was demoted from captain to lieutenant effective Tuesday, said Chief
James Barber. Officer Bradley Latham, her subordinate, will be suspended for a
total of 240 consecutive working hours effective Jan. 6.
The
announcement came the day after a disciplinary trial board reviewed evidence
gathered by MPD's Intelligence Unit and unanimously found Longmire and Latham
guilty on all charges against them.
Longmire
was charged with conduct unbecoming and failure to supervise. Latham was
charged with conduct unbecoming, truthfulness during an investigation and
disobedience of orders.
"The
entire concept of unbecoming conduct is any kind of conduct that affects the
morale, the efficiency of the police department or the effectiveness of the
department, or anything that brings the department into disrepute," Barber
said.
"Whenever
you have on-duty activity that occurs like this -- and I stress that this is
only on-duty that we were concerned with -- it has all of those elements within
that charge."
Capt.
Paul Prine has taken over Longmire's position, effective Tuesday. Longmire has
been moved to community services while Latham was reassigned to the First
Precinct.
Evidence
against the pair included records and surveillance by other officers, Barber said.
"I
can't get into specifics, as far as evidence," Barber said. "This can
be appealed."
The
investigation started in late September after an internal complaint was filed
against the pair. In at least September, they went to a rented apartment together
multiple times during work hours. There is no evidence the pair had any
inappropriate contact in work vehicles or on MPD property, Barber said.
"When
you're taking officers off the streets that are supposed to be patrolling the
streets, it does impact the operations of the department," Barber said.
Investigators
also found Latham had tampered with an automatic vehicle locator installed in
at least one police car, Barber said. The charge of disobedience of orders
charge stems from the tampering.
It
is the second time in just over one year that the Third Precinct has gotten a
new commander following an internal investigation.
Longmire
was chosen to head the precinct in November 2012 after then-commander DeWayne
Hill was found guilty of stealing during an internal investigation. Hill
resigned from his post the day before results of the investigation were
revealed.
Although
Barber characterized the charges against both officers as serious, he said it
was the disciplinary trial board's unanimous decision not to fire either
officer.
"A
lot of people don't understand the command structure -- that's (the demotion) a
very significant thing to happen to begin with," Barber said, adding that
the punishment is rare. "That's a pretty severe punishment. The salary cut
on it is about 10 percent but it's the position within the department and the
amount of control that that position holds, which is also why that conduct
can't be tolerated."
As that investigation wraps up,
the department is continuing to look into a homicide investigator who was
arrested Monday and charged with tax evasion.