Mobile police commander demoted, officer suspended after having inappropriate relations while on duty

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.