Independent investigation clears Bradenton police chief of wrongdoing

BRADENTON, Fla. (WFLA) — An independent investigation cleared the City of Bradenton’s top cop of any wrongdoing during an arrest warrant that took place earlier this summer. A now-former officer accused Chief Melanie Bevan of conducting an illegal search of an individual and a residence, all while not wearing her agency-issued body armor.

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checkSizeClasses instanceof Function) { window. checkSizeClasses(); } The initial incident took place in July but the allegations of wrongdoing and the officer’s complaint didn’t become public until August when the Southwest Florida Police Benevolent Association issued a media release calling for the chief’s suspension pending the results of an independent investigation. Last month, Chief Bevan said the evidence in the case would ‘speak for itself’ and exonerate her of any misconduct.

That evidence included footage from other officers’ body-worn cameras, which captured the actions in question. window. loadAnvato({“mcp”:”LIN”,”width”:”100%”,”height”:”100%”,”video”:”7990865″,”autoplay”:false,”expect_preroll”:true,”pInstance”:”p1″,”plugins”:{“comscore”:{“clientId”:”6036439″,”c3″:”wfla.

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live/rest/v2/mcp/video/7990865?anvack=Rawk5AaXd3LVZIRoV3uerCkdB3KQ0dnD&token=%7E6SGwcZsBaES%2BNitXZ1%2BnXbloGseZvo70MQ%3D%3D”,”enableFloatingPlayer”:true},”disableMutedAutoplay”:false,”recommendations”:false,”expectPreroll”:true,”titleVisible”:true,”pauseOnClick”:true,”trackTimePeriod”:60,”isPermutiveEnabled”:true}); One video clip showed the police chief checking a bystander’s pocket. During an interview Tuesday, the chief explained her actions. Police union calls for suspension of Bradenton Police chief “If you look at the body cameras, you don’t see any patting down, you don’t see me looking all over, you see me zero in on one thing and one thing only which was what I thought was a weapon in his pocket,” Chief Bevan said.

“That is 101 of policing. When you encounter people, you better be giving them the once over to make sure that there are no bulges or objects that appear to be weapons and that is what that was and obviously, we are able to do that and should do that,” she continued. The independent investigation found ‘no Fourth Amendment concerns or violations’ and the chief’s ‘actions that day were taken to ensure the safety of all involved, both officers and citizens.

The SWFL PBA did not send 8 On Your Side a comment on the findings Tuesday. The presidents said they will not comment until they have an opportunity to review the investigation. There are other allegations involving the department that have been raised by the PBA, however, those remain under investigation by the independent investigators contracted by the city.

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