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Published on: 11/14/2008
Last Visited: 2/13/2009
Morris West, who grew up in Haines City and became chief of the 42-officer department in July 2003, will step down Nov. 23 under a deal reached Thursday with prosecutors.
West, 47, also agreed to give up his police credentials in exchange for prosecutors dropping the three prostitution charges pending against him.
...
The scathing grand-jury report says West "undermined the good and lawful work of his officers based on his community ties" and that since he took over, "all the years of hard work and taxpayer money have been thrown away" because the agency no longer is accredited, "accountability is gone" and morale is poor.
...
According to the report, Morris West:
*Testified on behalf of two men on trial in a Winn-Dixie robbery case in which a shotgun was put to a cashier's head.
*Directed the release of an AK-47 with a 100-round magazine, usually used in a machine gun, because the aunt of the suspect was West's niece by marriage.
*Told one of his officers not to arrest a local businessman, a friend of West's, even though a warrant had been issued.
*Directed the return of a large amount of cash to a known drug dealer without forcing a hearing, which is standard.
*Insisted that his agency handle a traffic crash involving West's sister even though it was outside city limits.
The assigned officer testified that speeding caused the accident and that the driver would have received a ticket if the proper agency had investigated.
*Permitted a trainee, whose mother was an old friend of West's, to act as a full-fledged officer even though the man failed the police exam three times and his actions could have created liability for the department and the city.
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