HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Decatur police chief Todd pinion released a statement on Wednesday addressing, "recent negative interactions between officers of the dictator police department and a few members within our community."
This comes just days after the gag order hearing for Mac Marquette - the former cop who killed Steve Perkins - which had current Decatur police lieutenant Joe Renshaw subpoenaed. Renshaw would admit to using a fake Facebook account "Phil McGroin" to comment on the case.
"This man deliberately, threatened people, intentionally... intentionally doxed citizens, which is a felony. And he did this all while hiding under a Decatur police officer badge," said Alainah Dailey. Dailey is active in the Justice for Steve Perkins movement. Renshaw "friended" her on Facebook using the "Phil McGroin" account to privately message her. Renshaw would cast doubt on the success of the legal cases against Marquette and the other Decatur policemen who killed Steve Perkins. Among the messages were ominous threats like "try burning something here and see how quickly you get yourself shot."
He harassed Dailey, while gloating about the supposed difficulty one would have were they trying to find out who was behind the "Phil McGroin" account.
"Alaina the more you talk, the dumber people see you really are," he said. Take, for instance, you keep saying you're a full time student and are pretty smart but you say you can find my IP address. You forget or don't know how many computer engineers are in this area that work for huge corporations. A simple VPN takes care of that, let alone what I'm running."
Whether or not Renshaw's account was what Pinion was referring to as the "negative interactions" in the statement is unclear. Just last Tuesday, May 21, was the Decatur City Council meeting where all five councilmembers express some form of displeasure in the police or the chief, himself.
"There's a significant void of leadership, specifically, in the police department," said Decatur City Councilman Kyle Pike (District 2).
Even Hunter Pepper, the Decatur City councilmember for District 4 and most steadfast in his support of DPD in light of any possible wrongdoing, called Pinion "bottom of the list" when it comes to communication personally and with the public. Carlton McMasters, the Decatur City councilmember for District 3 and police liaison, said the punishment for Renshaw should be "severe." McMasters was the one councilmember who did not explicitly critique Pinion when asked to evaluate the latter's job status.
And while it's good to get Pinion on the record through this statement, some Decatur residents think he didn't say enough.
"Now he's speaking to the news after his entire, command staff of his police force was now put on trial. Now he comes out and speaks. The community really needs him to speak more than just when something drastic happens."
"there's no public discipline ... Has been has been even shared. But because it just keeps on happening. That lets us know that is not being enforced. Discipline is not being enforced."
Pinion's statement leaves some questions unanswered. For example, who is Pinion referencing in his statement? Having one cop break the law is one too many, especially for this police department, says Dailey and Gordon.
"We know that no discipline, no leadership," said Gordon. "There's no fear. There's no repercussions. There's no consequences. That's what that says."
As a note of procedure, pinion's statement says the unnamed officer was transferred to administrative duty until an internal review is complete. Then it will be transferred to the legal department to decide if any action is warranted. Then it goes to Decatur mayor tab bowling, who decides whether to hold a hearing on any referred action.