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Investigator requests town, state investigate, intervene with Mitchell

A Hayneville police officer has requested the town’s mayor and city council intervene and begin oversight of the municipal police department after what she describes as improper conduct by Police Chief Kelvin Mitchell.

Investigator Deadre Pinkett alleges Mitchell’s actions constitute retaliation, interference, threatening and negligence. Mitchell did not respond to requests for a comment.

“The [town’s] attorney [Michael Strickland] said he’s trying to keep Hayneville out of the news,” Pinkett said. “I was trying to keep Hayneville out of the news, but all this covering up, going back and forth… if Chief Mitchell is able to do what he wants to do, then everybody else should be able to do what they want to do. For him to keep going on… doing stuff every other week… it has to stop.”

A press conference is planned for Monday, June 30, 10 a.m. at the Hayneville Town Hall.

Pinkett said an increasingly alarming situation began to worsen around June 11 when Mitchell forbade officers from providing security in the Hayneville Municipal Court. An earlier disagreement between Mitchell and the town’s municipal judge, Kameisha Logan, resulted in a court order calling for Mitchell’s arrest if he entered the courtroom.

On June 12, the investigator provided security for the courtroom. This past Wednesday, Mitchell called Hayneville Mayor Jimmie Davis and Pinkett into his office and served the investigator with an Employee Disciplinary Report, a notice that she had been placed on unpaid suspension for three days due to disobeying his direct order.

“He said, ‘I’m suspending Pinkett for three days without pay because I gave her a director order not to appear in court on June 12 and she violated my order and appeared in court against what I told her,” Davis said. 

Davis explained he countermanded Mitchell’s directive and instructed Pinkett to act as bailiff for the court. 

“The altercation between the judge and [Mitchell], that’s the reason why he instructed her not to be in court,” Davis said. “When I found out… I used my mayor’s authority to tell her to go in to secure the courtroom. It’s my job to make sure there is a bailiff in the court and that it runs efficiently, just like the police department, the maintenance department or whatever.”

The investigator questions the legality of Mitchell’s directive, citing her requirement to testify in the courtroom for cases she pursued.

“My question is: is it even legal to tell me not to go into the courtroom when all of the cases belong to me,” she asked. “Nobody else writes tickets or makes arrests but me. The judge could find me in contempt of court for not coming to court. Who’s going to go to jail for me?”

On June 26, Davis reinstated Pinkett to full duty.

“I checked with [Strickland] and he instructed me that Mitchell did not have that authority to make the decision [to forbid officers from working in the courtroom] because the town has to supply security for the court,” Davis said. “He has an order from the court not to be in court unless he is subpoenaed or has a case before the judge.

“I instructed [Mitchell] that he should not suspend her because I gave her a direct order to work in court. He said, ‘Well, she can’t work for me and she’s suspended.’ I [wrote] a legal letter to him explaining the reason why I reinstated her the following day.”

Pinkett formally notified Davis, the town council, the Alabama Attorney General’s office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigation and the Alabama Ethics Commission of her official complaint by letter on Thursday, June 27. In addition to allegations related to her suspension, Pinkett claims Mitchell is guilty of misconduct in multiple facets of department operations.

Her letter alleges “these matters reflect systemic issues of mismanagement, abuse of authority and disregard for public safety and proper police procedure.”

Pinkett said Mitchell makes racist comments frequently. In a recording of Mitchell’s meeting with Davis and Pinkett, the police chief expressed his frustration with town leaders who he claimed were siding with outsiders against him (click link below for entire audio).

 

“I’m done with this disingenuous woman (Logan) cause she’s trying to put me in prison,” Mitchell said. “But it aint her… It’s them damn white folks. They’ve been after me since I’ve been here. Any way they can, they’re coming and you look like you’re trying to get me with them.”

“He [targets] anyone who sticks up for what’s right… the judge [Logan] being one,” Pinkett said. “He is attacking her, trying to get a false, illegal arrest [warrant] on her for disorderly conduct.”

The investigator also described feeling threatened by Mitchell and said she was afraid, physically and emotionally.

“I am very afraid for my life,” she said. “Just like the incident with the judge, he always says, ‘I’m gonna show her how much power I’ve got. I’m gonna show her that I’ve got more power than she does.’ The police chief told me directly that he will kill the sheriff [if West hurts ‘one of his people’]. He’s a person that’s capable of anything. He’ll kill me too.”

Mitchell can be heard saying, “I’m tired of these white folks running our lives. Chris West [is] going to hurt somebody. I hope it don’t be your people. But if he hurt my people, I’m going to kill the… “

According to Pinkett, up to seven firearms are missing from the department, including weapons confiscated during crimes and at least one duty weapon, an AR 15.

“We did an inventory and discovered that seven guns are missing,” she said. “We told the chief and said he would get the Attorney General to come do an investigation, but he never did.”

Pinkett also cites an incident when Mitchell refused medical treatment to an inmate in their custody. She also claims the department operates without proper evidence storing and said sometimes cases are dismissed due to lack of evidence.

“This is what he has been doing for 20 years,” Pinkett said. “He’s been policing for 20 years, and he should know the proper way to secure evidence. But since I’ve been there — two years next month — evidence has been thrown all over the place.”

On May 22, Logan requested the town council keep Mitchell from the courtroom, alleging similar misconduct and claiming Mitchell sometimes allows prison release for reduced bond amounts. The judge said Mitchell has attempted to influence her decision in court cases and requested she find the sheriff guilty on charges of harassment and obstructing government operations.

Pinkett also describes at least one instance when Mitchell illegally interfered with criminal charges, coercing her to reduce felony charges on a suspect to a misdemeanor.

“I get felony cases all the time and he will tell me to bump [charges] down to a misdemeanor to keep it in our courts, to keep it from them ‘white folks up there.’ That’s his exact words. He says, ‘We ain’t letting them white folks send our Black folks down the road.’”

Davis said he is working to mediate the situation and keep town operations working properly. For now, Pinkett is still employed on the town’s police force.