Moffitt calls on NC Attoreny General to investigate APD corruption

Press release from the campaign of Rep. Tim Moffitt:

ASHEVILLE, NC — State Representative Tim Moffitt has called upon North

Carolina’s Attorney General Roy Cooper to open an investigation into recent
claims by members of the Asheville Police Department (APD) regarding
mismanagement, leadership problems and possible corruption.

In a letter dated today, a copy of which is attached, Moffitt charges that
“for far too long, elected officials and others have looked the other way
while the cancer of corruption has clearly grown within the Asheville Police
Department.” Moffitt goes on to say that employees of the Asheville Police
Department “deserve fair treatment and due process” by the Attorney
General’s office.

44 officers, nearly a quarter of the APD’s force, delivered a four-page
petition yesterday to Police Chief William Anderson demanding the APD’s
leadership problems be addressed immediately and outlining how problems at
the department are creating a threat to public safety. Several veteran
officers have also called for Anderson to resign.

The petition came on the heels of an investigation by WLOS Channel 13 News
exposing problems that included an officer shortage, morale issues and
expired radar guns. According to the report, although only 44 officers
signed the petition, “twice that number have endorsed it but will not add
their signatures for fear of retaliation.”

Problems at the Asheville Police Department are nothing new. Chief Anderson
took over the department in January 2012 after the retirement of former
Chief Bill Hogan, who left in May 2011 under a cloud of controversy
surrounding the APD’s mishandling of evidence, prompting an investigation by
Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore and the State Bureau of
Investigation.
Read the letter below:

The Honorable Roy Cooper
North Carolina Department of Justice
9001 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9001

Dear Attorney General Cooper,

For years, people in my district have heard stories of corruption regarding
the Asheville Police Department. However, it is now apparent that these
stories are more than just rumor. They are grounded in a documented and
repetitious pattern that must stop.

The problems and challenges facing the Asheville Police Department are
extreme. For far too long, elected officials and others have looked the
other way while the cancer of corruption has clearly grown within the
Asheville Police Department.

Therefore, I ask that you employ the considerable resources appropriated to
you by the North Carolina General Assembly to thoroughly and completely
investigate this matter. I’d ask that your attention be directed to reports
in both the Asheville Citizen-Times newspaper and WLOS News 13.

Numerous serious violations of law have been alleged by employees of the
Asheville Police Department; these employees and officers deserve fair
treatment and due process by your office. The continued failure or refusal
of your office to fully investigate this matter must now be considered an
obstruction of justice on your part.

This is a matter of justice. The pattern of abuse and intimidation of police
officers and other employees for the City of Asheville must not continue.
I sincerely hope you will do your duty by fully investigating and
prosecuting this matter.

If your office is unable or unwilling to investigate these serious
complaints, please inform me immediately.

Respectfully,

Representative Tim Moffitt
Buncombe County (District 116)