Fired Pembroke Park police chief investigated for embezzlement of confidential documents

PEMBROKE PARK, Florida. – Local 10 News has learned that the former Pembroke Park police chief is now being investigated by her former department for trespassing at City Hall and taking documents.

City officials are so concerned that they have purchased identity theft protection for some of their employees.

Days after she was fired by a majority of the commission in April, Ra Shana Dabney-Donovan was let into City Hall by two officials one weekend, where, according to sources, documents were stored that should never have been taken.

Her lawyer, Stephan Lopez, said she was convinced she was “authorized” to go in and pick up the items.

Lopez sends the sealed box of documents back to the city.

Sources claim that the former chief took documents containing personal information of the officers as well as internal affairs documents.

“It’s less than 30 to 40 pages of documents,” Lopez said. “A lot of the stuff, she got all the boxes, some of the stuff was there, and she didn’t realize the stuff was there. When she realized there was stuff there that didn’t belong to her, she contacted me.”

During a recent commission meeting, Pembroke Park’s city manager called the cases being investigated by the police department a “potential violation of our system.”

On April 5, Dabney-Donovan was fired after six months as chief in a heated meeting. Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs led the firing.

“When the commission appointed this police chief, I repeatedly said that she did not meet the qualifications for this position,” Jacobs said at the time.

Not all commissioners were on board.

“His hatred of the chief is well documented. His attacks on the chief are well documented,” said Commissioner William Hodgkins.

Commissioner Erik Morrissette, the other dissenting voice, said at the time: “The chief was accused of mismanagement and everything was done according to the rules.”

Jacobs blamed Dabney Donovan after he was accused of filing a false police report. Last November, he called police to report that the mayor was known to carry a gun and he was concerned for his safety. However, there was no gun.

Dabney-Donovan was fired for allegedly targeting white police officers, mismanaging grants, and ignoring complaints against police officers.

“These allegations are false and were fabricated by those whose vindictive nature overshadows due process, truth and justice,” she said during a hearing in May. “I have been constantly harassed, defamed and abused.”

“This behavior has a long tradition in this small town,” Lopez said. “At some point it has to stop.”

According to sources, videos from inside the town hall are also being examined as part of the investigation.

Dabney-Donovan plans to sue the Pembroke Park Police Department for discrimination and retaliation and may also file a whistleblower lawsuit.

She would be the eighth former employee to whom this has happened.