The Mobile City Council is moving closer to an investigation into former Police Chief Prine’s allegations against the city

The Mobile City Council is moving forward with an outside investigation into allegations made by former Police Chief Paul Prine against the police department and city government.

A meeting of the full committee on Tuesday afternoon decided the scope of this investigation, who will conduct it and how quickly it can be carried out.

Last week, the council voted 6-1 to launch a third-party investigation into the former chief’s allegations – Councilman Joel Daves was the lone “no” vote. Prine’s allegations include, among other things, improper contracting and handling of intelligence-based police work.

The committee chose four main areas of concern based on the chief’s allegations:

• The “ShotSpotter” contract approval
• His removal as police chief
• Problems with the administration of the police department
• Handling complaints from non-performing employees

ShotSpotter is a system designed to detect gunshots and speed police response times – a system that has been implemented in cities across the United States. The technology has received mixed reviews across the country, with some calling it expensive, racially biased and ineffective. The City Council supported a contract with the California-based company in early 2022.

“We need to look at how the ShotSpotter contract came about,” Councilman Josh Woods said.

Two law firms are being considered to carry out the independent investigation following initial telephone interviews with council members. Council members say they want to complete the hiring process quickly to begin and complete the investigation in a timely manner.

“In Mobile we’re often guilty of saying, ‘Oh, I have someone who does that.’ I don’t want that guy doing that in Mobile,” Woods said.

Neither company was mentioned by name. The first option is a Birmingham company with offices in Atlanta and DC, the other is a smaller Huntsville company.

“The standard that I think should be applied is a completely disinterested third party. Someone who has no connection to any party,” said Councilman Ben Reynolds. “That’s priority number one.”

At last week’s council meeting, Reynolds said the decision on whether to hire an investigator should be made by a City Council investigative committee. However, Carroll said, “a third party should be involved.”

Prine said after the council meeting that he was unsure “what will come out of a council investigation.”

“I have no control over what they will investigate,” Prine said, criticizing the council for not asking him to attend a previous closed-door executive session to hear his complaints.

What happens next?

Before the meeting adjourned, the council agreed that several things needed to happen to complete the investigation as quickly as possible.

First, City Council Attorney Michael Linder will distribute a written summary of the scope of the investigation, which city councilors agreed to on Tuesday. The Council will consider this summary.

Linder will conduct telephone interviews with the companies and Council members Reynolds and Woods will participate in the calls.

Councilman Daves mentioned a budget at the start of the meeting, and committee chair Councilor Gina Gregory noted that the budget needed to be set.

“I don’t care what it costs,” Councilman William Carroll said.

Daves replied, “I know you don’t, but some of us do.”

“We also want to ask them in their interviews when they can start because we would like to start sooner rather than later,” Gregory said. “But once we get all that sorted out, we can come back and determine the contract, the amount and so on.”

Another investigation

The City Council investigation will be separate from the mayor’s office investigation already underway. Stimpson said they forwarded their findings to the Alabama attorney general for further review.

Mayor Sandy Stimpson said he doesn’t think a City Council investigation conducted at the expense of taxpayer dollars would do much, other than add another opinion.

Stimpson last week forwarded contracts and other investigative materials to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office for investigation. This investigation comes after two internal investigations by Burr & Foreman and the city’s Office of Professional Responsibility were completed. Stimpson said no investigations revealed any criminal or ethical misconduct. Prosecutor Ricardo Woods is an attorney at Burr & Foreman.

Stimpson said he is aware that residents are not satisfied with just internal investigations, which he said is one reason he refers investigative matters to Marshall’s office.

“There’s nothing better than having a real outside source (conducting an investigation),” Carroll said after last week’s meetings. “This is not about a finger-pointing contest, but rather about the City Council and the city of Mobile consciously wanting to restore public trust through a truly transparent process.”