‘A parent lost a child’: Passions run high in Mobile over police chief fallout

Tensions were high on Tuesday over the continued fallout of a controversial report about the Mobile Police Department’s handling of use of force incidences, four of which resulted in the death of young Black men during encounters with Mobile police officers last year.

According to some council members, the deaths of the Black men illustrated in the report have received little attention while the plight of former Police Chief Paul Prine remains a top concern among activists and on social media.

The comments come one week before the council is set to hire a third-party investigator to lead a 45-day probe into a list of allegations made by Prine over improper contracting and concerns over the administration of policing.

“Are we not forgetting the lives of the African Americans who were lost?” said Councilman Cory Penn, following comments chastising the council over its handling of Prine from longtime activist and frequent council meeting attendee Sabrina Mass.

“Yes, a chief might have lost a job, but a parent lost a child,” Penn continued, referencing the killing of a 16-year-old boy in November following an early morning police raid that prompted Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s office to hire former U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown to oversee an investigation into the policies and procedures during use of force incidences in Mobile.

Prine, hired as the city’s police chief in 2021, has blasted the Brown investigation for several months claiming it was “one-sided” and a “very poor investigation.” The report, released in April, illustrated a host of damaging claims of illegal behavior, aggressive and demeaning tactics by Mobile police in handling arrests with Black residents.

Six cases were reviewed, four of which resulted in fatal encounters with an officer.

Prine, Penn squabble

Prine, on Tuesday, told AL.com that Penn’s remarks during the council meeting were “indicative of his intellect” and that he was “still angry about losing his ordinance on search warrants.” He was not at Government Plaza for Tuesday’s meeting.

That reference from Prine was to a March 19 council vote against an ordinance Penn sponsored that would have essentially codified an existing police policy restricting pre-dawn raids and no-knock warrants to only being authorized by the police chief or executive of public safety. The council voted down the ordinance, though they backed a resolution requesting the police department inform them whenever there was a change in policies.

“His anger should be director towards Chief of Staff (James) Barber who tried to broker a deal with him on the backs of the police department,” Prine said.

The former chief also took issue to a statement by Brown, listed toward the end of the report, that alleges he attempted to intimidate council members before the March 19 vote.

“That statement alone shows collusion with the city council and administration about ousting me as the Chief as Brown had no firsthand knowledge of the matter or circumstances,” Prine said.

The council voted 4-3 on Penn’s ordinance, but it takes a five-vote supermajority to pass an ordinance in Mobile.

Penn said there was no collusion between the council and Stimpson over that incident. He also claimed that Mobile police, under Prine’s leadership, decided to change their policies and procedures because of his ordinance.

“If my ordinance was bad, why use it for your policies and procedures?” Penn said. “If my intelligence is off, why use the ordinance for policies and procedures? I think people can disagree, but I think you can respectfully disagree. When they can’t respectfully disagree, I think they show their character.”

Prine began criticizing Stimpson’s administration over allegations about improper handling of intelligence-based policing and questionable contracting before the Brown reported was released. It has led to multiple investigations -- Stimpson’s staff conducted an internal review, and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office is also overseeing an investigation.

Penn said he was uncertain as to why Prine nor anyone else has not taken their claims to the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office for further review.

“We are going to do a third-party investigation and if anything comes up we’ll move forward,” Penn said. “But if any criminal activity took place, you would think you’d be turning that information in. That’s what we ask the public to do.”

Fallout, investigation

Criticism has continued to be directed at Stimpson and council members since Prine’s April 30 firing, mostly on social media. Some of it has spilled out into council meetings and has included criticism from activists and others challenging the council over Prine’s ouster.

But some council members, like Penn, say their critics are forgetting the problems that occurred last year that led to the current situation.

The Brown report proved damning to the agency and prompted Prine to go on an offensive against the city and Stimpson. Stimpson has since apologized to Mobile police for what he said were some holes in Brown’s probe, including disputed facts the led to a 16-year-old girl being body slammed outside of ACCEL Academy on Oct. 17, 2023.

Prine, after he was placed on administrative leave in early April, claimed irregularities and potential illegal activity within the administration over a host of issues including contracting and the handling of a cyber intelligence unit.

The council, since firing Prine with a unanimous vote, vowed to investigate some of his claims and voted 6-1 to do so. The council is set to hire a law firm to oversee a 45-day investigation during their meeting next Tuesday. The contract is expected to be capped at $100,000.

“There is a lot going on, that’s why we are doing the third-party investigation,” Penn said.

An Alabama law firm will be hired to investigate Prine’s allegations. Council members leading the search said on Tuesday there should be a firm identified and a contract proposed during next Tuesday’s council meeting.

“My goal is that we hire them, proceed through an investigation, and that they get it (completed) on time and within budget,” said Councilman Ben Reynolds, who along with Councilman Josh Woods, is teaming up with council attorney Michael Linder to handle the search.

Two firms have been identified to oversee the investigation, but council members are declining to name them. One is in the Birmingham area, while the other is in Huntsville.

The council is capping the investigation to 45 days, and to keep it within a $100,000 budget. The investigation comes after the revelation that the Brown probe cost taxpayers $297,791.

“We are going to have a solid, third-party investigation,” said Councilman William Carroll, who said he is more concerned about having a quality investigation done over worries about its costs.

More concerns

Penn wasn’t the only council member raising concerns over the fallout on social media and elsewhere over the handling of the situation.

Other council members also expressed dismay that public statements focused more on Prine and his job status with the city rather than the details provided in Brown’s report over the death of several Black men during encounters with police.

They said the Brown report was not designed as a way to fire the police chief but was rather a way to investigate the agency’s “policies and procedures.”

The shooting of the 16-year-old was one of the examples cited by Brown and criticized within the report.

During a predawn raid on Nov. 13, the MPD’s SWAT team along with its Narcotics Unit entered a house on Sheringham Drive in search of an 18-year-old man after receiving complaints about drug activity.

While inside, they shot and killed his 16-year-old brother who had pointed a red laser at one of the officers. Police found a gun on the teenager after they shot and killed him.

Brown, in his report, said the agency did not conduct a genuine evaluation of risk on the public on whether to utilize its SWAT team during the police raid. Brown said in this incident, the SWAT team represented the “most aggressive tool” within the agency’s toolbox and that they were deployed to investigate a concern over a marijuana possession complaint.

Council President C.J. Small said there were other instances cited by Brown in which “mothers lost their children.” The most high-profile of incidences occurred on July 2, 2023, after 36-year-old Jawan Dallas died during an encounter with two Mobile police officers that led to him being struck by a Taser, handcuffed, and treated in an “unacceptable way,” by police, according to Brown.

Dallas, according to Brown, was in distress while he was being arrested and was not given appropriate medical care.

Small and Carroll also said that activists, who originally were pleased with hiring of Brown and praised his credentials to handle the investigation into the agency, have now directed their criticism at the substance of his report and the fallout from the Prine firing.

“Just like Jesus,” Small said. “They are turning back around and saying, ‘Crucify him.’”