Fresh updates to swirling questions in PD

The last two days have seen a whirlwind of new information regarding local investigations at the Police Department.

Today's story is a troubling one, showing a longtime department veteran who alleges that corrupt, unethical and retaliatory leadership in SBPD has triggered a state investigation. Lt. Don Soderbloom makes a number of allegations against Police Chief Michael Billdt, including that Billdt launched a costly and useless internal investigation into him after he retired and the DA had already cleared him of wrongdoing.

Yesterday's story showed that the trend in departments in the area is to refer criminal allegations into their own officers to outside agencies, a practice at variance with SBPD's insistence on investigating alleged criminal conduct by Sgt. Bradley Lawrence in-house.

These stories are part of a larger tableau of troubling developments in the city's police administration.

In recent weeks, we have reported that a high-profile investigation into alleged brutality in The Dorjils was allowed to expire after more than 1-year.

We have reported that it took police five weeks to interview Michael Allen and confirm that a female in illicit poses he was pictured with on Mike Miller's camera was over-18.

We have reported allegations from within the department that detectives were ordered not to investigate the pictures, allegedly to minimize political blowback.

We have reported that Lawrence was allowed to continue working for weeks after a fellow officer made criminal allegations against him. After another officer came forward with new allegations, Lawrence was put on leave.

We have reported that another Sgt., Steve Lowes, is also on leave. Lowes won't say why, saying he will be fired if he talks. Police won't confirm or deny he's on leave. Sources who wish to remain anonymous because of fear of retribution say Lowes is on leave for raising a ruckus with another officer over Lawrence's allegedly un-Constitutional policing tactics.

We have reported that a department booking log dated September 2007 shows a man being held in the jail without charge - "on ice."

We have reported that Billdt and Assistant Chief Frank Mankin briefly refused to pay a local restaurant a contracted amount for a banquet. They paid the full bill after another senior command officer wrote a memo that caught the attention of local media.

And now we're reporting that Billdt has declined to provide the public a resume of his qualifications. Rumors are swirling on this blog that the chief does not hold an accredited bachelor's degree, which is a particularly basic requirement to hold the top policing position in cities throughout the state.

I go over the list here to keep you up to date and fully in context. A lot has been happening, and it's important to keep the facts straight.

It is, of course, safe for any reasonable person to objectively conclude that the department is gripped by a number of serious crises and the chief is an embattled, unpopular leader.

Whether this ship can be righted by the people currently in charge remains to be seen.

We'll keep you abreast.