DETROIT, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on
Tuesday suspended the city’s police chief and ordered a full
investigation after media reports that he had been dating a
female internal affairs officer in the department.
Police Chief Ralph Godbee Junior is the latest Detroit city
leader to face accusations of a sexual relationship with a
subordinate after former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his
immediate predecessor as chief, Warren Evans.
“After learning of the allegations regarding Chief Ralph
Godbee, I have placed him on a 30-day suspension pending a full
and thorough investigation of this matter,” Bing said in a
statement.
Assistant Chief Chester Logan assumed the duties and
responsibilities of police chief in the interim, Bing said.
A police spokesman declined to comment on the suspension.
Godbee could not be reached immediately for comment.
Court records show that Godbee filed for divorce in August
and that a settlement conference has been scheduled for Nov. 26.
ABC News in Detroit reported first on Tuesday that Godbee
had been dating the internal affairs officer for about a year.
Godbee succeeded Evans in mid-2010 after Evans resigned in
part due to fallout from an alleged affair with a subordinate,
and one day after a local television station aired an excerpt
from a video pitch he made for a possible reality TV show.
Kilpatrick, who is on trial now on public corruption
charges, pleaded guilty in 2008 to obstruction of justice and
resigned from office after prosecutors alleged he lied in a
civil lawsuit to conceal an affair with his chief of staff.
The city of Detroit is in financial crisis and has made deep
cuts in city services.
(Reporting by Bernie Woodall and David Bailey)
