Mount Vernon officials open misconduct probe into police department

Mount Vernon Mayor Andrew Wallace and Commissioner Shawn Harris announced Friday that they are investigating financial misconduct within the police department.

News 12 Staff

Aug 30, 2019, 6:42 PM

Updated 1,792 days ago

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Mount Vernon Mayor Andrew Wallace and Commissioner Shawn Harris announced Friday that they are investigating financial misconduct within the police department.
They plan to probe how the police department spent millions in overtime and went millions over budget.
Harris announced that he has appointed Sgt. Steven Sexton to the Internal Affairs Unit to work with other public integrity bureaus to investigate and combat any fraud going on within the department.
Harris says the city needs to regain the public's trust.
“How can the public trust us if we can't enforce laws on our own?” he asked. “That's the biggest issue. We have to restore and maintain our image.”
The commissioner says there is no timeline on the overtime investigations. He says he expects a spike in retirements when the investigation is near completion.


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