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Prichard’s police chief has been arrested amid a widening corruption investigation, and a special grand jury has issued a recommendation that the city’s police force be “abolished” and rebuilt.
The latest developments, revealed Wednesday by Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood, came five weeks after the arrest of officer Emanuel Dotch triggered a takeover of Prichard policing by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
Blackwood said that Alabama law did not allow a grand jury to issue a bill of impeachment against a police chief. However, it can make recommendations, and in this case the Mobile County grand jury had some strong ones.
It called for the Prichard City Council to begin proceedings to remove Knight from office. It called for the Prichard Police Department “to be abolished and subsequently rebuilt, under the guidance of a qualified consultant, using accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) as a management model.”
It also called for the city to contract with Mobile County to provide law enforcement in Prichard until the city was able to finish such a rebuilding process.
Responding to media questions at a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Blackwood said the Prichard PD had been afflicted by “a cultural rot.” He and Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch made clear that the investigation into the department was still in its early stages.
In the immediate case, Knight faces an ethics violation charge of using his office for personal gain and a felony charge of theft by deception. Prosecutors allege that he took payment for private jobs escorting funeral processions, while “simultaneously being paid by the City of Prichard for the same hours worked.”
The grand jury indicted another officer, Aaron Maurice Tucker, on the same charges.
Shortly before Burch and Blackwood spoke, Tucker and Knight were walked past reporters gathered outside MCSO headquarters. In footage shared by WKRG-TV5, Knight could be heard to say the charges were unfair and that “y’all will find out” why. “I know I’m innocent,” he said.
He also referred questions to his lawyer. It was not immediately clear who would represent him in the case.
(This story will be updated.)
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