Bing Won't Rehire Ex-Police Chief
Former police chief Warren Evans has been rebuffed in his efforts to get another job with the city after claiming his replacement once had a tryst with a female lieutenant who is Evans' girlfriend.
Attorney Mark Zausmer said Wednesday that Mayor Dave Bing was not aware that Interim Chief Ralph Godbee and Lt. Monique Patterson were involved in a past relationship when Evans was fired last month.
Bing has said he terminated Evans, partly due to his involvement with Patterson.
Zausmer said text messages from Patterson's cell phone revealed a past relationship with Godbee.
Evans allegedly threatened Bing he would publicize text messages that would be embarrassing, if he didn't get his job back.
WWJ and TV's legal analyst Charlie Langton said that Evan's threat was not a crime.
"It would be a crime if Warren Evans said 'Hey, give me money, or I'll go public with this.' But, listen -- he just wanted a job," Langton said.
Zausmer sais that, despite the texts, Bing "was not willing'' to rehire Evans.
In a statement, Interim Chief Ralph Godbee said:
"I have recently learned that there are text message responses from my personal phone to a colleague that are of a personal nature. For this, I apologize to my family. It is my understanding through counsel that the recipient attempted to misuse these text messages to strike a deal with the City of Detroit. Consistent with Mayor Bing's pledge of transparency, we are coming forth with this information." Read More.
(Copyright 2010 WWJ Radio. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report)
