Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine was placed on administrative leave this week. City leadership said the leave was necessary and Prine publicly disagreed. Then, on Thursday, Mayor Sandy Stimpson said the chief had gone “off the hook” to city attorneys about his inevitable firing, as well as the police department itself.

Pring addressed the situation in an interview Wednesday, blaming the mayor's office for failing to reach an amicable resolution regarding his departure.

“I'm not going to be intimidated into submitting to the system,” Pring said. “My hands are clean. I'm not saying anybody's hands are dirty, but I've done everything ethically. I'm not the kind of person who can be intimidated into a corner. That's why we couldn't come to an agreement.”

“I don't mind breaking away from the government, but not in this way.”

He also said the future direction of the issue will ultimately be decided by Mayor Sandy Stimpson and his office.

“It all depends on what the administration says,” Pring said. “They can distort the truth, they can fabricate the truth, they can do anything they want to say they're doing.”

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said in an interview Thursday that there had been warning signs about the situation surrounding Pring for several weeks.

“We weren't going to badmouth him and he wasn't going to badmouth us, but it's a standard separation agreement. And we said, 'Just take your time,' and two weeks went by and we still hadn't heard back. So one day he didn't show up and went AWOL. They were asking, 'Where's the chief?' And then we noticed the chief had deep cleaned out his office,” Mayor Stimpson said.

In a press release Wednesday, Mayor Sandy Stimpson detailed the mayor's office's reasons for placing Pullin on administrative leave.

“The public has entrusted me with the honor of making decisions that directly impact the police department's ability to keep them safe,” Stimpson said. “Simply put, I am responsible for ensuring that police officers have the tools, training, resources and leadership to do their jobs.”

“Conversely, if I am lacking in any of these areas, it is my responsibility to address that.”

Stimpson said Pullin's actions as chief had eroded the trust between the community and the police department.

“Over the past decade, we have worked to implement 21st century, intelligence-driven policing techniques that use a data-driven approach to target criminals instead of neighborhoods, resulting in improved communication and greater trust between our Mobile Police Department and the local community.”

“In recent months, there has been a breakdown in communications between Paul Prine and our intelligence services. This is of particular concern to me.”

The mayor revealed that he has brought in a U.S. attorney to conduct an independent investigation in an effort to restore trust.

“Additionally, we have been concerned by the frequency of officer-involved incidents,” Stimpson said. “To address these concerns and rebuild trust between our police department and the community, we have partnered with the Mobile City Council to commission former U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown to conduct an independent review of our internal police department policies, procedures and training. Specifically, we wanted to determine whether our policies, procedures and training are aligned with best practices in policing.”

Stimpson was not satisfied with the results of the investigation.

“I was shocked and disappointed to hear that during the public roll call at the First Precinct, several officers who were present at the time admitted that Mr. Pring said something to the effect of, 'Don't listen to what I say in the media, fuck the people,'” Stimpson said.

“Investigators concluded that this comment was the catalyst for a shift from a culture of respect for everyone in the community to the use of profanity and a lack of adherence to de-escalation training taught at MPD's training academy.”

That wasn't the only problem Stimpson found in his report.

“Investigators also conveyed concerns about Mr. Pullin's authoritarian leadership style and said he had publicly stated he used fear as a management technique. There were also a series of frivolous complaints made by Mr. Pullin that were demonstrably false.”

Stimpson said he offered Pullin a proper severance package to honor his 27-year law enforcement career, but after Pullin didn't respond for two weeks, Stimpson said a change was needed.

“After considering all the information before me, I have decided to move in a different direction from the leadership of the Mobile Police Department. Out of respect for Mr. Pullin's 27 years of service to the community, we have offered him an amicable retirement with reasonable severance pay commensurate with his current salary. Additionally, we have communicated to him that we need answers quickly.”

“That was almost two weeks ago.”

“Over the past two weeks, we have pressed Mr. Pullin for answers while at the same time giving him privacy and time to make a decision. Unfortunately, during that time he has begun packing up his office and stepping away from his duties. Department leadership has communicated to us that they are at an impasse with no one in charge.”

“All allegations of irregularities regarding contracts and invoices communicated to us by Mr. Pring in recent weeks were promptly investigated by city attorneys and no irregularities were found.”

The mayor's office also alleges that Pring asked for a lump sum of $600,000 upon his retirement.

Austin Shipley is a staff writer for Yellow Hammer News.