Gainesville Police assistant Chief Terry Pierce will be the subject of a third-party investigation amid allegations of unprofessional behavior, GPD confirmed Wednesday.
The agency received a complaint filed against Pierce, and GPD Chief Tony Jones intends to use a third party to look into the allegations, wrote GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias in an email.
“He is in contact with different parties and agencies to determine the most appropriate party to conduct this investigation,” Tobias said.
Tobias would not comment further and said all items related to an internal investigation are confidential upon completion, citing Florida law.
Last Wednesday, Alena Lawson, the chief investigator with the Eighth Judicial Circuit public defender’s office, sent an email to Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe, claiming to have knowledge on incidents that expose Pierce’s behavior.
Lawson, a retired GPD lieutenant and president of the local chapter of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, or NOBLE, told Poe she had been contacted by several officers who recounted recent incidents.
According to the email obtained by the Alligator, Pierce made threats to officers recently and left the room slamming the door. On a separate occasion, Pierce made inappropriate comments to a female supervisor, Lawson said.
“No one, regardless of rank should behave this way and certainly not a member of the command staff that makes decisions about Officers (sic) careers,” Lawson wrote to Poe.
In the email, Lawson then said NOBLE requests an independent, external investigation.
Within hours, Poe responded to Lawson saying he is aware of the situation but would defer to Chief Jones on how to handle the situation.
“I trust Chief Jones to do whatever is in the best interest of the department and the residents it serves,” Poe wrote to Lawson in his email.
Lawson declined to comment, and Poe declined to comment further than what he wrote in the email, citing that he doesn’t want the City Commission interfering with the agency’s internal investigation.
