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PRESS RELEASE FROM THE SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
August 15, 2022
Mick McHale
(941) 366-1436
SIGNED AFFIDAVITS BY BRADENTON OFFICERS REVEAL ONGOING PATTERN OF ABUSE OF POWER COMMITTED BY CHIEF OF POLICE MELANIE BEVAN AND HER ADMINISTRATION
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA PBA SEEKS AN INVESTIGATION INTO CHIEF BEVAN’S ORDER TO ILLEGALLY CONFISICATE AND EXAMINE A CELLULAR PHONE THAT BELONGED TO THE DECEASED WIFE OF A BRADENTON POLICE OFFICER AND OTHER ALLEGATIONS OF UNLAWFUL CONDUCT AND RETALIATION
BRADENTON, FL- The following statement can be attributed to Southwest Florida PBA President Mick McHale:
“The startling revelation by one of our veteran police Sergeants that Bradenton Police Chief Melanie Bevan and Deputy Chief Paul McWade conspired to confiscate and search the personal cell phone of HIS deceased wife is further evidence that Chief Melanie Bevan and her administration operate without any regard for the law.
Chief Melanie Bevan and former Assistant Chief Paul McWade assigned Bradenton Police Officers to monitor and surveil Sergeant Joseph Kelly, immediately after his late wife (Eva Kelly) committed suicide, under the false pretense that the officers were assigned to monitor and support Sergeant Joseph Kelly, when in fact, Chief Melanie Bevan and former Assistant Chief Paul McWade, ordered those officers to locate and unlawfully remove Eva Kelly’s personal cellular telephone from the home of Joseph Kelly and thereafter deliver the phone to administrators within the Bradenton Police Department. Eva Kelly had previously worked at Bradenton P.D. as a dispatcher, but no longer worked there at the time of her death. Any officer accused of unlawfully seizing a suspect’s cellular telephone would be suspended without pay immediately. The Chief of Police should be held to the higher standard, not the other way around. Chief Bevan clearly believes she is above the law, which reaffirms our call for an outside investigation into the Chief’s actions and for the PBA’s request that the Chief be suspended from her duties pending the results of an impartial outside investigation.
Additionally, the PBA is requesting that an outside investigator be assigned to investigate the verified complaints which allege that Chief Bevan ordered officers to ‘think outside of the box’ and to harass and terrorize a suspect by turning off his power, intentionally ramming a patrol car into his personal vehicle, repossessing the suspect’s car, removing the suspect’s children from his home, and unlawfully detaining and interrogating the suspect.
The PBA is also requesting that an outside investigator be assigned to investigate the verified complaints which allege that Chief Bevan and/or former Assistant Chief Paul McWade ordered officers to arrest Eva Kelly’s ex-husband, without probable cause or a legal basis, if the ex-husband attended Eva Kelly’s funeral service.
The PBA is also requesting that an outside investigator be assigned to investigate the verified complaints which allege that Christopher Herron battered officers within the Bradenton Police Department without regard for consequence because of his friendship with Melanie Bevan and the concerns he was acting as a sworn law enforcement officer despite having been hired to fill an unsworn civilian position.
The PBA is also requesting that an outside investigator be assigned to investigate the verified complaint alleging that Chief Bevan discriminates against “masculine men” and that she refused to promote a male officer based upon her belief that he was ‘too masculine.’
Lastly, the PBA is requesting that an outside investigator be assigned to investigate the numerous verified complaints which allege that the internal affairs department at the Bradenton Police Department acts without regard for the civil rights of the officers being interrogated or investigated.”
A copy of the respective affidavits are enclosed.
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