Orlando police Chief Val Demings does not believe that an anonymous letter that threatened violence against her officers last month came from within the department, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The FBI is investigating the letter, which threatens violence against all Orlando police if Officer Fernando Trinidad is not criminally charged for pushing a woman down the stairs of a club last year.
WFTV-Channel 9 has reported that the FBI believes the letter was written by police officers. Demings called the station’s reporting shoddy and said “someone” is trying to manipulate the station into airing false reports of morale problems in the department she inherited in December. Demings has made sweeping personnel changes since taking over, focusing units on violent crime. Officer Trinidad was docked eight hours’ pay after an internal investigation showed he violated department standards by pushing and walking over the woman at the now-defunct club. He also is under criminal investigation for possible battery and false-statement charges.
Link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-trinidad0708may07,0,5043070.story