Hamtramck police chief suspended: City council votes to suspend city manager
Heated Hamtramck meeting leads to city manager getting suspended
Instead, the mayor and others on the city council said the city manager, who put that chief on paid administrative leave, needs to be in the same status—put on paid administrative leave as well—to ensure that the investigation is fair.
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Hamtramck City Council met on Tuesday to decide if Police Chief Jamiel Altaheri should be reinstated after he was suspended following a whistle-blower email.
Update: Hamtramck City Manager Max Garbarino has been suspended through a city council vote.
On Tuesday, residents came out to the meeting because they wanted to see if their suspended police chief would be reinstated.
Instead, the mayor and others on the city council said the city manager, who put that chief on paid administrative leave, needs to be in the same status—put on paid administrative leave as well—to ensure that the investigation is fair.
The backstory:
An email sent to city officials accused Altaheri of violating police department policies and the law.
Hamtramck City Council to address suspended police chief
As city leaders clash over the suspension of police chief Jamiel Altaheri following a whistle-blower email, the council is expected to address the topic at a Tuesday night meeting. That email described potential violations of department policy and the law.
The email also included implications regarding Altaheri’s involvement in a potential presidential pardon of a wealthy New York City financier who had been convicted of a financial crime and was a friend of Altaheri.
Jamiel Altaheri (NYCPD)
Another concern questions his involvement in an investigation into election fraud in the city.
City Manager Max Garbarino suspended the police chief after seeing the email.
The FBI was later scene at city hall, but federal authorities would not comment on the investigation.
Dig deeper:
The suspension led to an emergency meeting last week that, at times, became heated.
During this meeting, Mayor Amer Ghalib and Garbarino clashed, with the mayor saying that the police chief is not being given the chance to defend himself.
"What is happening now, is we are treating the police chief as a criminal until proven otherwise," Ghalib said.
However, Garbarino maintains that he did not overstep his authority by suspending the chief.
"There are criminal allegations which are alleged, which the federal agencies are investigating," he said. "And then there are civil internal departmental allegations that go along with that. These are two separate things."
Garbarino added the police officer who made allegations against the chief will also be investigated.
Some have since called for Garbarino to step down.
What's next:
A third-party investigator will be brought in to investigate the internal matter.
City leaders have not yet decided on a firm to handle that investigation.
The Source: Previous FOX 2 stories were used to report this update.