Top Story of 2008:
Police Chief Bill Mauldin’s
Fall from Grace
by Dennis Reeves Cooper
The story of the year in
2008 was the fall from grace
of former Police Chief Bill
Mauldin. Mauldin abruptly
resigned on April Fool’s Day in
the midst of an internal investigation
by city management
looking into allegations that he
repeatedly sexually harassed
Christie Phillips, his public
information officer.
But it is likely that “Bumbling
Bill” was already on
the way out. He had recently
been caught lying to the press
about charges he had allegedly
trumped up to try to fire Officer
Tom Neary because he feared
that Neary might be ready to
go public with allegations of
corruption, incompetence and
favoritism inside the Key West
Police Department (KWPD).
And last summer, we here
at Key West The Newspaper
were able to uncover and report
what appeared to be an effort
by Mauldin to manufacture an
illegal “September Surprise” to
discredit City Commissioner
Mark Rossi just weeks before
the October election.
Recent Comments