Letter: A Whistleblower's Farewell to the Riviera Beach Police Squad

This week's New Times cover story is an in-depth look at the corruption scandal that has rocked the Riviera Beach Police Department in the past two years. Veteran Detective Lee Ann Schneider is now awaiting trial for allegedly helping a supervisor pad his overtime, while Sgt. Michael Dodson has been...

By Lisa Rab

March 16, 2011

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This week's New Times cover story is an in-depth look at the corruption scandal that has rocked the Riviera Beach Police Department in the past two years. Veteran Detective Lee Ann Schneider is now awaiting trial for allegedly helping a supervisor pad his overtime, while Sgt. Michael Dodson has been accused of falsely reporting a crime after getting drunk, firing his gun in his garage, and mutilating himself with a box cutter. A third officer, Vice Agent John Toombs, was acquitted on charges of tipping off a murder suspect.

The cop who first brought many of these alleged crimes to the attention of the FBI is Shawn Vance, who recently resigned from Riviera Beach and now works for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Before he left, Vance wrote a scathing letter accusing "the highest ranking personnel" in the Riviera Police Department of threatening his career and his life. His screed speaks to the poisonous internal strife within the department. It also highlights the fact that no high-ranking officer in Riviera has been charged in the scandal -- raising questions about how successful the corruption bust could be. Read Vance's resignation letter after the jump.

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