Newspaper Article

Black Officer To Lead P.G. Police Union;Election May Mute Critics of Force

Prince, Debbie M

1989

Overview

[James Swan] said last night that he will support [Darryl Jones]'s efforts as president. \"The elections are over and I support Darryl, and I hope that we can work together on whatever needs to be done,\" Swan said. The rejected contract, which would have increased retirement benefits but weakened disability payments, apparently was a key factor in the election, many FOP members said. Jones, who was aligned with the FOP administration and seen as favoring the proposed settlement, gained heavy support from the union's retirees and members of the special investigative units. The FOP handed [Alex Williams] a vote of no confidence after the state's attorney alleged that the [Gregory Habib] grand jury, which returned three misdemeanor indictments against one of the four white officers, had been tainted by possible tampering, obstruction of justice and perjury. State Prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli, who determined that Habib's death was accidental, found Williams's allegations baseless and dropped the indictments against the officer.

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