Harassment, Phone Seizure Among New Complaints Against Police Chief

BRADENTON, FL — New complaints have been filed against Bradenton’s police Chief Melanie Bevan, according to the Southwest Florida Police Benevolent Association.

The chief is already under investigation after being accused of an unlawful search of a resident’s home in July.

In an Aug. 15 news release, Mick McHale, the Southwest Florida PBA president, said complaints allege that Bevan and former assistant chief Paul McWade ordered officers “to monitor and surveil” police sergeant Joseph Kelly right after his wife, Eva Kelly, committed suicide.

The officers were asked to find her cell phone and unlawfully remove it from Joseph Kelly’s home and give it to police department administrators, McHale said. Eva Kelly had previously worked for the law enforcement agency, but had left the department before her death.

• Also Read: Bradenton Police Chief Investigated, Accused Of Unlawful Search: Union

The PBA is also requesting an outside investigation into allegations “that Chief Bevan ordered officers to ‘think outside of the box’ and to harass and terrorize a suspect by turning off his power, intentionally ramming a patrol car into his personal vehicle, repossessing the suspect’s car, removing the suspect’s child from his home, and unlawfully detaining and interrogating the suspect,” according to McHale’s news release.

Other complaints also allege Bevan “discriminates against ‘masculine men’ and that she refused to promote a male officer based upon her belief that he was ‘too masculine,’” the Southwest Florida PBA president said.

“We have not released any information regarding active investigations and can't comment further on Mr. McHale's press releases at this time,” Meredith Frameli, a BPD public information officer, told Patch.

Patch has reached out to the city of Bradenton for additional information.

In an earlier letter to Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown, sent Aug. 8, McHale spoke of a complaint that during a July 14 call, Bevan allegedly “reached her hand inside of the pocket of a bystander on scene without any warrant or warning.”

She felt something in their pocket and instructed an officer to find out what it was, according to the complaint. The item wasn’t a weapon, the union president added.

“After conducting a warrantless search of the bystander,” Bevan entered the home and began searching it, McHale wrote. “She wore black gloves and began looking around the home and moving things inside the home as part of her warrantless search. Other Bradenton police officers on scene were in shock and were left speechless as they watched Chief Bevan conduct an unlawful search of the home.”

Officers were also concerned about the chief’s safety, as she didn’t wear a protective vest in the home, which is BPD policy, McHale said.

Bradenton police officer Hannah Kalchbrenner, who was at the scene during the arrest, filed a complaint about Bevan’s search to her direct supervisor and the internal affairs unit.

The officer was later “ambushed by internal affairs investigators upon her return to work after filing the complaint, and she was thereafter interrogated and illegally detained,” the union president wrote. “Internal affairs investigators refused to allow (her) to have an attorney present, and they refused to allow her to use the restroom.”

They also forced Kalchbrenner to hand over her personal cell phone for review, according to McHale.

He also said that internal affairs investigators reached out to the homeowner and tried to convince her “that Chief Bevan’s warrantless search of her home was lawful.”

In an Aug. 9 response to McHale, Brown confirmed that both the chief and the internal affairs department were under investigation following the incident.

In an Aug. 11 open letter given to Patch by the city of Bradenton, Bevan said she was “utterly dismayed and disappointed” by what she calls “false allegations.” She claimed they were made because of failed contract negotiations between the union and the city.