CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Two traffic officers have resigned from the Charleston Police Department following internal affairs investigations.
According to CPD spokesman Charles Francis, the investigation found that both of the officers wrote unwarranted tickets to motorists without their knowledge.
The first officer, Michael Baker, who resigned on July 3, acknowledged to investigators that he engaged in the practice of writing additional, unwarranted tickets to violators without their knowledge, then later dismissed the tickets in court.
The investigation found the officer was artificially inflating the number of tickets written in an attempt to conceal the fact that he was not actively and appropriately patrolling his area.
Baker had been on the force since 2014.
The second officer, Blaine Morgan, was also writing unwarranted tickets to motorists without their knowledge.
He resigned Wednesday morning during the investigation, according to Francis.
All pending tickets written by both officers are being dismissed. Unwarranted tickets were dismissed by the officers at the time in order to hide their wrongdoing.
“I want to be very clear on this point, to both the public and our officers. There’s no room in our department – none whatsoever — for this kind of misconduct. And anyone who engages in it will be caught swiftly, and removed from the force without delay.”
CHARLESTON POLICE CHIEF LUTHER REYNOLDS
