Lieutenant is cleared of drinking, driving car

A high-ranking Minneapolis police officer has been cleared of allegations that he drove a squad car while drinking.

But that won't get Lt. Lee Edwards his old job back.

The decision by an internal disciplinary panel shows that Police Chief Tim Dolan reacted too hastily and severely to complaints against Edwards, said Lt. John Delmonico, president of the Minneapolis Police Federation.

"With the facts coming out, I hope Lee can start to get his reputation back," Delmonico said.

Dolan removed Edwards as inspector of the Fourth Precinct in north Minneapolis and demoted him to lieutenant last summer, as allegations circulated about an incident in May. On Tuesday, Dolan would say only that he removed Edwards for administrative reasons.

The panel cleared Edwards of the drinking allegation Friday. But it gave him a letter of reprimand for making an inappropriate sexual remark. The letter will remain in his personnel file for approximately two more years, Delmonico said.

The disciplinary panel consisted of Deputy Chiefs Rob Allen, Valerie Wurster and Scott Gerlicher. Their recommendations need to be approved by Assistant Chief Sharon Lubinski.

Whatever Lubinski's decision, Dolan said he won't reinstate Edwards, who now works as a head investigator in the First Precinct in downtown.

Demotion cited in lawsuit

Edwards is one of five veteran black officers who have sued Dolan and the city for racial discrimination. In the suit, Edwards said the basis for his "demotion" was allegations of driving a squad car intoxicated and making offensive comments to subordinates. A white lieutenant with a history of civil rights violations replaced him as the precinct's acting inspector, the suit said.

John Klassen, Edwards' attorney, said Tuesday that discipline and demotion will continue to be important issues during the ongoing litigation.

"We are pleased for Lt. Edwards and his family in this exoneration," Klassen said. "We believe this fits into the pattern of black officers being disciplined much more quickly and severely than white officers, and we believe we're going to be able to show that to a federal jury."

One North Side neighborhood leader who has worked with Edwards said Dolan might have rushed to judgment when he removed Edwards as head of the Fourth Precinct.

"We're out here trying to get these little kids off the streets, and here's another missed opportunity to see someone who looks like them in a very important position," said Jerry Moore, head of the Jordan Area Community Council. "These kids hear and see [rapper] 50 Cent every day, but they don't see our good cops in positions of influence where they can be a bridge builder."

Celebrating a conviction

Edwards, who has been with the department for 18 years, was head of the internal affairs and homicide units before Dolan appointed him as Fourth Precinct inspector in November 2006.

In August, Dolan replaced Edwards with Capt. Mike Martin. Martin, a gang expert, has continued Edwards' efforts to reduce violent crime in the precinct.

An internal affairs investigation into the allegations against Edwards started in May after a conviction in the case of Marcus Potts, an 11-year-old who was slain in 1990, a case that Edwards had worked as a young cop.

Edwards allegedly drank at a downtown bar and then drove to his precinct less than a mile away on Plymouth Avenue. Department policy doesn't allow officers to drive a squad if their blood alcohol level is more than 0.02 percent, Delmonico said.

Delmonico said he was concerned that Dolan reassigned Edwards within 40 minutes of Edwards' statement to an internal affairs investigator. Such action usually takes months, Delmonico said.

"To reassign Edwards from inspector for this type of incident is very serious," he said.

dchanen@startribune.com • 612-673-4465 tcollins@startribune.com • 612-673-1790