Tony Logan Pulls a "Rick Thompson"

Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan spent 12 hours in the Florence-Lauderdale Detention Center, being released sometime after ten o'clock this morning. Immediately after his release, he requested a leave of absence of indeterminate length from the Tuscumbia department. Logan has been chief of the small Colbert County town for only a year, and now leaves the Tuscumbia Police Department again rudderless.

Ironically, Logan began his career in law enforcement in Tuscumbia in 1983. Two years later, Logan became part of the Florence Police Department were he once served as one of two Deputy Chiefs, even teaching law enforcement classes at the University of North Alabama. A 2003 article from the TimesDaily called Logan the most important man at the Florence Police Department; how Florence Chief Rick Singleton felt about this remark is anyone's guess.

Tony Logan and fellow Deputy Chief Pete Williford served without complaint until 2005 when a Florence businessman filed charges of police harassment against his family. Logan and Williford investigated the allegations and found them to be without merit. When the family took their complaints to the District Attorney's office, the Florence City Council became involved. While Logan and Williford's handling of the complaint was never officially censured, Chief Singleton announced the policy for investigating such complaints would be completely revised.

On April 1, 2007, Chief Singleton announced that Chief Deputy Tony Logan had been terminated. The press release took some by so much surprise that they assumed the story was an April Fool's prank. Singleton could not have been more serious.

While stipulating that Logan had not committed an illegal or criminal act (and we're not sure of any difference in the two), Singleton refused to further comment publicly on Logan's termination. Privately, Singleton is said to have stated the situation had been building for some time. Deputy Chief Tony Logan, while claiming surprise at his dismissal, immediately hired Florence attorney Tim Case to defend him before the Florence Civil Service Board.


Tomorrow: What Tony did next... (With apologies to Katie Price.)

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