Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark says a nationwide search is underway for a new police chief following a shakeup of the city's Police Department. (Jeff Vorva / Daily Southtown)

       Saying the city’s Police Department suffers from a “culture of corruption,” Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark said he is restructuring the department and launching a nationwide search for a new police chief.

       The resignation Friday of Joseph Moseley II means that Harvey will be looking for a new top cop for the department for the fourth time since Clark was elected in April 2019.

       Moseley, formerly a sergeant with the Chicago Police Department, was brought on in June. In a statement Friday, Clark said the progress has been made in improving the department under Moseley’s watch, but that it hasn’t advanced quickly enough and he had asked Moseley to step down.

       The search for a chief is intended to “find the leadership we need to be serious about stopping crime,” Clark said.

       The mayor said he is also seeking help from outside of Harvey, including county and federal authorities, to assist in bolstering his city’s police force.

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       “There is a culture of corruption that has to be stopped,” Clark said in the statement. “Enough is enough.”

       Moseley said Monday that he resigned earlier in the day Friday, ahead of a news conference the mayor held to announce the restructuring, but declined further comment.

       Clark said that five civilian members of the Police Department have been asked to resign, some for cause, and that some had voluntarily left to avoid being fired.

       He said it will free up funds to put more officers on Harvey’s streets.

       One of the employees who resigned is Olivia Cobbins, an internal affairs investigator with the department.

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       In a Nov. 8 letter to Moseley and Clark announcing her resignation, Cobbins said she had been blocked in her efforts to probe alleged use of excessive force.

       Cobbins wrote the department’s internal affairs division had received information that a deputy chief had used a closed fist to strike a handcuffed student in the chest at Thornton High School.

       She said she was denied access to evidence needed to complete the investigation and that her work as an investigator for the department “is not valued at this organization.”

       Clark was wrapping up his first term as a city alderman before winning a two-person race for mayor in April 2019 following a February primary in which seven candidates, including then police Chief Gregory Thomas, were seeking the mayor’s job.

       In the general election, Clark bested Harvey Park Board President Anthony McCaskill to replace four-term Mayor Eric Kellogg, who had been barred from seeking reelection due to the passage of a term limit referendum championed by Clark.

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       After being sworn in, Clark replaced Thomas, who remained on the Harvey force, with Eddie Winters, a Chicago police lieutenant, to lead the department.

       A 25-year CPD veteran and former state representative, Winters had been one of Clark’s most prominent hires early in his term.

       Winters’ stay, however, didn’t last and he was placed on leave by Clark in late January 2020 then a few days later fired by the mayor who claimed Winters wasn’t a good fit for the department.

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       Winters was replaced by Robert Collins, who had previously been chief in Dolton, but the 28-year law enforcement veteran resigned in early February of this year, which was followed by Moseley’s appointment.

       With the city facing limited funds and a heavy load of debt, Clark has said that bringing on new full-time officers to the police force has been a challenge.

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       This summer he touted the hiring of a dozen part-time officers who, although not sworn police personnel at this point, will help get “boots on the ground and people in the street.”

       They will undergo nine months of police academy training while shadowing Harvey police officers, although initially serving in support roles and not in active law enforcement positions, according to the city.

       The hope is that the new hires, who bring a variety of experience and include military veterans and current military reserve officers, according to the mayor, will eventually become full-time officers with the department, which has 31 patrol officers.

       mnolan@tribpub.com

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