The St. Joseph County Prosecutor has interviewed and is close to hiring an independent investigator to look into allegations against the commander of the Metro Homicide Unit.
Prosecutor Mike Dvorak has met with an investigator who he is considering hiring to conduct an independent look into a complaint that a South Bend officer made about Metro Homicide Unit Commander Tim Corbett.
That special investigator could be hired as soon as Monday.
South Bend Corporal Jack Stilp filed a complaint in May that Corbett verbally threatened him for talking about what was on the tape recordings in South Bend Police Department's wiretapping investigation.
Last week, two City Council members called for a Special Prosecutor to look into the matter.
A press release from Dvorak's office says after receiving a written response from Corbett, the prosecutor and the Metro Homicide Board of Directors decided a 3rd party should investigate.
Councilmen Tim Scott and Henry Davis, Jr. are glad to see the process is moving forward. However, Davis is encouraging transparency.
"I'm happy for the prosecutor wanting to do an investigation, because we asked for that. However, when you begin to talk about the investigation, you want to make sure everything is open and clear and transparent," said Davis.
Davis wants to know who this 3rd party investigator is and where he is from.
The prosecutor's office says Dvorak has not officially hired anyone yet but is close, and as soon as Monday may say who it is.
Scott is also relieved a special investigator will be used. "It's good we're moving on, and it's good that it starts the healing process with the city, with everything that's going on. I really truly believe we can get past this and get back to the business we need to do."
And part of the business Scott and Davis are working on is passing a "whistle-blower ordinance." Scott says because of the wire-tapping investigation, city leaders discovered there needed to be improvement in some department policies and that there were loopholes or laps in the law.
Davis said, "We just want to make sure that employees are feeling safe and don't feel bullied while they are at work."
The "whistle-blower ordinance" is expected to be introduced at the council's next meeting.
