UPDATE: District Attorney Blackwood responds to Prichard Police Department, meeting scheduled
UPDATE (4:32 p.m.): Mobile District Attorney Keith Blackwood said he is “surprised” after receiving the letter from Prichard Police accusing his office of giving away cases to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
“I continue to be perplexed that this conversation is about race when it should be about facts,” Blackwood said.
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In a response to the Prichard Police Department’s request for a meeting, Blackwood wrote, “As you all know, for months we have been addressing a variety of issues that have arisen surrounding the Prichard Police Department ranging from placing officers on the streets of the community who lack the minimum APOST qualifications, to the Brady-Gigilio disqualification of officers whom it has been shown made false statements, and the failure to safekeep and timely provide the needed evidence that allows us to prosecute crimes.”
“I remind you that a prosecutor’s highest duty is to the truth which means not only prosecuting the guilty, but respecting the rights of the accused and requiring law enforcement to adhere to the proper standard of conduct,” Blackwood added
Although there were issues with standards of conduct, DA Blackwood asserted that the reason cases were being transferred to MCSO was due to procedural implementation.
The letter claims that since November 2023, 18 PPD cases have been dismissed. Further, DA Blackwood notes that his office never received paperwork for 13 of the 18 cases. The five other cases were allegedly approved but never signed off by an officer with the Magistrate’s Office which happened in the Norwood case.
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“It is true that the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and Prichard Police Department have concurrent jurisdiction,” Blackwood wrote. “It is also true that MCSO does excellent policework and regularly brings us thorough, complete cases.”
A meeting is scheduled with the City of Prichard on April 10, according to the letter.
UPDATE (2:31 p.m.): Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch says he is dissatisfied with the Prichard Police Department’s track record of catching violent criminals. He said this dissatisfaction caused his office to step in on various cases, including Tuesday’s violent robbery at T&J Food Mart in Eight Mile.
“There are probably too many unsolved cases for me to name, but I’ll say there are three or four that we are looking at,” Burch said.
Prichard police named 30-year-old Rashad Kardelle Norwood as a person of interest, but according to Burch, they failed to obtain a warrant for his arrest.
Burch said the decision to take over recent cases poses a problem to MCSO; overtime.
“Law enforcement is not an 8 to 5, Monday through Friday job, and I’m sure the community doesn’t want it to be that way,” Burch said. “There are these unexpected issues that arise that the only you can deal with it is to pay overtime to have the personnel to do it.”
Burch said MCSO has been working ‘day and night’ to capture Norwood for a crime he said could have been prevented if Prichard Police had signed warrants throughout Norwood’s extensive criminal history.
“This is not just about Prichard. This is about violent criminals who should have been in jail,” Burch said.
Last June, the Sheriff’s Office conducted a large-scale operation to target high-crime areas within the City of Prichard. During the operation, MCSO seized drugs, guns and violent offenders off the street. Burch said his job didn’t stop there.
Since then, Burch said the Sheriff’s Office continues to return to Prichard on a smaller scale, spending even more time and money.
“This is not a case where what happens in Prichard stays in Prichard,” Burch said.
Copies of the letters can be found below.
Response-to-Sheriffs-statementDownload
Ltr-to-Keith-BlackwoodDownload
UPDATE (1:30 p.m.): The Prichard Police chief is raising concerns after the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office takes over a case in Prichard’s jurisdiction.
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According to a joint letter sent from Prichard city officials, there are “apparent disparities” in how the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office handles cases involving the Prichard Police Department compared to other municipalities.
PPD states that this disparity in treatment from the DA’s Office has granted the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office access to covering cases where the department had no connection.
“To add insult to injury,” the joint letter said, “you then sign warrants for the Mobile County Sheriffs Department to arrest the same suspects, where MCSD deputies were not initially involved, were not at the scene when the crime occurred, were not the officers who initially interviewed witnesses, and with no consultation or collaboration with the reporting/investigating officer in the City of Prichard.”
The complaints come after the MCSO announced they were taking over the search for 30-year-old Rashad Kardelle Norwood in connection with a recent robbery at T&J Food Mart.
For his part, Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch says fighting crime is not cheap, let alone when his office has to pick up the slack the Prichard Police Department leaves behind.
Burch says his deputies have been working around the clock to reel in some of Prichard’s most violent criminals.
Last June, the Sheriff’s Office conducted a large-scale operation to target high-crime areas within the city of Prichard.
They got drugs, guns and violent offenders off the street, but Burch says their job didn’t stop there.
Since then, the Sheriff’s Office has returned to Prichard on a smaller scale, spending even more time and money.
Chief Walter L. Knight shared his own letter with the media.
“Since the election of Sheriff Paul Burch and District Attorney Keith Blackwood, the District Attorney’s Office and Mobile County Sheriff’s Department have worked in concert to intentionally rip away control and credibility from the city of Prichard’s Police Department,” that letter said.
PREVIOUS REPORTING:
MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — Mobile County Sheriff’s Office deputies are taking over a robbery case initially investigated by the Prichard Police Department.
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The Prichard Police Department announced on April 3 that they were looking for 30-year-old Rashad Kardelle Norwood, who is wanted in connection with a robbery at T&J Food Mart on Shelton Beach Road. The robbery reportedly happened on April 2.
MCSO announced on April 4 that they were searching for Norwood.
The store owner was shot multiple times during the robbery, according to sources. He did survive the incident.
Video surveillance showed a man, now identified as Norwood, crossing the street to enter the food mart. The food mart owner was leaning on a silver truck but approached the man wearing a blue hoodie when he entered the parking lot area.
That’s when the suspect pulled out a gun, walked toward the owner, and shot him five times, according to previous reporting.
Norwood is wanted for attempted murder and first-degree robbery, according to the MCSO. He is also wanted for an outstanding felony probation violation warrant.
MCSO considers him armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information on Norwood is asked to contact MCSO at 251-574-8633.
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