The State Attorney’s office has dropped charges against a former Tallahassee Police Department officer. Brian Davis was accused of solicitation of prostitution.
Davis was placed on administrative leave in January for an unrelated case. That suspension continued when he was found with a prostitute in a Tallahassee motel in late March. He was fired September 24, but the state’s charges against him were dropped Wednesday. An Assistant state attorney says the case could not proceed because the state couldn’t get enough information from the Tallahassee Police Department regarding the incident. TPD spokesman David Northway says there were two investigations into Davis’ behavior going on at once—an internal investigation, and the state’s criminal case.
“There’s a Florida Bill of Rights, section 112 Florida Statutes, that’s the officers bill of rights—any time there’s an internal affairs investigation going on, that information is confidential in nature," Northway said.
"Once the case is complete, it can be fully released, but until that time, we can’t but until its released, we can’t release any information, and that may have been the cause of today’s decision to drop the case, but you would have to speak with the state attorney’s office about that.”
Davis is also responsible for filing the complaint that led the city of Tallahassee to chastise Police Chief Mike DeLeo for his relationship with a subordinate female officer. DeLeo recused himself from the internal investigation. Davis was officially fired for insubordination due to his refusal to answer questions required by law. But other claims against him, such as conduct unbecoming of an officer, were sustained in the internal review. He can still challenge his termination.
