BY CRISTINA KUMKA
Staff Writer | Posted Feb. 1, 9:15 p.m.

Englewood — A handshake agreement is all it took for suspended Police Chief David Bowman to take back the reigns of the 81-member Englewood Police Department, sources confirmed.

Although no formal agreement in writing was signed, multiple confidential police sources and one government source confirmed that interim City Manager Robert Casey agreed earlier today to reinstate Bowman as the chief for six months.

One confidential source close to the legal battle would not reveal when Bowman is expected to come back to work but did confirm that Bowman agreed to leave the chief’s post by August.

The three administrative charges the city levied against Bowman in late January relating to his conduct during the release of a prisoner in 2003 will be dropped when the new deal is signed, the source said.

Detective Emma Jackson, previously suspended by the city with Bowman, is also expected to get her job back, the source said.

Bowman, Jackson and municipal Judge Joseph Clark were indicted in 2004 for temporarily releasing prisoner and family friend Lloyd Fields from jail to attend his father’s funeral.

State investigators alleged the trio tampered with documents to release Fields but a jury found Bowman, Jackson and Clark not guilty of the charges in November 2007. Clark retired shortly after the indictment.

However, city officials conducted their own investigation, culminating in three administrative charges levied against Bowman and Jackson for not following police protocols.

But under the new deal, confirmed by sources today, all charges will be dropped and Bowman will come back to work.
None of the sources would confirm if city officials plan to pay Bowman and Jackson ’s legal fees or any additional monies as part of their settlements.

One source said that Casey and city attorneys dropped the charges because “there just wasn’t enough to terminate a Chief of Police.”