Police Chief David Bowman returned to the Englewood Police Department last week amidst cameras and cordial hellos from his officers.
The previously suspended chief officially took back his office as part of an agreement he has with the city, allowing him to return to the post for six months before retiring.
The chief was welcomed at the front door of the station by the media, a crowd of residents who support him and officers who remained loyal to him throughout a legal ordeal that left the Police Department lacking permanent leadership for the three years Bowman was away.
Photos captured Bowman greeting his subordinates with a smile and a handshake, although a majority of officers voted "no confidence" in him as their boss, according to the police union.
The scene was the result of a deal months in the making following Bowman’s exoneration in a court of law.
Bowman, along with Detective Emma Jackson and municipal Judge Joe Clark, were acquitted last year of faking documents to get a prisoner out of jail.
But after the trial, some police officers and city officials opposed bringing Bowman and Jackson back to the force.
The city reviewed the 2003 prisoner release and charged Bowman and Jackson internally, but decided to drop those charges in favor of crafting a deal that would return them to their jobs.
Both officers are now back on active duty, making salaries of more than $100,000 each.
According to acting City Manager Robert Casey, "Emma Jackson is undergoing orientation as to current police activities and upon completion will be assigned to a position either in the Investigation or Patrol division. I anticipate this assignment to be made within a week."
Days before he was set to return, Bowman said he was glad to be back on the force.
"I’m looking forward to it and to continue my dreams and visions before the charges happened," he said.
On his first day, the chief publicly told news station NY1 that the six-month deal may not be "necessarily true."
The statement was interpreted by one city official to mean Bowman may not want to abide by the agreement he signed with the city, invoking the question — will Bowman depart in six months or stay?
The city official, close to the negotiation process but outside of the police department, said the deal speaks for itself. The official asked to remain confidential.
The official said that the agreement, signed by Bowman and the city, does not allow any opt-out of the six-month condition.
Bowman’s supporters have publicly compared Bowman’s settlement to that of another police officer who remained on the job, Capt. William Hollenfer. Late last year, Casey did not accept Hollenfer’s "irrevocable" letter of resignation, a letter Hollenfer signed as a result of a lawsuit he had against Bowman.
Bowman’s supporters said if Hollenfer didn’t have to go neither did Bowman.
The official said that isn’t true.
The official cited a condition in Bowman’s agreement that states, "Chief Bowman agrees to not only release and discharge the city from any and all claims he could make on his behalf," including any "prior litigation, proceedings and/or agreements in which Chief Bowman was an interested party" or any claims made by another person.
Regarding the status of the department with Bowman at the helm, the city official said "we won’t regress too much, we will progress," citing a technology upgrade program started before Bowman took back the post.
