Alabama city divided over whether to abolish police department accused of "culture of corruption"

HANCEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — As a small Alabama city weighs whether to disband its police department accused of having a “rampant culture of corruption,” residents are split over how to weigh the need for public safety against longstanding misconduct.

The city council chambers in Hanceville, Alabama, were filled to capacity on Thursday evening, forcing some to crane their necks through an open front door to hear the emotional testimony that took place.

The mayor of Hanceville placed the entire police force on administrative leave last week after a grand jury indicted four officers and the police chief on a variety of charges that included accusations of mishandling or removing evidence from the department’s evidence room. The grand jury said the department had a “rampant culture of corruption” and “operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency. The grand jury recommended the department be “immediately abolished.”

Attorneys for the four indicted officers didn't respond to emailed requests by The Associated Press for comment on Thursday afternoon. No attorney was listed for the police chief and he did not respond to a phone call to a number listed under his name.

Many attendees on Thursday said they hoped the department would be restaffed, and expressed concerns about how public safety would be impacted without a local department. Others said misconduct predates the most recent scandal that sparked widespread outcry in the city of approximately 3,200 people about 45 miles (70 kilometers) north of Birmingham.

“The actions of a few has shaken the very trust between law enforcement and the people they were meant to protect," Robert Powell, lifelong Hanceville resident and civics teacher said.

The grand jury found that departmental negligence played a role in the April 2024 death of a dispatcher who was found dead at work from a suspected drug overdose. Hanceville District Attorney Champ Crocker did not elaborate on the finding, but he said that “nothing was secure about the evidence room” and the dispatcher had access to it on his final day of work.

But city clerk Tania Wilcox said she complained about separate corruption allegations in the police department to the county five months before the dispatcher died of an overdose. Wilcox didn't specify what her complaints were, but she said nothing was done until the dispatcher died.

Wilcox said that police “did everything they possibly could” to keep the city council “from getting any information” about the dispatcher's death. Wilcox echoed council members' assertions that they did not know about the charges against the officers until Febuary.

“I have had my life threatened over what went on at this police department,” Wilcox said.

Many tearfully testified to the council about ways that some officers in the department had undermined trust through excessive force and harassment before the indictments.

“Corruption is nothing new here, these news microphones have been in this town since I was a kid.” said Michael Waldorp, a lifelong resident of Hanceville. “It's constant.”

Others took to the stand to defend police officers and city employees.

Chris Johnson, a local coffee shop owner, joined a chorus of residents who said that they thought the department should be rebuilt. Johnson said that he worried about responsiveness if law enforcement duties are delegated to the sheriff’s department.

The department had approximately 12 officers prior to the indictment, according to Wilcox. But the scandal has led some officers who weren't implicated in misconduct to resign — leaving the department with just four officers who are now on administrative leave.

Former Hanceville officer Terry Cupp quit following the indictments, just one month after the mayor honored him for resuscitating the life of an infant. City council member Patty Dean-Tucker questioned what would happen if he is not replaced.

“Where would that family be if we hadn't had him here? Think about it. It could've been your grandchildren,” Dean-Tucker said.

The council called for a special meeting to consider the future of the department on March 10.

Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker speaks at a press conference Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Cullman, Ala. (Patrick Camp/The Cullman Times via AP)

Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry speaks at a press conference Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Cullman, Ala. (Patrick Camp/The Cullman Times via AP)

This undated photo provided by the Cullman County Sheriff's Office shows a hole on the wall next to the door to the evidence room at the Hanceville Police Department in Hanceville, Ala. Officials said the evidence room was not kept secure and could be accessed by the hole on the wall. (Cullman County Sheriff's Office via AP)

This image from a security camera footage provided by the Cullman County Sheriff's Office shows an individual who works at there sticks his head and upper body in the hole, attempting to open the door to the evidence room, at the Hanceville Police Department in Hanceville, Ala. Officials said the evidence room was not kept secure and could be accessed by a hole on the wall. (Cullman County Sheriff's Office via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Sunday it rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines since Iran downed a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Tehran with a new looming deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran showed no signs of backing down, striking economic and infrastructure targets in neighboring Gulf Arab countries.

The airman’s extraction followed a U.S. search-and-rescue operation after the Friday crash of the F-15E Strike Eagle, as Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in an “enemy pilot.” Trump said he was injured but in stable condition.

“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump wrote on social media.

A second crew member was rescued earlier.

The fighter jet was the first American aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the U.S. and Israel launched the war, striking Iran on Feb. 28. The war has since killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.

Trump said last week that the U.S. had “decimated” Iran and would finish the war “very fast.” Two days later, Iran shot down two U.S. military planes, showing the ongoing perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of a degraded Iranian military to continue to hit back.

As Iran continues to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz, Trump, in a weekend social media post, threatened to unleash “all Hell” if it isn’t opened by Monday. He has issued such threats before and extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war on agreeable terms.

The other jet to go down was a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it crashed was immediately known.

On Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing what it claimed were parts of American aircraft shot down by Iranian forces, along with a photo of thick, black smoke rising into the air. The broadcaster said Iran had shot down an American transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation.

However, a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission told The Associated Press that the U.S. military blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction, forcing it to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission.

In Kuwait, an Iranian drone attack caused significant damage to two power plants and put a water desalination station out of service, according to the Ministry of Electricity. No injuries were reported from the attack, the ministry said.

In Bahrain, the national oil company said that a drone attack caused a fire at one of its storage facilities, which was extinguished. It said the damage was still being assessed and no injuries had been reported.

In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to multiple fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant that they said were caused by intercepted debris. Production at the plant in Ruwais, near the UAE’s western border with Saudi Arabia, was halted.

The strike came a day after Israel struck a petrochemical plant in Iran that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said generated revenue that it had used to fund the war.

Trump renewed his threats for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz by Monday or face devastating consequences, writing Saturday in a social media post: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”

The waterway is a critical chokepoint for global energy shipments, especially oil and gas moving from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Disruptions there have injected volatility into the market and pushed oil and gas-importing countries to seek alternative sources.

“The doors of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi with the country’s joint military command said late Saturday in response to Trump’s renewed threat, state media reported. In turn, the general threatened all infrastructure used by the U.S. military in the region.

But Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the AP that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track” after Islamabad last week said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb.

The strait, 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.

“Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?” Qalibaf wrote.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.

This report has been corrected to show that Borealis is an Austrian company and not Australian.

Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Vehicles and motorcycles move past an anti-U.S. billboard depicting the American aircrafts into the Iranian armed forces fishing net with signs that read in Farsi: "The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, The entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground," at the Eqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, black smoke rises into the air at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site where an American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation were shot down, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation, in Isfahan province, Iran, April, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

Members of Lebanon's General Security stand at the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa valley, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A man, who fled Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon with his family, sleeps in his car used as shelter, along a seaside promenade in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Followers of Iraq's Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr chant slogans as they wave national Iraqi flag during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A bedroom is damaged in a building struck in an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Pedetrians walk by a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh, with the mosque visible in the background, which officials at the site say was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Tuesday, in Zanjan, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Police officers and their horses take cover in an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

A man looks at a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh complex that officials say was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Tuesday in Zanjan, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)