Possible Outside Investigation Of Metro Police - WSAV: News, Weather, and Sports for Savannah, GA

Word tonight that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation may be called in to investigate complaints regarding the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. There has been an on-going internal affairs investigation after concerns were made public by several city aldermen last month about possible under-reporting of crime.

Sources tell us that Interim City Manager Stephanie Cutter has directed Metro Police Chief Willie Lovett to engage the Georgia Bureau of Investigation immediately to investigate those complaints. The complaints began surfacing last month after crime statistics for 2012 were released showing most crimes were on the decline. Several city Aldermen came forward saying they were hearing from their constituents that officers were discouraging them from filing reports for minor thefts and other crimes.

That's when the City Manager met with Chief Lovett and the investigation began. In January, the City Manager told News 3, "We are asking our office of professional standards to investigate the allegations and if we find something or a behavior of an officer that is not proper or outside of standards - then we will seek outside investigation."

We tried to confirm the directive with Police and the City spokesperson - but were told they could not confirm or comment on any possible action until City Council members were notified. On Tuesday we were told a memo would be going out on Wednesday. Wednesday morning we were told it would be going out in the afternoon. Then late Wednesday afternoon - the city spokesman told us that's it's an unresolved issue at this time - that there are concerns that the GBI can not or will not get involved in the investigation. News 3 will continue to follow this story and bring you more as it becomes available.