An internal Bradenton Police Department investigation continues at the agency amid scrutiny of the neighboring Palmetto Police Department's handling of a tasing-related death case. The active BPD administrative investigation is confidential and exempt from public records under Florida Statute. BDP officials have yet to explain what the probe could entail beyond its administrative label.
According to records and Bradenton PD officials, the probe was opened two weeks after the November 2023 Palmetto PD tasing of Bronte Johnson-Davis, a 36-year-old Palmetto man who died in Palmetto Police custody.
"The internal investigation was opened on November 14," a BPD representative told the Herald-Tribune in an email Monday. BPD's public information officer reiterated that no further information was available as the investigation is currently active.
The department has been tight-lipped about its entanglement in the November Palmetto PD tasing incident investigation, offering only a mostly redacted report from Officer Julian Jackson. The emailed report details Jackson's perspective on the night he subdued Johnson-Davis alongside the Palmetto Police.
BPD officer Jackson was off duty while traveling down 8th Avenue W. in his marked Bradenton police vehicle when he encountered Palmetto officer Caleb Cottom attempting to apprehend Johnson. Now released body cam footage from Palmetto PD shows the interaction between Jackson, Cottom, and Johnson the night Johanson died in police custody.
The FDLE's months-long investigation concluded in late February, absolving all officers of criminal wrongs; however, criminal justice experts, community members, and now, local dignitaries are calling both law enforcement agencies' accountability measures into question.
Palmetto City Commissioners began hearing grumbles from community members after the Johnson family went public with demands for information in January. This prompted Commissioner Harold Smith to inquire about the incident during at least two previous commission meetings this year.
Smith, community members, and Johnson's mother, Tracey Washington, have been vocal about pushing Palmetto mayor Shirley Bryant to hold PPD accountable.
"The mayor should be informing us (commissioners) and she should be doing her job of holding the police accountable," Smith said. "Chief also has to come out and let us know what is going on and let the community know what is going on.
Smith, who covers Ward 1 within the city of Palmetto, said despite asking for information himself from Mayor Bryant and Chief Scott Tyler, he doesn't feel informed about what has transpired in the case. He added that he supports the police in its duties but feels any mistakes or errors in judgment should be better navigated.
"We have to have police, or we have no law, but I don't like the way this has been and is being handled," Smith said.
Palmetto Mayor Shirley Bryant did not immediately respond to the Herald-Tribune for requests for comment.
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