CALDWELL, Idaho — The FBI investigation into the Caldwell Police Department (CPD) is ongoing after a federal jury convicted former CPD Lieutenant Joseph Hoadley on three felony counts.
No current officers - or department employees - are targets of the investigation, according to District of Idaho US Attorney Josh Hurwit.
"[The Joseph Hoadley trial] showed the badge is not a shield from accountability, and that is how it should be," Hurwit said.
The investigation began after multiple Caldwell officers reported concerns of criminal activity within CPD to the FBI. Former Caldwell Police Chief Frank Wyant retired in May amid the investigation.
Caldwell City Council unanimously voted in June to approve former Los Angeles Police Department Lieutenant Rex Ingram to be the next police chief.
"Ya know, I've been working around the clock to try to restore order and try to re-legitimize the police department," Chief Ingram said.
Chief Ingram praised the Caldwell officers who reported their complaints to the FBI. Chief Ingram acknowledged he inherited a department with cultural problems.
"Walking into this position as chief of police, I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into," Chief Ingram said. "I purposely stayed out of the investigation so I could give Mr. Hoadley his day in court. The justice system would prevail at some point. We heard from the jury. We heard from the people."
Before his tenure, the CPD awarded promotions based on friendships rather than merit and performance, according to Chief Ingram. Additionally, the department’s internal review process to investigate complaints posed a conflict of interest.
"When you have the subject of an investigation who is investigating their own complaint, that becomes problematic for me," Chief Ingram said. "The optics of that are not only horrendous, but it shows prejudice."
Chief Ingram has resolved the review process by bringing in an independent investigator to review future internal complaints. He's hoping to have similar success by realigning the organization's values as a whole; Chief Ingram has taken issue with CPD's established values before even taking the job.
The three CPD values were "take care of us, take care of the community, address the evil."
Chief Ingram took problem with "take care of us" being the first value for two reasons: the department is hypocritical because it was not taking care of its officers to begin with, and the community should come first anyway, Chief Ingram said.
Cheif Ingram is not positive "take care of us" was listed as the first value intentionally.
"My badge says 'Caldwell,' not 'Rex Ingram,'" Chief Ingram said. "I had a problem with [address the evil too]. To me that says everyone is evil, when really we know from data and information 99% of the population is not evil."
"Take care of the community" is the only value preserved from the previous department leadership. Chief Ingram did this intentionally to realign the focus of the department to revolve around the community.
"At some point, if they can't understand that the community comes first, then they have no purpose in the organization," Chief Ingram said.
Hurwit did not answer KTVB regarding what the prosecution will ask for in Joseph Hoadley's sentencing. Hoadley’s sentencing date is set for Dec. 15 at 10:30 a.m. in Boise in front of visiting judge Scott Skavdahl.
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