Ethics commission dismisses allegations against Fayetteville Police Chief

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Fayetteville Ethics Commission decided to dismiss all alleged ethic violations regarding Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins.

The decision comes after a three-day closed hearing.

Attorney Mikeal Gross initially filed the complaint on behalf of multiple Fayetteville police officers.

The ABC11 I-Team obtained a copy of the complaint that originally listed 14 alleged ethic violations against the city's top law enforcement figure.

The original complaint alleged Hawkins used her patrol car for personal business, hired a gang member, issued disparate disciplinary actions based on age and race, and was stopped several times for speeding.

Many of the allegations were tied to the department's K-9 trainer. The complaint claimed Hawkins had her personal dog trained by the city's K-9 trainer.

Gross also claimed in the complaint that the K-9 trainer placed choke collars on officers to "teach them what it feels like to be a dog on a leash and collar."

Other allegations claimed Hawkins retaliated against an employee who contradicted her and guided internal affairs investigations into department employees.

The commission decided to only hear eight of those complaints and ultimately dismissed all of them.

The complaint and the hearing have largely been shielded from the public. The city denied the I-Team's request for the complaint citing public record laws and would not confirm the hearing involved Hawkins. The hearing was also closed to the public.

Gross said the commission did not give any reasons for the dismissal. He also said he did not believe the commission will produce any other documents that will give insight into the decision.

Hawkins called the claims "extremely slanderous" to her personal integrity and said many of the statements were false in a required response filed in October.