BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Jared Graves, a patrolman with the Benton Harbor Department of Public Safety's Police Division, has resigned and is under a state police investigation, Public Safety Director Roger Lange confirmed Tuesday.
Lange said Graves resigned Monday. Lange would not say what the investigation is about, nor would state police. Graves, 42, could not be reached for comment.
Berrien County Prosecutor Arthur Cotter confirmed that police are investigating Graves, but he said he has not received any police reports yet and cannot comment on the case until after he reviews those reports. Cotter said he advised police not to comment to the media about the case before he reviews the police reports.
Asked whether Graves has been in trouble in the past, Lange said, "Not since I've been here."
Graves, who is also a church pastor, has worked many years for the Benton Harbor Police Department, from 1994-98 and again from 2001 until now. He served as a school resource officer when the city had a COPS in Schools program. The federally funded program assigned eight police officers to schools in an effort to foster good relationships between children and police. The acronym COPS stood for Community Oriented Policing Services.
In 2005 Graves was appointed pastor of the Franklin African Methodist Episcopal Church in Niles. A native of Benton Harbor, he previously served as pastor of Quinn Chapel AME Church near Cassopolis.
Graves was a Benton Harbor Police Officer of the Year in 2008. Al Mingo, police chief at the time, said Graves had "made a big difference in the city."
Lange said Tuesday he had no comment about Graves resigning from the department.
Copyright 2011 - The Herald-Palladium, St. Joseph, Mich.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
