Case not entirely resolved, but suspended Minneapolis cop Lee Edwards is back at work

Updated: Minneapolis Police Lt. Lee Edwards, who was put on paid administrative leave in April, returned to duty on Wednesday, according to a source with knowledge of the case who asked not to be identified. Edwards, formerly the leader of the MPD’s homicide unit and of the department’s Fourth Precinct, was suspended pending an unspecified investigation. He is also one of five plaintiffs in a civil rights lawsuit filed against the department and Chief Tim Dolan last December. Edwards had previously been disciplined for allegedly driving a squad car after drinking alcohol and making inappropriate sexual comments to fellow officers, allegations that were later dropped.

Update (2:45 pm): Civil rights activist and Police/Community Relations Council co-chair Ron Edwards (no relation) says he’s been told that Lt. Edwards has been cleared of charges against him. According to the unnamed source cited above, the undisclosed misconduct allegations against Edwards involved claims that he had improperly shared information with unauthorized persons — a claim similar to allegations the MPD has made in recent months against Mike Roberts, another officer suspended on the same day as Edwards for a separate incident and indicted on Monday, and Lt. Michael Keefe. Though the matter has not been finalized, this source tells MnIndy, the most serious charges — that Edwards endangered people’s lives or accepted money — were not sustained.

The turn of events appeared to contradict the words of MPD Chief Tim Dolan just a day earlier. During a Tuesday press conference related to the indictment of another black police officer, Michael Roberts, who had also been suspended on the same day for a separate matter, Dolan told a roomful of reporters that Edwards’ status had not changed. MPD Internal Affairs Manager Sue Piontek backed that up later on Tuesday, saying, "As of today [Edwards] is not back at work. He’s still on leave."

Neither Assistant Police Chief Sharon Lubinski nor Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Federation, returned the Minnesota Independent’s phone calls Tuesday. Edwards’ legal counsel also couldn’t be reached.

City Council member Ralph Remington tells the Minnesota Independent that he isn’t ready to weigh on the situation at this time, but he offers, "I’m obviously concerned if Edwards’ reputation is tainted in some way," and especially if it cost him the job as police chief in Northfield, for which he was a finalist at the time of his April suspension. "That wouldn’t bode well for the city," he said, adding, "Someone would have some explaining to do."

A settlement conference in the Edwards case is set for Thursday.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Dolan made brief comments about Monday’s federal indictment of Roberts, a longtime officer of the department. Roberts pled not guilty to federal corruption charges that include two counts of depriving citizens of Minnesota of his honest services and one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer. The indictment alleges that Roberts divulged nonpublic information to a gang member/drug dealer referred to in documents as T.T. in exchange for $200.

Dolan remarked in the press conference that the federal indictment "casts doubt on the integrity of anyone who wears a badge."

When questioned about criticisms of racial discrimination on the MPD under his leadership, Dolan claimed that the bar had been raised on department discipline and that black officers had not received disproportionate scrutiny. "The stats don’t support [the criticisms]," he said.