Rebuilding trust is now the primary goal for the Sanford Police Dept. and the city, as they try to ease public concerns in the Trayvon Martin case.

Slowly but surely, Mayor Triplett and City Manager Bonaparte say they need to rebuild trust between the City, the Police Department and Sanford residents. The two admit they need to start with the police department.

“How do we build that trust? The trust that may have existed is gone. So, we have to start from ground zero,” says Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte.

Friday, Bonaparte tried to answer questions about the “temporary” removal of Chief Bill Lee.

Bonaparte called it administrative leave. He said Lee is still getting paid and could get his job back, but that depends on the investigation. Bonaparte said the city is looking for outside agencies to evaluate the police department to make it better.

"Temporary means I'm looking to get an investigative agency to come in to take a look, a law enforcement agency, I should say, to review what took place with the police department," Bonaparte said.

Lee's job has been filled by two people,  Captains Darren Scott and Robert O'Connor, for now.

Bonaparte says the U.S. Department of Justice will not only look at how the shooting of Trayvon Martin was handled but the department itself.

Also focusing on the shooting investigation is State Attorney Angela Corey, who says they're already on the job and it's going to take some time, just like any other case.

"It requires a thorough investigation, extensive interviews of every witness, a review of physical evidence and then a determination," Corey said.

Bonaparte and Corey met are not releasing the details of that meeting but may do so during Monday's 5 p.m. city commission meeting, which will be held at the civic center. There were a total of seven promotions--- those two to the joint chief position and five other within the department.

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Media Fact Sheet

Before Friday's conference, Sanford city officials handed reporters a sheet with the following information:

  • There were five promotions today:
    • Sgt. John LaBree
    • Sgt. John Foshee
    • Staff Sgt. Steven Lynch
    • Lt. Tony Esoss
    • Lt. Randy Smith
  • Prior to Lt. Smith's promotion he was the sergeant over major cases at the time of the Trayvon Martin investigation.
  • All of these five participants went through the promotion process that concluded at the end of February.
  • The two lieutenant promotions were the two most senior sergeants in the department. They have investigative experience, and they understand and are committed to the operations of the police department.