Bradenton Police-Palmetto Police and A Stun Gun Death

Bradenton Police officials provided only partial records that claimed an officer had only been disciplined in a high-profile use of force case when he in fact had reluctantly resigned from the department the Herald-Tribune has learned.

The omission misled the public, and the Herald-Tribune , which first reported the conclusion of the agency's internal affairs probe in late June. In August following the report, however, the officer in question came forward with heavy critiques and claims of misinformation of his former agency. There is no clear indication that the omission was intentional, but new information confirms rumors that the agency had already quietly accepted his resignation but had not made that information available to the public for over two months.

Former officer Julian Jackson, involved in the November 2023 tasing death of a Palmetto man, is accusing Bradenton PD leaders of forcing his resignation after he served a week-long unpaid suspension in late June.

Following the close of an internal investigation, Bradenton police administrators concluded that former officer Jackson had violated six departmental procedural general orders, or PGOs, when he stopped to assist neighboring Palmetto Police Department on Nov. 2, 2023.

The incident, which involved a total of five officers— Jackson and four Palmetto police officers — led to the tasing death of a 36-year-old Palmetto man, Breonte Johnson-Davis. Jackson is the only officer from either department to be disciplined in the case.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation found no wrongdoing by any of the officers. However, Bradenton police administrators launched an independent internal probe three months later which eventually led to Jackson’s suspension from duty.

The investigation records show the suspension but did not include any mention of Jackson’s termination. BPD officials also failed to provide clear information when questioned by the Herald-Tribune about the former officer's employment status at the agency following a swirl of rumors about his departure in August.

Jackson contacted the Herald-Tribune in mid-August to confirm his exit from the Bradenton Police Department. A second set of records from BPD obtained on Aug. 25 reveals that the officer submitted a resignation letter to department administrators a day after his return from the 40-hour suspension on June 26.

He claims the resignation was forced and said he was confused and shocked by the agency's decision to end his employment.

Jackson, 26, joined the Bradenton Police Department in Oct. 2022 and was on the patrol force for just over a year the night he stopped while off-duty to assist the Palmetto PD in the tasing death incident in Nov. 2023.

His procedural general order violations that night, including failure to activate a body-worn camera and failure to file a use of force report among others, were first-time offenses at the agency Jackson contends.

Initially, he said he didn’t think his actions were wrong. He told the Herald -Tribune that following Johnson-Davis' death in custody, and throughout the internal probe, agency administration led him to believe that he could return to duty after his unpaid leave.

“I was shocked and upset and disappointed,” Jackson said. “The week leading up to my return I had conversations with my Lieutenant. I told him that the policies are subjective, because if you're going to hit me up for that, then you need to do an audit of everybody. Not just one person, you need to audit everybody,” he said.

Bradenton officials confirmed Jackson’s was no longer employed there following a late August public records request but remain tight-lipped about the accusations and claims from the former BPD officer.

“I get that I broke policies, but I never broke those policies again. I learned from my mistake,” Jackson said. It’s very unfair to get dropped off at work thinking I’m going to get my things back— my car, my badge, my equipment and being told ‘Hey, we’re going in a different direction. So, you can either resign or you can stay and we’re going to let you go.’

The victim’s mother, Tracy Washington, continues to question the transparency of both agencies and their leaders. She said the Bradenton PD probe reopened the emotional wounds she has been working to heal over the past 11 months following her son’s death.

“I still have mixed feelings about all of this. He (Jackson) was the only person who was let go and no one else has been held accountable, so that brings up questions for me. I want to know why he was the only officer relieved of his duty,” Washington asked.

“Some of the violations in Julian Jackson’s report seem small compared to what I see looking at the body cam footage. Some of those officers did similar things, some of those officers killed my son. And they are still on the street, with no training.”

Bradenton’s Chief Bevan has not contacted her regarding the probe or Jackson’s subsequent exit Washington told the Herald -Tribune.

“I was hearing rumors and I wanted to know his employment status. I think that’s my right and that I deserve communication, being that I'm Breonte’s mother, she told me that she would but Chief (Bevan) never got back to me,” Washington explained.

“If you hid that from me, what else are you hiding? I'm never going to stop until I get justice for Breonte. I will fight until the last breath of my body until I get to the bottom of it. And I will get to the bottom of it.”

The firing of Jackson and lack of disciplinary action for any Palmetto officers, two of whom deployed tasers on Johnson-Davis which led to cardiac arrest and his subsequent death, seems puzzling to some outsiders.

However, Dennis Kenney, a professor of criminal justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former Florida police officer, says that each agency has its own disciplinary and administrative scales when determining personnel matters.

“ It doesn't seem to be any dispute that he (Jackson) violated policies,” Kenney said about the Bradenton internal affairs probe. “Obviously, the department felt that the violations were significant. But I can see why he would be disturbed that he's the only one who got disciplinary action taken against him. But his scapegoat claims would imply that, I guess, the Bradenton Police Department is trying to cover for the Palmetto Police Department. That seems unlikely,” Kenney said.

Bevan has come under fire multiple times during her post of chief—most notably in the summer of 2022 when Bevan was accused of allegedly conducting a search of a suspect's house without a warrant . She was cleared of wrongdoing in the incident in September 2022.

Bevan has also faced criticism from the department's union members. Around half of the department's union members surveyed two years ago also revealed felt that Bevan played favorites among agency employees. At least four Bradenton Police officers have filed complaints against the agency's chief since 2022.

Though the transparency and accountability of the agency are being called into question, Kenney explained that the critiques might be aimed at the wrong police department.

The Herald-Tribune tried to speak with Palmetto Police Chief Scott Tyler about the disciplinary discrepancy between the neighboring agencies, but Tyler declined to comment.

Samantha Gholar covers social justice news for USA Today Network-Florida . Connect with her by email at sgholar@gannett.com.