When Reeves tracked down Drummond through his lawyer, threatening to name him in the lawsuit, Drummond provided a deposition that was shocking in its honesty. Drummond admitted he had deliberately minimized Hargrove's complaints because they had been partners early in their careers.
"Vince and I came up together," Drummond testified. "We worked the same beat for seven years. He backed me up in dangerous situations, so I felt I owed him loyalty. When complaints came in, I would give them a surface-level investigation, find some reason to dismiss them, and move on. I knew what he was doing wasn't right, but I didn't want to be the guy who ended his career."
Reeves pressed him on whether he understood the harm Hargrove was causing to innocent citizens.
"I told myself they were exaggerating, that if they had just cooperated with Vince, there wouldn't have been problems. I see now that I was wrong. I enabled 20 years of abuse. That's on me."
The department's internal affairs files revealed that Drummond had closed Hargrove's complaints with phrases like "insufficient evidence," "complainant's account not credible," and "officer's actions within policy guidelines." He had never interviewed witnesses, never reviewed available video footage, never looked for patterns across multiple complaints.
The department's leadership bore responsibility, too. Annual performance reviews for Hargrove consistently rated him as "meets expectations" or better. Supervisors noted he was "proactive and assertive in his policing," never questioning why his proactive policing disproportionately targeted minorities.
The department had paid out $230,000 in settlements over 20 years to Hargrove's victims. Each settlement included a non-disclosure agreement requiring victims to remain silent about their treatment. The city had essentially bought silence rather than accountability.
An internal memo from eight years ago, written by former police chief Winston Parish, laid out the calculation explicitly: Officer Hargrove generates complaints at a higher rate than average, resulting in occasional settlements. However, his arrest statistics remain strong, and termination would likely result in union arbitration. Recommend managing and monitoring individual settlements as they arise.
The department had known Hargrove was a problem. They had chosen to manage the liability rather than stop the violations.