Sanford, Fla., Police Chief Bill Lee fired

Sanford Police Department Chief Bill Lee announcing he will temporarily step down on March 22, 2012. / Mario Tama/Getty Images

(CBS/AP) SANFORD, Fla. - The central Florida police chief who was strongly criticized for his agency's initial investigation of Trayvon Martin's shooting in February has been fired.

"After much thoughtful discussion and deep consideration for the issues facing the City of Sanford, I have determined the Police Chief needs to have the trust and respect of the elected officials and the confidence of the entire community. We need to move forward with a police chief that all the citizens of Sanford can support. I have come to this decision in light of the escalating divisiveness that has taken hold of the city", said Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte in a statement.

The search for a new chief is expected to take several months, Bonaparte said. In the meantime, interim Chief Richard W. Myers will remain on the job.

Lee had submitted a resignation letter in April that said he was stepping down, but city commissioners voted 3-2 not to accept it, reports CBS affiliate WKMG in Orlando. In March, he had said he was stepping down temporarily.

The initial lack of an arrest following the fatal shooting of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, by a neighborhood watch volunteer led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is from Peru.

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The local prosecutor recused himself from the case, prompting Gov. Rick Scott to appoint special prosecutor Angela Corey, who charged Zimmerman in April with second-degree murder. The 17-year-old Martin was fatally shot following a Feb. 26 altercation with Zimmerman, who claims self-defense and has pleaded not guilty.

In May, Rick Myers took over as Sanford's interim police chief, saying he wanted to heal the emotional wounds caused by Martin's death. He has said he would reach out to people in Sanford who feel they've been ignored by the police.

Lee will receive a severance of three months and one week's salary, in addition to any earned time off.

19 Photos

Trayvon Martin shooting

[Lindag20]

So the police chief is the city's scapegoat. That's about par for the course.

[reality_sanity]

Considering it took others to identify that Trayvon was on a phone call for much of the critical time -- shoddy police work is a valid reason for dismissal.

[AnnieDanny]

Why do people insist on believing there was shoddy police work? There's no EVIDENCE of that!! The police detectives RECOMMENDED that Zimmerman be arrested and charged. And that is DOCUMENTED.

It's a very unusual case, and tricky to prosecute. It took a lot of legal beagles putting their heads together in order to arrest him. And I'm impressed with what they charged him with.

Can't blame the police for this: I think it's apparent they did their job. And I think this police chief is ultimately lucky to be out of the situation.

[unclebernies]

It's about time someone from the Sanford police took ownership of their amatuer police work. In fairness though if this were the corporate world he would still be collecting his bonuses.

[Quixit]

Please cite the amatuer police work? What exactly did the police report say which would lead anyone to believe it was amatuerish other than "resist we much's" say so?

[55minus5]

Whatever.

[AnnieDanny]

He's lucky to get out of that town and out of that mess, IMO.

[Bryansix]

This story is a "wag the Dog" story to distract from Attorney General Eric Holder being held in Contempt. Don't lose sight of the prize. Holder must go.

[1stlttightwad]

Glad you used the term, Wag the dog..It's one of my favorites to describe the way things have gone in the past decade..Come November the tail that's been wagging the dog is getting "docked" and not too soon.

[unclebernies]

Wag this!

[humairaali100]

What took them so long, to do punish him for his inadequacy of performance.
Zimmerman was inside the safety of the truck , the kid that got killed by Zimmerman's bullet was the one who walking of the footpath. How can it be self defence. Unless Zimmerman got off the truck and went after the kid there was no way the kid could have done anything to him. Self defence I could understand , if the kid was inside Zimmermans property. The Kid was walking in the common property, not on any ones property, not inside the zimmerman's truck. So how could Zimmerman be left of after the murder, by the police chief? He was not even arrested. or arrested temporarily and let go the same day . Without due process. The life of a teenager should not be that cheap , be it black , white or brown. Lee finally received some justice, I hope his teenage son or grandson will not go through the same fate as this kid.

[Whyte_Tea_Rules]

You know that is not true.

[AnnieDanny]

People don't even seem to CARE if they've got the truth or not, they get on a soapbox and preach their stuff anyway.

I don't know why Lee was fired, but as far as police involvement in the Trayvon Martin case, the police have been exonerated. They TRIED to make a case, and that's been documented!! It was others who said Zimmerman was protected by the self defense law, so the cops weren't allowed to arrest Zimmerman. You can't blame it on Lee.

[sniper609]

RE:"He was fired for not persecuting an innocent man to appease racists that are out for revenge." EXACTLY

[Rafterman11]

An innocent man is being persecuted? No, an innocent man was gunned down. Only in a warped racist mind is the a dead person who committed no crime the "thug" while the shooter, with a violent past, and who had no authority or right to be challenging people, the hero. Just sick.

[Ulgnud]

Translation: The case against Zimmerman has a lot of holes. We need a sacrificial goat to appease certain groups

[poobearnb]

Then he won't be convicted. that is what juries are for.

[reality_sanity]

Considering it took others to identify that Trayvon was on a phone call for much of the critical time -- shoddy police work is a valid reason for dismissal.

[MacCar12]

I don't see the significance of having him fired. He had already resigned his position. This is a very volatile and highly publicized case, and reminds me of the Rodney King case. Of course, I never agreed with the fact that "the officers" involved were acquitted, we as a society should have taken lesson. I was merely a middle schooler when the Rodney King case came to light. I remember not being able to get off of the school bus because other students were rocking the school bus so hard that the driver thought we might be in danger and would not let us get off of the bus (she was an African-American). These things should not still be happening in this world, but yet they are. All of this is very sad. There are too many ignorant people in this world. Color of a person should not matter...this is where I see the break down. We are all very diverse these days. Let's not play the race card, for once. There are many other people like myself who were not raised to discriminate against, race, color or creed. Let us stop this madness.

[humairaali100]

"Color of a person should not matter."

Why did you have to mention the color of the bus driver. ?

[1stlttightwad]

To humair..for the same reason Obama and Holder use color..Holder, " I will not persue charges gor black voter fraud brought by whites against my people." A whistle blower in testimony before congress..Obama the uniter...my a##

[Whyte_Tea_Rules]

He was fired for not persecuting an innocent man to appease racists that are out for revenge.

[dwj2215]

I agree 100%.

[akibeel]

White hood or his hoodie? Sounds to me either one can get you killed