The City of Bartow has selected a veteran law enforcement investigator with decades of experience to conduct the Internal Affairs investigation involving former Bartow Police Chief Stephen Walker, providing a significant new development in a case that has left one major question unanswered: What exactly is Walker accused of doing?
City Manager Mike Herr announced Wednesday that Glenn Ferrell will conduct the investigation into allegations involving Walker, who abruptly resigned Aug. 14 after city officials confronted him about a complaint.
Ferrell is a founding member of the Florida Internal Affairs Investigators Association and has decades of law enforcement and Internal Affairs experience, including with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Records from the Florida Sheriffs Association show Ferrell previously served in PCSO’s Office of Professional Compliance, where he worked in Administrative Investigations.
The decision means the investigation will be conducted outside the Bartow Police Department.
“Our goal is to be as transparent as possible with this investigation,” Herr said in Wednesday’s statement. “Because the complaint involved the former head of our Police Department, the decision was made that it would best be accomplished by someone outside of that agency.”
The investigation is expected to take several weeks.
While the selection of Ferrell answers the question of who will conduct the Internal Affairs investigation, the central mystery surrounding Walker’s resignation remains.
The City of Bartow still has not publicly disclosed the nature of the allegations against its former police chief.
What has been disclosed suggests the matter extends beyond a simple disagreement between Walker and city administration.
According to the city, the original complaint concerning Walker was disclosed Aug. 12 while Herr, Bartow city commissioners and other city staff were attending the Florida League of Cities conference in Hollywood.
Herr returned to Bartow, and a preliminary inquiry conducted Aug. 12 and 13 found the allegations “credible and concerning,” according to the city.
Walker met with Herr and City Attorney Sean Parker on Aug. 14. While Walker did not admit wrongdoing, he resigned effective immediately.
Within an hour of Walker’s resignation, according to Wednesday’s statement, Herr was contacted by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. PCSO indicated it intended to conduct its own investigation into whether any criminal activity had occurred.
City officials subsequently conducted administrative and legal reviews and met with representatives of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on Aug. 26.
Two days later, Herr formally launched Internal Affairs Case #26-05.
The latest city statement also provides another potentially important detail.
Bartow officials said they have exercised “an abundance of caution” because of the sensitive nature of the complaint and applicable Florida laws involving pending investigations. The city said that caution is intended to protect the “privacy and identity of affected employees.”
The reference to affected employees indicates that people other than Walker are involved in or affected by the allegations, although the city has not identified those employees or explained their involvement.
Daily Ridge is not speculating about the nature of the complaint while the investigations remain active.
The city has said that once Ferrell completes his investigation, the findings and supporting documents will be released publicly to the extent allowed under Florida law.
Walker joined the Bartow Police Department in 2022 as a captain and was promoted to deputy chief in December 2023. He was sworn in as police chief on Dec. 6, 2024.
Deputy Chief Kyle Dowdy is currently serving as officer in charge of the Bartow Police Department.
The city also plans to contract with Strategic Government Resources to conduct the search for Bartow’s next police chief.
