GRAND RAPIDS -- The FBI has concluded its year-long investigation into the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and determined that no one committed obstruction of justice to protect any public officials following the botched 2003 prostitution bust.John King, supervisory resident agent with the Grand Rapids FBI, said the federal probe found "no evidence" that anyone in Public Safety purposely failed to produce all the evidence it had collected in the case when it turned the probe over to federal agents in June 2003.

According to King, the evidence -- including records from telephones used by the suspected call girl -- showed no connections to "anybody in the law enforcement arena or judicial involvement that would have suggested an obstruction of justice."

King said federal agents did conclude the bust by Kalamazoo officers involved "some bad procedures and sloppiness."

"But we found no evidence there was an intentional effort by somebody in the police department to withhold information from us," King said today.

Public Safety Chief Jeffrey Hadley issued a statement today saying that the "2003 KVET Prostitution Case was completed and has since been closed."

"The United States Attorney's Office found no evidence of obstruction of justice or criminal wrong doing," the statement said. "However, they did reference certain internal processes that should be improved."

Hadley and City Manager Kenneth Collard met on Oct. 20 with officials from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Grand Rapids.

In an interiew today, Hadley said he has "confidence" in the FBI findings, adding internal policy changes were subsequently made in reaction to lax police practices involved in the 2003 case, particularly in the area of evidence handling.

"I wasn't particularly surprised by anything they said," Hadley said. "This gives me a sense of confidence that we don't have anything else looming over our heads and that we can find some closure and move forward."

Public Safety reports obtained by the Kalamazoo Gazette last year showed that officers in 2003 were investigating whether other law enforcement officers, prosecutors and defense attorneys may have been among the woman's clients.

King said their investigation did support a 2003 conclusion that a probationary FBI agent who was working in Kalamazoo at the time was involved with the alleged call girl. The agent was allowed to resign in 2003, records show.

Kalamazoo City Manager Kenneth Collard requested the federal probe in August 2007 into what he called "allegations of misconduct, obstruction of justice and/or public corruption" in the 2003 case.

King called the 2007 departures of former Chief Dan Weston and Major Ken Colby "unfortunate," saying the department's top two administrators "were doing their jobs" and both "left the organization under a cloud of mistrust."

Weston announced his retirement in November 2007, a year before his planned departure, and Colby resigned in August 2007, citing only "circumstances" for his decision.

"I have no idea why they left their positions," King said today. "Unfortunately, it was made to appear it was because of this investigation. I'm not sure that was fair to them."

Hadley declined to comment on King's remarks regarding Weston and Colby.