Cop Quits After Investigation Shows KKK Membership

A Fruitland Park police officer resigned after an investigation revealed that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Eyewitness News discovered that officer James Elkins quit his job when the Fruitland Park Police Department opened an investigation.

Someone sent photographs of Elkins dressed as a KKK member and KKK certificates to the Lake County Sheriff's Office (see the photos). The agency decided to let the police chief of Fruitland Park handle the situation, but by that time Elkins had already quit.

James Elkins was off and on with the police department for nearly five years. In the pictures, Elkins was dressed in green and white with an old KKK uniform and a hand on his gun.

RAW INTERVIEW: Officer Talks To WFTV | Chief Mark IsomIMAGES: James Elkins With KKK Members

"Yes I am an ex-Klansman and I'm done," Elkins told Eyewitness News (watch full interview).

Elkins resigned two weeks ago after allegations that he was handing out KKK literature, which has recently surfaced in Brevard, Sumter and Lake counties.

"It took a long time to realize what was going on was wrong. I regret everything about that life. I wish I had never gotten involved," he said.

KKKofficer 12 KKK OFFICER RESPONDS Watch Interview | See The Photos Eyewitness News confronted both Elkins and the police chief about the cases he may have handled involving minorities.

"Why not fire him on the spot?" WFTV reporter Kenneth Moton asked.

"Because the police bill of rights and I have to do an Internal Affairs investigation because it's an accusation," Fruitland Park Police Chief Mark Isom said.

Isom said an Internal Affairs investigation discovered the Sumter County PO Box on the KKK literature was registered to Elkins.

"It's an embarrassment to this department, it's disgusting and we do not tolerate this kind of conduct," Isom said.

Elkins said the pictures were taken within the last year while he was off-duty on workman's compensation.

Fruitland Park investigators said the KKK certificates with Elkins' name on them show he's been hiding behind the robes of hate since at least 2006.

"Were you racially profiling?" Moton asked Elkins.

"No sir," he responded.

"Are you looking at his stops?" Moton asked Chief Isom.

"No sir, because I think my supervisors would have caught that because he was never on by himself," Isom responded.

The chief admits he can't be sure Elkins wasn't trying to recruit others while on active duty.

"But I think the citizens in this town would have come forward to me," he said.

The chief said Elkins can't be stripped of his law enforcement certification, because he hasn't done anything criminally wrong.

Eyewitness News also asked the chief how he can be sure the other hooded men in the photographs were not law enforcement officers.

Chief Isom said they could be, but he doesn't believe they're on his force.

Previous Stories: February 4, 2009: KKK Literature Found At Apartment Complex