A battle over promotions has cast a further shadow over the Champaign Police Department.

It's unclear what kind of department the next Champaign police chief will take over when sworn into office in January — one riven with bitterness over promotions or a calm, professional law enforcement organization.

Unless changes are made, it will be the former. The police department recently was thrown into turmoil because of grievances aired in an email by a group of anonymous sergeants who charged the lieutenant's promotional exam process is rigged.

There's no real evidence of that so far, but City Manager Steven Carter is examining complaints brought to his attention and is expected to make a formal response. It is, however, extremely distasteful that the anonymous authors of the email, all of whom hold important management positions, would choose to air their grievances in this manner. Claims that the email was intended for a narrow audience are not credible in the face of its wide dissemination.

Police Chief R.T. Finney, whose recent retirement announcement coincided with the release of the anonymous email complaining about promotions, said he hopes Carter's response comes "sooner rather than later."

Finney, who described himself as frustrated over the complaints, said he's confident the city's hiring process will be vindicated as above-board and professional.

Finney, who is 51, also reiterated that his decision to step down after a 30-year plus career in law enforcement was unrelated to the controversy.

"After you get 30 years in, it's a matter of picking a date," he said.

Finney said he had a series of discussions with City Manager Carter about leaving and originally had decided to step down in November to coincide with his eighth anniversary as chief in Champaign. He moved the date back to January to satisfy Carter's request that he give city officials more time to find his successor.

But Finney's retirement is irrelevant. Chiefs come and go. What matters are the men and women who are the backbone of law enforcement in Champaign. It's extremely important they do their jobs well, and the current civil war over promotions is a major distraction.

The divisive promotion dispute centers around sergeants who want to become lieutenants. These are much sought-after moves up the ladder because they involve pay, pensions and prestige.

There are 18 sergeants in the department and just five lieutenants.

Finney said it was ironic that some sergeants complained that the 2008 lieutenant's promotion exam was unfair because no promotions were made from that list.

"We have not made a lieutenant's promotion since 2002," said Finney, noting that was before he joined the department.

Lt. Scott Swan, however, is scheduled to retire later this year, and Finney said that Swan's successor will be selected from the 2011 lieutenant test list if it is given a clean bill-of-health by the city administration. Twelve of the department's 18 sergeants tested for the promotion.

What's most disturbing about the allegations of bias is how personal they are. The critics have essentially charged that Lt. Swan provided a copy of the test to a friend, resulting in Sgt. Tom Walker achieving the top score by a wide margin.

Finney said he investigated that claim and determined that Swan never had a copy of the exam that he could share with anyone.

"I was the only one who had a copy of the exam," said Finney.

Facts are facts, and they speak for themselves. But it's extremely difficult to undo the anger and resentment allegations like this generate. The idea that these people can work together as if nothing has happened is hard to accept.

Police officers are a truculent, suspicious bunch, no strangers to disagreement and rivalry. So it's no surprise that factions have developed among those hired to do this difficult work. But this discord is testing and will continue to test the professionalism not just of the department but the department's upper leadership.