 In fact, conditions in the department were so bad before Pennington arrived, the United States Department of Justice was threatening to move in and take over the city's law enforcement.On the day of his inauguration, he was notified of the investigation and that one of his officers had murdered a witness.Under Pennington, more than 350 officers were disciplined, fired (more than 100) or indicted for misconduct, while one officer would become the second sentenced to death for violent crimes.