Attorneys for city police officers who were put on desk duty based on certain infractions from the past said all need to be fully reinstated.
They said a city plan for a panel to review the cases is unprecedented.
On behalf of the individual members of the FOP who were disciplined by the new Chief, attorneys at Davis & Hoss, P.C. respond to the recent statement issued by the city.
“The City of Chattanooga has a well-established procedure for dealing with employee appeals. The ‘internal committee’ selected to review the new Chief’s recent decision to put multiple officers on tele-serve has no basis in policy or City Code,” said Janie Varnell, a lawyer at Davis & Hoss, P.C. who represents several officers impacted. Varnell says, “We timely filed appeals for each of these officers to challenge these actions, and the City responded by coming up with this new ‘step’ in the process. This has never been done before.”
Bryan Hoss, who is also a lawyer at Davis & Hoss, P.C., states, “there has been no ‘collaborative resolution’ here. The new Chief effectively ended these officers’ careers by taking their badges, taking their guns, and putting them on desk duty. Their IA cases were closed. Their previous discipline was over. These officers were actively serving and protecting this community when the new Chief took her own unilateral action. There is no City policy that allows for the new Chief to punish officers more severely for past actions than policy allows. Make no mistake about it, this was the City’s idea to correct her violation of these officers’ due process rights.”
Janie Varnell concludes, “the Department follows a discipline matrix for each violation of their code of conduct. The matrix is established disciplinary policy that the City has relied upon for years. The matrix gives these officers notice of what potential punishment they may face if there are policy violations. Violations such as false reports and misrepresentation carry a maximum punishment of suspension, not termination. Nowhere in policy or the matrix is there a form of discipline that allows the new Chief to permanently re-assign an officer and deprive him/her of performing law enforcement activities for the remainder of an officers’ career. The former Chiefs that rendered these decisions did so with full knowledge of each case, each officer, with their full command staff’s input and the appropriate discipline pursuant to department policy. To modify those past decisions now, one was even 18 years later, is a slap in the face to all former Chiefs, violates the officers’ due process rights after the fact, and punishes them more severely than their own policy allowed. We hope that, throughout whatever process unfolds, these officers are allowed to return to full duty status.”
A woman on Laird Lane told police that some time overnight someone entered her unlocked vehicle and stole her Hello Kitty wallet, along with $18 cash, credit card/debit card and misc. identity ... (click for more)
Click here for the latest Bradley County arrest report. (click for more)
A 27-year-old man is in critical condition after a shooting at a Cleveland residence on Thursday afternoon. Shaquay Dodd, 25, was being sought for attempted second-degree murder. At 3:16 ... (click for more)
A woman on Laird Lane told police that some time overnight someone entered her unlocked vehicle and stole her Hello Kitty wallet, along with $18 cash, credit card/debit card and misc. identity cards. * * * A man on Blackford Street called police about a disturbance at his residence. He said a man was knocking on his doors and causing a scene. Police found the door knocker ... (click for more)
Click here for the latest Bradley County arrest report. (click for more)
In light of the recently-published article in which a board member blames teacher burnout, at least in part, to our county’s Hispanic/Latinx students, we can no longer be silent. As teachers in one of the schools listed in the article, the majority of our students are Spanish speakers. Our students and families are far from being one of our primary problems. In fact, they’re not ... (click for more)
The Athletic, a subscription-based sports website, is a daily stop in my Morning Readings and on Thursday the talented writer Chris Vannini released the website’s preseason ranking of all 131 FBS college football teams. As expected, Alabama was tops on the list, followed by Ohio State and Georgia, but what makes the list of all 131 teams special is that you can see where Tennessee, ... (click for more)
The 2022 football season is fast approaching for the 12th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs. Kickoff is just nine days away at the time of this publication. The sixth post in a position-by-position preview is here for the upcoming campaign. Vol. 1: Defensive Line Vol. 2: Offensive Line Vol. 3: Linebackers Vol. 4: Quarterbacks Vol. 5: Secondary No. 6 in this journey ... (click for more)
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker added to his impressive list of preseason honors on Monday, as he was one of 30 signal callers named to the Manning Award preseason watch list. The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in honor of the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' ... (click for more)