(Memphis) Two Memphis Police officers who were fired for threatening the department could get their jobs back.
Internal affairs said Officers Parker Culver and Marc Henderson tried taking over the weapons room and organizing a violent strike.
Almost a year after the two lost their badges, an arbitrator is looking over their cases.
As WREG first reported last year, one out of two city employees who get fired get their job back, so there’s a decent chance both men will end up on the force again.
“It came out that these guys were sovereign citizens, and they were stock piling weapons,” said President of the Memphis Police Union Mike Williams.
Williams said there was always more rumor than hard evidence against Culver and Henderson.
An internal affairs report said the two didn’t like a 4.6 percent pay cut city workers agreed to a year ago, and to get even, they were going to take over the weapons room at the Ridgeway Station and even threatened to shoot fellow officers.
Williams said it’s all made up, the two were team leaders, and their supervisor had a vendetta.
“We think there were personal, personality conflicts with them and supervisors within the Memphis Police Department,” said Williams.
Director Toney Armstrong didn’t buy that. The two were fired in May for personal conduct and violating regulation.
Culver and Henderson fought their termination. The officers told their stories, and the department presented evidence to the arbitrator.
A decision on whether they can get their jobs back is expected within a couple months.
“I think they should be restored whole, with all rights and privileges. I think they should have their time restored, and their pay compensated. When you wrongfully terminate people, you affect their whole lives,” said Williams.
If these former officers get their badges back, they can get reimbursed for all of the days they were off the job.
