MILLINGTON, Tenn. — WREG combed over hundreds of pages of personnel files of two fired Millington police officers and the former chief who stepped down suddenly amid a missing money scandal.
Frank Tennant resigned after almost $12,000 disappeared from the police property room.
After a Millington man died of natural causes earlier this year, almost $20,000 in cash was discovered inside his trailer. Before his family could come collect the money, more than half went missing from the police department.
Another officer, William “Tully” Reed, was fired about two weeks ago.
A third officer, Charlie Coleman, was officially fired Monday morning.
The case of the missing money is in the hands of Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, but so far no charges have been filed.
WREG sat down with Millington City Manager Ed Haley, the one who made the decision to fire the officers despite decades of them being in good standing with the department.
One letter of commendation after another is what WREG found when we looked at the personnel files of Officers Tully Reed and Charlie Coleman.
Both were 20-plus-year veterans of the Millington Police Department, and both, according to Haley, were responsible for the property room.
“It was on their watch that this occurred,” Haley said, referencing the missing money.
A report released last year by the Municipal Technical Advisory Service cited major issues with how evidence and property was being stored.
Haley said that because changes were not made, he needed to send a message.
“It warranted drastic measures, immediate action in order to send the message that we will not tolerate poor performance of their job.”
But Reed, Coleman and Tennant had good records with the department.
Reed received five minor disciplinary actions for things like unexcused absences from work and getting into a couple of heated arguments with superiors. Coleman had only two disciplinary actions. The worst punishment for either of them was a one-day suspension for Coleman after he got into a verbal argument with a city alderman.
Billy Howard, a Millington resident and friend of Tully Reed, considers all of that minor.
“They deal with people out here yelling at them all the time. They probably get a little sensitive at times. They’re people too.”
The majority of their evaluations listed Reed and Coleman as outstanding and meeting or exceeding expectations.
Tennant had only been with the department for a year.
Haley said he did not read through all the way through Reed and Coleman’s personnel files before firing them.
“I just wanted to see their current rating of those officers,” he said.
Their current rating was good, but Haley said he does not trust those evaluations and believes their superiors were not taking a close enough look.
During a Board of Aldermen meeting Monday night, the city will be appointing members to the review board that will handle personnel issues.
Reed is already appealing his termination.