Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong on Friday said two officers assigned to a Hickory Hill precinct were relieved of duty because of "threatening" comments they made about a work stoppage.
"They have been relieved because they made some comments to their coworkers that were considered to be offensive and threatening in nature," Armstrong said.
Police officials on Thursday reported that officers Parker Culver and Marc Henderson had been relieved of duty with pay awaiting the outcome of an internal, administrative investigation.
Armstrong said the officers made the comments at work at the Ridgeway Station, at 3840 Ridgeway near Hickory Hill, within the last few days. Both work on the overnight shift that begins at 11:30 p.m.
"Those comments were in reference to work stoppages and even construed by most to be violent in nature," the police director said.
The comments included criticism of the 4.6 percent cut in pay imposed on city government workers in 2011 and discussions about reductions in benefits, Armstrong said.
The officers were not at the precinct when they were relieved of duty, he said.
"With the current state of our world, we felt that these are statements that we won't take lightly," Armstrong said. "There will be a thorough investigation conducted and at the conclusion, they will be held accountable."
Culver joined the police force in July 2009. A lieutenant's evaluation of his job performance for 2011 found that he met job requirements and exceeded them in some respects, including work attitude, reliability and receptiveness to work assignments and criticism. His personnel folder also contained positive comments about his productivity and arrests made with other officers.
Henderson became a police officer in January 2011 and had no job evaluation in his personnel file.
Both officers have bachelor's degrees. Culver majored in history and minored in philosophy at the University of Memphis, and Henderson majored in Japanese and Spanish languages at Eastern Michigan University.
Copyright 2013 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
