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“For Cliff to be punished and embarrassed by the department for speaking up for what he thought was right was not fair,” said one officer who requested anonymity.
The officer said that what happened to Hardy was nothing more than his not being a part of Chief Harold Chaffin’s “team.”
“The chief has his guys that he takes care of and only those guys,” said the officer, who is white. “I’m not saying it’s a race thing, but he definitely has guys he likes and they can do no wrong.”
In a departure from normal practice, the Daily Journal agreed to anonymity for this officer, and others, because of the sensitive nature of the case.
Giving opinions
Chaffin said Hardy, who is white, was demoted because his comments in support of then-Deputy Police Chief Robert Hall, who is black, were reckless and demoralized the department.
But another officer, who also didn’t want to be identified, said Hardy’s win means officers no longer have to be afraid of retaliation for saying, or doing, what they think is right.
Even though he didn’t agree with Hall’s decision to release a DUI suspect from jail, he didn’t see that it was a criminal offense.
“I don’t agree with tickets being taken fixed, but it happens,” said the officer. “There are lots of things that happen that are not on the up and up in the department and people just turn their heads. Like Cliff said, Robert was getting too big for a select few and he had to go. And Cliff had to go for exposing it.”
Not every officer felt the department was at fault.
Said one officer, “So now it’s OK for sworn officers to just go around talking down on the department? Forget about handling things in house. Now we should just air everything out in the public? It’s not right now and it wasn’t right when Cliff did it.”
Change to come?
Some officers say that having a more racially diverse department is needed, and Hardy’s win may bring about that change. Of Tupelo’s 129 sworn officers, 22 are minorities, and only six minorities hold ranks: Maj. Anthony Hill, Lts. Tony McCoy and Jessie King, Capt. Kenny Vaughn and Sgt. Katarsha White and Sgt. James King. White is the only female ranking officer. All six are black.
At least one former Tupelo Police officer said he knows what Hardy has gone through over the past few years.
Earl Lawless said he was fired from the department in 1990 for speaking out against the conviction of a black woman who was charged with murdering her child. Lawless said after a letter to the editor written by him was published in the Daily Journal, he was fired. Lawless lost his First Amendment lawsuit against the city.
“I’m very satisfied with Cliff winning his case,” said Lawless. “He and Robert Hall are fine men and officers. This is nothing new to see Tupelo getting rid of people for speaking up for what’s right. The cat is out of the bag now thanks to Cliff and Robert.”
I believe the department's policy of not speaking publicly should be challenged in federal court. It looks to be a clear violation of the 1st amendmen>>>>
Every organization has the right to instruct its members to go through the chain of command. If he did that, I humbly apologize. Otherwise, if every person in an organization that was disgruntled for whatever reason (and usually, there are a few who complain about anything and everything) could keep moral spiraling out of control and destroy the capacity to function effectively. As long as Mr Hardy took his concerns up the ladder to its logical conclusion, ie, the Mayor, than much of this might have been avoided. I don't believe the jury found that Mr Hardy was right in making public statements, only that it was wrong that he was disciplined for making them. There is a difference between "law" and "professional business ethics"...If everyone did the right thing, and went through the "chain" first then many problems could be solved within the organization itself. When this isn't possible, then the legal system is an option. If YOU, as an employer has an employee that spouts off rather than comes to you to solve the problem first, you would most like be loathe to have that person as part of your team...bottom line...
if perjury was comitted during Hardys trial, the guilty parties should be charged and let the chips fall where they may....
I will stand by my comment yesterday that the citizens of Tupelo will be lucky if Hardy and Hall are never on the city payroll again.