Ridgetop Police Officers File Suit Against City for Disbanding Police Department

  Five former police officers in Ridgetop, including its police chief, have reportedly filed a federal lawsuit after city officials suddenly did away with the city’s police department. This, according to The Fort Worth Star Telegram, which said Ridgetop Police Chief Bryan Morris and four former officers filed the federal lawsuit against the city this week. “The lawsuit says the Board of Aldermen and Mayor Tony Reasoner are waging a retaliatory war against the department for investigating allegations that lawmakers destroyed evidence and issued illegal ticket quotas. It says the city falsified data for the budget, which the city said was too constrained to fund police,” The Star Telegram reported. “A court order reopened the department; the city allowed only Morris to remain employed. Court documents say at least one 911 call has gone unanswered since last month.” As The Tennessee Star reported last month, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government criticized how Ridgetop’s mayor and aldermen offered little to no transparency when alerting the public that they might vote to do away with the city’s police department. As reported, Ridgetop City Council members voted to do away with the city’s police force because of what some people say is…

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Ridgetop Mayor Accused of Giving Little Public Notice He Would Scrap Police Department

  The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has criticized how Ridgetop’s mayor and aldermen had little to no transparency when alerting the public that they might vote to do away with the city’s police department. As The Tennessee Star reported this month, Ridgetop City Council members voted to do away with the city’s police force because of what some people say is the mayor’s hurt ego and his vendetta against the now-former police chief. As The Star reported in March, then-Police Chief Bryan Morris said Mayor Tony Reasoner and Vice Mayor McCaw Johnson were out to cripple his department. TCOG Executive Director Deborah Fisher said on the organization’s website that the public notice given for this particular board of aldermen meeting was vague. “Saying only in the public notice for the June 10 meeting that the meeting was “on the budget and police department” seems to leave out the fairly significant nugget that the board would be voting that night on dissolving it. And there is some question why the notice was not on the website,” Fisher wrote. “Put yourself in the seat of the Ridgetop mayor and aldermen. If you were having a meeting in which you might vote on eliminating the…

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Ridgetop Police Still Exist Because of Judge’s Order, But No One Knows for How Long

  The Ridgetop Police Department isn’t finished serving and protecting just yet. According to The Associated Press, Robertson County Judge Bill Goodman has signed a temporary restraining order that will allow the Ridgetop Police Department to resume operations. “Ridgetop Mayor Tony Reasoner announced the dissolution in a special-called meeting last week, saying the city of 1.4 square miles (3 square kilometers) and about 2,000 residents just couldn’t afford a police department anymore,” according to The AP. “The plaintiffs in the civil suit against the city include Ridgetop Police Department Chief Bryan Morris and two police officers. A preliminary hearing on the restraining order was set for July 1. City officials have scheduled a meeting on Monday.” As The Tennessee Star reported last week, people in Ridgetop say the mayor’s allegedly hurt ego and personal vendetta against Morris led to this situation. In March, The Star reported Morris said Reasoner and Vice Mayor McCaw Johnson were out to cripple his department. Morris said the two men demanded his officers issue a certain number of tickets every month to generate revenue for the town. Morris then made this information public. “It’s retaliation,” Morris told The Star last week, before Judge Goodman’s ruling. “They took all…

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City of Ridgetop Does Away with its Police Department, Allegedly Out of Spite

  Ridgetop City Council members voted to do away with the city’s police force Monday because of what some people say is the mayor’s hurt ego and his vendetta against the now-former police chief. As The Tennessee Star reported in March, then-Police Chief Bryan Morris said Mayor Tony Reasoner and Vice Mayor McCaw Johnson were out to cripple his department. Morris said the two men demanded his officers issue a certain number of tickets every month to generate revenue for the town. Morris then made this information public. No one at the Ridgetop City Hall answered the phone Tuesday to offer their version of events. But when this new week started the fix was already in, Morris said. “It’s retaliation,” Morris said. “They took all our guns, our badges, our cars and our equipment — and then they booted us out.” What’s more, city officials began changing the locks on the police department’s front doors before city council members even gathered to take their vote, Morris said. With the police department a thing of the past, Rutherford County sheriff’s deputies will respond to any and calls for law enforcement out of Ridgetop. But the community’s safety is now at risk, Morris…

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Ridgetop Police Chief Alleges Mayor and Vice Mayor Are Retaliating Against Him

Ridgetop Police Chief Bryan Morris says the city’s mayor and vice mayor want to cripple his police department. This, Morris said, is their way to retaliate against him for telling the community about alleged ticket quotas. The mayor is Tony Reasoner. The vice mayor is McCaw Johnson. Morris told The Tennessee Star Thursday the two men demanded his officers issue a certain number of tickets every month to generate revenue for the town. According to the most recent U.S. Census figures, Ridgetop has about 2,100 residents. Ridgetop is in Robertson County. Morris said outsiders consider his city a speed trap. No one at the city mayor’s office returned The Star’s request for comment Thursday. “They (the mayor and vice mayor) want a self-sufficient police department. They don’t want to pay to have a police department,” Morris said. “Our payroll is usually around $260,000. They want us to write $300,000 worth of tickets. That will cover our payroll and a considerable amount of our budget.” As the Nashville-based FOX 17 TV station recently reported, Morris told the community about the mayor’s and vice mayor’s alleged demands. Residents were so angry they packed a town meeting Tuesday night. Thus, the reason why the…

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