A group consisting mostly of former and current law enforcement officers made a prompt decision to allow Colin Berryhill, a former Memphis Police officer, to retain his police certification. The decision was made in a matter of seconds.
In February, the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST) chose to remain inactive on the matter.
Tennessee’s top law enforcement oversight agency, POST, deals with cases of police misconduct on a regular basis. In fact, these cases are so severe that the officer’s employer has called on POST to decertify them, effectively preventing them from working as police officers in Tennessee.
The Memphis Police Department made a request to the state to decertify Berryhill. This action was taken after he had violated the department’s excessive force policy a total of three times by using his Taser while on duty.
MPD informed POST that too much time had passed and withdrew their request when his decertification hearing was conducted almost five years after he used excessive force.
During the hearing, Berryhill’s case was not reviewed and no questions were asked by the POST Commission.
After the swift decision made by the authorities, Action News 5 launched an investigation into POST. The investigation uncovered that around 270 police officers in Tennessee have been decertified between 2019 and the present year of 2024.
According to the National Police Accountability Project’s Lauren Bonds, that would be considered towards the higher end of things in a national context.
Bonds claims that Tennessee experiences a higher number of decertification hearings compared to other states, as well as more delays in the process.
According to our findings, almost half of the officers who were facing decertification were able to keep their licenses. This was primarily due to the delay in their hearings. A total of 111 officers were able to retain their certifications, with 70 of them still waiting for their hearings to take place. Meanwhile, the remaining 41 officers had their cases dismissed entirely.
Bonds expressed his concern regarding the delays, stating that they appear to be unusual.
Several officers have experienced significant delays for a number of years.
Similar to Carlard Anderson, a former Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputy who faced two arrests during his tenure. One of the arrests was for allegedly driving under the influence in his SCSO-issued vehicle, while the other was related to an incident where he reportedly injured six women by firing a gun inside a club while working as an off-duty security guard. However, his appearance before POST has been pending since 2019.
According to reports, Alex Capps, who used to work with the Ripley Police, has been accused of disclosing to multiple women that he had attempted suicide. He has also been accused of threatening his then-girlfriend and being photographed with marijuana. Despite these allegations, Capps still holds his police certification, and even after four years, no hearing has been scheduled since his first hearing was postponed.
In less than two years, Eric Austin received 15 write-ups and was subsequently terminated from his position at Millington Police in 2019.
Berryhill and some other officers have benefited from the delays.
According to state Senator Ed Jackson, who represents Jackson and parts of Dyer and Crockett counties and has been a member of the POST Commission for five years, the delay in resolving the issue has been investigated thoroughly.
According to him, the sheer number of these issues makes it difficult for their team of only 14 members to address all of them promptly. However, he emphasized that they are taking proactive measures to improve their reach by meeting at various grand divisions of the state.
It’s uncertain when the change will occur, according to Senator Jackson.
According to a spokesperson from the POST Commission, scheduling a hearing involves several factors such as ensuring the availability of the respondent, the commission members as a quorum, and an administrative law judge, along with drafting and filing a Notice of Hearing and Charges. Moreover, the availability of attorneys hired by respondent officers also impacts the scheduling process.
No specific schedule has been set for any of it to occur at this time.
According to our findings, POST has dismissed numerous cases where an officer or their legal representative defended their actions. One such case involved former MPD officer Elijah Presley and his partner Raul Perez, who arrested a woman seeking help and caused her to suffer a fractured arm. Despite MPD finding Presley guilty of using excessive force, POST still dismissed the case.
In June 2023, POST was informed by Lt. Keith Morris, who heads MPD’s internal affairs unit, that the situation could have been resolved without resorting to the use of force.
According to POST Commissioner Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin, it’s unfortunate that Presley chose to resign during an internal investigation and is currently employed by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.
Sheriff Partin stated that the arrest appeared to be a routine one where the officers had to apprehend someone, and in such situations, it is not uncommon for people to get injured or marked up unintentionally.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that most officers who were decertified were not present during their hearing, resulting in their decertification by default.
Senator Jackson pointed out that some individuals may choose not to attend events or meetings if they feel that their absence will result in decertification. He stated, “If they didn’t show up…they realize ‘I’m going to be decertified, so why show up and go through that?’”
The Investigators inquired about the effectiveness of the POST Commission, asking, “In your opinion, how effective is the POST Commission?”
Senator Jackson praised the effectiveness of the POST Commission and acknowledged their ability to make necessary adjustments.
POST Commission hearings’ location may be subject to change, but there are no plans to make any other modifications to POST at present.
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