Janice Cagle
There's discord in the ranks at the Soddy-Daisy Police Department.
A group of 18 Soddy-Daisy police officers met with City Manager Janice Cagle to complain about the department's leadership in early August, Cagle said. That's more than half of the department, which has about 28 employees.
The group was unhappy with Chief Phil Hamrick and Lt. Jeff Gann, she said.
"The main thing was they didn't feel like they were getting the respect they deserved from the chief and his lieutenant," Cagle said. "And that they were kind of, dictatorial, for lack of a better word. That was their style of supervising."
After the meeting, Cagle brought the group's concerns to Hamrick and Gann but did not discipline the men, she said. She also has not instituted any policy changes at the department. Cagle said that in the weeks since the meeting, she has not had any additional complaints.
Gann said every police department has some level of disagreement among officers. He added that Cagle did not ask him to make any changes.
"[Cagle] pointed out there were some officers that were unhappy about some issues, and she addressed it, and here we are today," Gann said, adding later, "I've not been advised to do anything different than the way I've been doing it."
Cagle said the chief, who did not respond to requests for comment on this story, is working on his relationship with the department.
"I think he is trying to work toward building a better rapport with the men," she said.
The Times Free Press received an anonymous letter Tuesday complaining about the fact that both the chief and lieutenant are still in their jobs. The letter, which contained some inaccurate information, claimed to be from a Soddy-Daisy city employee. But city officials questioned that claim.
"I'm not sure it came from a city employee or if it somehow got in the hands of an outsider who wanted to stir up trouble," Commissioner Gene Shipley said.
He added that he thought the problems in the department were being fixed.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.