Between accusations that Mayor Robert Smith threatened a police officer and a key witness calling in sick, the Civil Service Commission appeals hearing Friday was courtroom drama at its best.
Before postponing the hearing, the three commissioners heard nearly six hours of testimony about the suspensions of now-retired Lt. John Pevey and officer Richard “Rick” Higgins.
Both officers were suspended 20 workdays by the City Council in February after Higgins drove his squad car into a pool of water at 15th and College Streets during heavy rain early Jan. 1.
Pevey, who was accused of not following police protocol in the incident, asked the commission Friday to reverse his suspension. Higgins asked that his suspension be reduced.
But both officers will have to wait for the commission”s answer until key witness and police chief, Joseph St. John, recovers from a sudden illness.
“It”s just killing my heart,” Pevey said of the drawn-out hearing.
St. John, who recommended the officers” suspensions, called in last minute to tell City Attorney Jeff Turnage he couldn”t make it to the hearing. At the request of Turnage, the commission decided to hear all testimony save St. John”s on Friday.
The commission and attorneys will schedule the next hearing date in upcoming weeks.
In his testimony Friday, Pevey — a candidate for Lowndes County sheriff — said he was suspended without cause for political reasons.
Pevey mentioned Smith”s name in a routine daily email report earlier this year when an ex-wife of Smith”s called Pevey about a custody question involving her, her and Smith”s daughter, and their granddaughter.
Although there was no crime involved, Pevey included the information on the report, which went to St. John, senior officers and others in the department.
When Smith heard his name was mentioned, he called Pevey, St. John and others for a sit-down meeting, according to Pevey”s Tupelo-based attorney, Shane McLaughlin. In that meeting, Smith told Pevey “This ain”t over” after a “heated conversation” that was recorded by St. John.
Three weeks later, Smith cast the tie-breaking vote in executive session to suspend Pevey.
Although Smith admitted he could have said those words to Pevey, he told the commission that he cast his vote based on the “facts and circumstances” presented by St. John, not because of a personal grudge.
The hearing also delved into what exactly happened in the early hours of Jan. 1, when Higgins drove the car into the pool of water.
The city claims Pevey failed to follow protocol twice that night, when he didn”t take photographs of the wrecked car before it was towed and didn”t call his department head.
Pevey, who disputed both accusations, told commissioners he arrived on the scene too late to take photographs. And although he only filed a written report, Pevey argued that the accident policy refers to collisions and not to stalled squad cars, which fall under a different policy.
“I felt I went above and beyond to get the word out,” he said.
Higgins, who didn”t dispute the facts of the case, instead argued that his punishment was disproportionately harsh compared to suspensions of other officers in the past.
“I think it was inappropriate,” he said of his suspension.
Turnage said the City Council also took into consideration an earlier incident involving Higgins and Pevey.
Higgins failed to fully search a suspect, Vasquez Fox, because his family was interfering with the arrest, Higgins said. After Higgins transported Fox to the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center, deputies found a handgun in one of his jacket pockets.
Pevey, Higgins” supervising officer at the time then also, did not call St. John about the incident, which he should have done, Turnage said.
Pevey decided to only include the incident in his daily email report instead of calling St. John because carrying a gun into the jail was only a misdemeanor, he said.
“I just didn”t think it was that high a priority at that time,” Pevey said.
Before that, Pevey was also suspended for not following protocol in a wreck involving a civilian. Instead of having his vehicle towed, Pevey pulled a front fender off of a tire so he could drive the car to the city garage.
Those incidents over the past year or so were the only blemishes on Pevey”s 33-year career and the first on Higgins” 10-year career, according to their attorneys.
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