The city of East Ridge terminated police Chief J.R. Reed after an investigation found a “harrowing and disturbing environment” inside the police department, according to a six-page, March 13 termination letter to Reed from acting city manager Kenny Custer.
Reed’s firing was announced Thursday night following the regular meeting of the East Ridge City Council. Reed was placed on paid administrative leave by Custer on Nov. 21, 2018.
The termination letter cites nine “prevailing issues” uncovered through Custer’s investigation, which included nine interviews with members of the police department and city administration. The issues included neglecting requests for equipment, failure to properly budget for operating the department, ordering officers to perform car license tag identification searches on vehicles within a gated community, improper management of $24,000 in funds collected by the police department and blaming others for the department’s shortcomings.
Custer said that after reviewing “the record as a whole, the consensus that resulted is that there is an institutional lack of leadership by you as chief of the Police Department.” Custer’s letter went on to say that interviews conducted in the investigation “depicted a harrowing and disturbing environment within the department.”
Several attempts to reach Reed were unsuccessful.