Chattanooga: Attorneys seek stay on reinstatement of 2 fired officers

photo Adam Cooley, left, and Sean Emmer

Chattanooga attorneys have asked a local judge to stay a court order that two police officers fired in 2012 over accusations of use of excessive force against a federal inmate must get their jobs back.

City attorneys filed their request in Hamilton County Circuit Court this afternoon. A judge is expected to make a decision in the morning.

Attorneys argue the city shouldn't have to hire back Sean Emmer and Adam Cooley before appealing Administrative Law Judge Kim Summers' ruling that the two officers must get their jobs back.

The appeal on Summers' opinion will likely be filed next week.

On June, 14, 2012, Emmer and Cooley struck inmate Adam Cooley at least 44 times with their batons. Both of Tatum's legs were broken in the incident. The incident at the Salvation Army was captured on video. Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd fired both officers.

But Summers, an administrative law judge from Nashville, ordered the officers should have their jobs back. She wrote in her opinion that the officers acted in accordance with their training.

Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.

Upcoming Events