Ripley Police Chief’s Records Released
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ABC 7 Eyewitness News conducted its own investigation, this week, into Ripley Police Chief, Landis Garrison. Garrison resigned Tuesday, just before findings from a three month investigation into complaints against him, were revealed. While investigating Garrison’s history, we found allegations brought against the city in January, that might just surprise you. Four days after former Police Chief Garrison was suspended with pay, he filed a federal racial discrimination claim against the City of Ripley. Michael Hill, the city’s attorney, said, “He claimed he was being treated differently than prior police chiefs.” That claim was dismissed Tuesday in a settlement agreement between Garrison and the city. To find out if this claim had anything to do with his resignation, we attempted to contact Garrison. First, at his home, but no one answered the door and phone calls were not returned. Dan Irvin, a Ripley resident, said, “I just believe in straight facts and I think they should let the truth come out about what went on, why it went on, and I think we got good enough common sense to good judgments about that.” Garrison has been getting his regular pay of $24.32 an hour since his January suspension, and will continue to be paid through June 30. That totals more than $25,000 of taxpayer money, plus benefits Garrison will receive, without lifting a finger. Meanwhile, the city has been given absolutely no explanation of why the chief was being investigated in the first place. We asked Hill why he felt like taxpayers did not have a right to know the details about the investigation. “We were going to have a meeting Tuesday and any evidence would have been presented and the alderman would have had a chance to discuss that. Then Mr. Garrison would have had a chance to respond,” said Hill. But because Garrison quit before that and would not have an opportunity to respond, Hill said he will, out of respect for Garrison, not release what his investigation found. Our investigation did not turn up any complaints that were filed with the city’s human resource department. Irvin, added, “We’re the public, this is our town, and with any town, we need to know the problems, the accusations, so we have a feel about our leaders in a town.” Also, according to Garrison’s settlement agreement, he will not be able to apply for any jobs with the City of Ripley.
