Henderson police chief resigns following suspension

CHESTER COUNTY, Tenn. — A former West Tennessee police chief speaks out after announcing his resignation.

Wilton Cleveland’s resignation comes days after a five-day suspension for his reaction to another officer’s disciplinary hearing. The three-page resignation says Friday, June 29, is his last day.

“Two of the sergeants in that hearing lied to the board in statements they gave, and what led to my suspension was that when we came back down from the meeting, I was very upset,” Cleveland said.

Cleveland says during a meeting with other supervisors in the department after the hearing, he used inappropriate language.

“Not language that any officer has never heard and most people haven’t used, but apparently someone was offended,” Cleveland said. “I don’t know if they were outside and they heard it or if it was one of these guys [in the office], and they complained.”

Cleveland says many factors played into his resignation, including what he considered threats to his family after hearing about conversations about his son.

“And this person said that they overheard a conversation or were part of the conversation that people were making threats saying, ‘well, we know how to get him out of town,'” Cleveland said. He says that was by harassing his child at school.

“I refuse to be intimidated that way. Don’t use my child to try and intimidate me. It’s just absurd,” Cleveland added.

Cleveland says he was asked to give the Henderson Board of Aldermen a list of issues he has seen within the department. He did so within his letter of resignation.

“The goal was this. This was my resignation letter. This was kind of the public side of it. This is what the board needs to do, fix some of the stuff and to fix was what was actually going on, because they are being misled as well,” Cleveland said.

Now, more than a year and a half with the Henderson Police Department and nearly 30 years in law enforcement, Cleveland says he’s ready to move forward.

“I am good. Really, I am,” Cleveland said. “I tried. I was’t successful, you know. They want me to move on. I’m ready to move on.”

Cleveland previously worked for the Memphis Police Department as a lieutenant with the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit prior to becoming chief of police in Henderson.