Police Officer Under Investigation

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is helping the Graysville Police Department investigate one of its own.

Chief Thomas Mahoney tells us he suspected something didn't quite add up with officer Greg Higgins, so he started an investigation two months ago.

Chief Mahoney said the T.B.I. is now awaiting the results of lab tests they performed on some of the evidence in this case. The chief said once the results are in he and the T.B.I. will be ready to close the investigation, one way or another.

But for now there's one less officer patrolling the streets of this southern Rhea County town. Officer Higgins has been on suspension without pay since July when his chief discovered something didn't seem right and started an immediate investigation.

"What prompted this is we had some funds missing and anytime that a police officer does something that moves beyond policy problems, or policy issues, it becomes a criminal matter," Chief Mahoney said.

Chief Mahoney said he wants the T.B.I. to give an "outside pair of eyes" a look at the evidence and circumstances. He added the amount of money in question isn't all that much but it's the ethics, or possible lack of them, at issue here. The chief said officers charged with upholding the law must have the public's trust.

"It's always most certainly a shock if one of your officers is accused of something like this, you want to believe that you have the best people possible," Chief mahoney said.

Graysville is a small community of about 1,700 people and they don't have that many police officers. Normally the city has four full-time officers and four part-time officers. But the part-time force is now helping the city cover all shifts.

Chief Mahoney said he hopes he won't have to fire Higgins, a husband and father of two. But after "cleaning up the image" of the Graysville force the last two years the chief said he will do what's right and according to the law. Now he's just waiting to hear what the T.B.I. concludes from their investigation.

"I hate that this is going on, I really do," Chief Mahoney said.