It's only [your] money 


City pours tax dollars into Reno Martin case

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. --In an exceptional show of support for a former police official and renunciation of the truthfulness of two current officers, the city has been quietly pouring money into a self-insurance fund to fight charges that former Police Captain Wayne Bandy held a gun to the head of another policeman.

Documents obtained from City Manager Jimmy Shipley under the state open records law by Samuel J. Harris, The Pit's lawyer , shows the city had prepaid more than $4,000 into the Tennessee Municipal Leagues self-insurance fund, with another $23,000 on the way to defend what its own police officers have publicly and privately stated, not only to the press but to the city manager himself, a Pit investigation shows.

Police Officer Reno Martin alleges in a federal civil rights complaint that Bandy psychologically tormented him for years. Former Police Chief Richard Holt and current Chief Bill Benson determined there was enough evidence to remove Bandy from the workplace, but the city is apparently intent on paying the cost of defending against what its own officers have sworn is true.

Dog X asks: If the citydoes not believe its own police officers, what is the status of those who are in jailbecause of a police officer's testimony? The question some are asking is why should any judge believe anything a Cookeville police officer says if the city does not believe them.