More details emerge over Nashville police chief firing

Story courtesy of Network Indiana

A letter from attorneys representing the Nashville Town Council explains why they voted to remove Heather Burris as the Nashville Police Chief earlier this week.

The letter listed the reasons for firing Burris were a lack of overall police presence during busy tourist hours, lack of foot patrols, officers using patrol cars for personal use, too much overtime, and Burris living in New Palestine, which is nearly 70 miles away from Nashville.

At a meeting on Monday night, people who live in the town expressed their support for Burris.

The letter says that Burris consistently scheduled officers to work from 6 am to 6 pm Monday through Wednesday with no coverage on the evenings or during weekend despite calls from the council to Burris to provide officer coverage of the town for Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

“There have been instances where shoplifters were caught red handed and the Town police did not follow up. These are serious accusations which HB (Heather Burris) has ignored,” the letter states.

It also says that the Council wants police officers to patrol the town on foot during their shifts and give Nashville a sense of security, but she didn’t assign or require this duty to officers.

Burris lives in New Palestine. The Council’s attorney says they “orally agreed to HB remaining in her residence at the time of hire until her son graduated from high school, which he did this spring. The Council has asked HB to move within 20 miles of Nashville, which she apparently is not willing to do, as she suggested living in Indianapolis.”

The Council is accusing Burris of letting reserve officers use patrol cars on their personal time and that the “problem has not been rectified.”

They also lodge concerns about overtime that has been logged by other officers. The Council said “no sufficient explanation” was given as to why the overtime was logged. They also argue that Burris said this would change when they got a third full-time officer, “however the OT took place when there were three full-time officers on shift and those three incurred the OT.”

The Town Council also promised to provide Burris with a reference for future employers if she chose to resign immediately, which she opted not to do.