City officials cite confidentially in personnel issues when questioned about the status of three Poplar Bluff officers who were placed on paid administrative leave earlier this summer.
The officers were placed on paid leave sometime in June for what City Manager Mark Massingham earlier described as “possible policy violations.”
The officers were placed on the “aforementioned leave subsequent to a review of a use of force report,” Police Chief Danny Whiteley said earlier in a written statement.
When the Daily American Republic originally reported the officers being on paid leave on July 3, there was no indication of when the incident may have occurred other than it had been about three weeks prior to that time.
It was then that Whiteley said the police department holds accreditation through C.A.L.E.A. (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies), and the review process was being conducted in accordance with policies that were approved through this commission.
The status and outcome of that review process are unknown.
“The issue of the suspended police officers at the Poplar Bluff Police Department is an internal personnel issue that cannot be discussed publicly,” Massingham said in an email to the DAR.
When contacted, neither Whiteley nor city attorney, Mark Richardson, would comment on the matter, citing personnel issues.
Richardson further cited Chapter 610 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, commonly known as the state’s Sunshine Law, and the exemptions it allows regarding disciplinary action in personnel files.
A subsection of that chapter, Richardson said, “creates exemptions to confidentially we are required to maintain with regard to personnel.”