Group said they stand behind indicted Police Chief Celeste Murphy
A group of mainly black clergy and business and community leaders held a press conference on Monday morning in front of the district attorney's office, saying the indictment of Police Chief Celeste Murphy was the result of politics.
District Attorney Coty Wamp was at the event and she immediately responded, saying the stance the group should be taking is on multiple black members of the community being killed by other blacks.
She said her office had nothing to do with the charges against Chief Murphy, saying she had referred the matter from the start to a prosecutor from another county.
Chief Murphy, formerly of Atlanta, was indicted on 17 counts last week after the TBI carried out an investigation related to her residency and statements made by her about it. She resigned a day before the indictment was made public.
Dr. Ernest Reid, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church, said Chief Murphy gained an historic appointment as the city's first female black police chief, but he said she "was met with hostility almost from the start."
He said, "This attempt to discredit an African American woman in leadership reeks of petty partisan politics with dangerous outcomes if applied uniformly."
He also said, "She has challenged the status quo, advocating for a fair and impartial environment. Her commitment to high standards, independent thinking and community engagement has made a tangible positive difference. We are not addressing individuals, but a pervasive spirit of resistance to change and justice."
Dr. Reed said Chief Murphy early on had announced a process to review the cases of police officers who have been transferred due to "Brady letter" accusations that they have misled officials in various investigations. He said all those officers have been allowed to stay on except one who recently resigned.
He said under her tenure that the homicides solved rate was over 90 percent, which he said was one of the best in the nation.
She made strides in the department, including technological advances and recruitment and retention gains, he said.
"Chief Murphy led with integrity and honor," while undergoing "personal attacks," he stated.
Dr. Reed said similar female black chiefs across the country had faced "the same struggle."
He said Chief Murphy should receive her full severance package.
The office of Mayor Tim Kelly said she will be getting 90 days severance. The office said, "Public safety is Mayor Kelly's priority, and he knows that that requires stability at the CPD. Three months' pay is a common strategic lever, as permitted by the employment contract, and at this critical juncture Mayor Kelly decisively used it to ensure the clean, immediate separation necessary to move the department and our city forward."
The amount is $44,431.68.
DA Wamp said the group had not held any press conferences "to call for the end of bloodshed in the black community."
She said, "It (that she is not handling the Murphy prosecution) doesn't matter, because opportunists don't care about facts. I cannot and will not comment on Chief Murphy's investigation or indictment, because I do not know anything about it other than what I have read in the news media.
"I do hope the very best for the Chattanooga Police Department through this transition. There are dozens of law enforcement officers at the Chattanooga Police Department who are ready and able to take over the department and serve this community."
DA Wamp also said, "Last year in the city of Chattanooga, 77 percent of homicides claimed the lives of black men, women and children of all of those that were cleared. Every single one was a black perpetrator. I don't recall a press conference speaking out against those killers. I don't recall a press conference where you stand up and are the voice of victims. Maybe I wasn't invited to that one.
"I do not recall a press release or a press conference in which you call for a cease fire in your own community. I don't recall you saying prayers outside of this courthouse as you are losing dozens of members of your community every single year. My office works in Juvenile Court, where, last year, 14 young men had to be transferred to be tried in this courthouse because of the seriousness of the offenses they commit. I don't recall seeing you all at Juvenile Court trying to reach young men and women before they take it too far. You have not darkened the door of our Juvenile Court.
"I have prosecutors working in every single one of these courts today. I don't recall any of you being in our criminal courts when a jury returns a verdict of guilty and my office is sitting next to the mothers holding their hands. I don't recall seeing any one of you here. You see my office doesn't get to pick and choose what we care about. We don't show up when politics is involved. We don't come out here to divide the community over one case."
DA said the group cares more about the Murphy case "than they do about black lives."
She said no one from the group had called her office about the Murphy case, "though you are holding a press conference outside my office."
DA Wamp said the last time she had met with the group that Rev. Ternae Jordan "told me not to refer to gangs."
She said the group "has been meeting with the city mayor in the last week, who encouraged them to be here. And I have a message for them to take back to him. I am not up for re-election next year. I don't care about your politics. He has my phone number, he has my email address, and he knows where I work. If he has something to say to me, he can come down here and say it."
District Attorney Coty Wamp