Former District Attorney Mickey Layne
On April 15, 2013, Coffee County District Attorney Mickey Layne requested the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation of the Manchester Police Department’s use of the money from the Police Officers’ Fund, aka the Flower Account, and the use and disposition of surplus equipment obtained from the United States Department of Defense during the year 2012 and prior to.
The Police Officers’ Fund had been in existence for some twenty (20) years and was funded by police officer contributions, fundraisers and from other sources. This fund did not contain public taxpayer money. On Friday Layne said in a press release that the records of how the fund was used were either poor or non-existent. Thus, the investigation did not uncover evidence of any criminal violation in the use of the Police Officers’ Fund.
As to the surplus equipment, Layne stated that the Department of Defense requires items to be kept for twelve (12) months. The items may then be disposed of and records tracking their use and disposition is not required. Thus, few records of the use and disposition of this property were found, as they were not required to be kept. D.A. Layne added, “Thus, it was not possible to determine which, if any, items were actually missing, and which, if any, items had been sold. Also, if sold, it could not be determined how any money acquired was used after a sale”.
Layne said the investigation did not acquire evidence of any criminal violations in the use and disposition of the Department of Defense surplus property by the Manchester Police Department during the year 2012 and prior to.
The now former district attorney says there being no evidence to support a criminal prosecution, this investigation is closed.
