Author: Thomas Pennington
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
Dear Mayor and City Council of the City of Rhome,
One of Davis’ first directives when he was appointed as chief of police was that he would not
tolerate anyone who publicly ridiculed or “undermined” him or any member of the city council. It was not
long after that Davis repeatedly violated his own directive by openly slandering past and current council
members and city employees which included; Louis Godfrey, Angie Young, David Wilson, Charles
Pennington, Ronnie Moore, Jeff Becraft, Gerry McBride, and Joann Wilson. I lost count of the number of
times I have heard him refer to Mayor Michelle Pittman as a “worthless (#&^” and openly voices his
grievances to fellow officers.
The second directive that Davis gave was that he was a strong advocate of community oriented
policing practices. Davis again violated his own directive when he did the following; the harassment of
citizens, obscene gestures directed towards citizens, voicemail messages with threats of civil litigation
against citizens who speak out against him, publicly ridiculing the Mayor through various local media
outlets, publicly boasting to citizens that he controls the city council, openly ridiculing local community
organizations such as the Rhome Forward Group, alienating to the point of discouraging local citizens that
wished to donate items to the police department, fostering hostility between the citizens and the police
department, and alienating outside police agencies to the point that they no longer desire to assist us when
needed. These actions contradict everything taught about community oriented policing practices and my 16
years of police related experience.
Shortly before the first auction of vehicles from our newly created impound lot; I was tasked with
reviewing the records and preparing vehicles that were ready for auction. My review of the impound
records led me to the fact that while several of the vehicles in the impound lot met the time period
requirements of the laws governing impound lots, but they did not meet all the notification requirements of
those same laws. When I brought my findings to the attention of Davis, he dismissed my complaint and
ordered that we proceed forward with the auctioning of the vehicles. Davis also withholds cash proceeds
from the impound lot fees that often accumulate to over $1000 or more before he sends it off to be
deposited on the grounds of his personal complaints that the money is not deposited into the Rhome Police
Department account in a timely manner.
Just a few weeks ago I was approached by Davis because he wanted me to seek criminal charges
against former Mayor Louis Godfrey for “Harassment” because Godfrey continuously sends repeated open
records requests and voices his discontent of the council’s actions to the city secretary in the form of an
email. While I may personally find Louis Godfrey repugnant for his open support and allegiance to a
former Rhome Police Officer who went on to another agency where he shot and killed a Montague County
Deputy, I was not willing to perjure myself or violate Godfrey’s constitutional rights to fulfill Davis’
personal agenda of retribution. My refusal was met with great hostility from Davis.
In retrospect, it would seem that some of the above listed complaints served as a catalyst for my
termination because I would not foster Davis’ personal agenda. The process in which Davis terminated my
employment is contradictory to Sec. 614.023 of the Texas Government Code, which states; any complaint
against an officer must be signed by the person making the complaint and presented in writing to the
officer. Davis sought out the complaints rather than the complaints being brought to his attention. These
alleged complaints were in the form of an email sent to Davis, which means they were not signed by the
person making the complaint and clearly indicated in the context of the message that Davis approached
these persons for the sole purposes to seek out complaints against me and gives rise to the suspicion that
perhaps these complaints were coerced. The time stamp on the emails was within 24 hours of my
termination notice, which indicates that Davis took no time to thoroughly investigate these complaints.
Another alleged complaint that came from Davis himself was that I was operating outside the boundaries of
my new job description that was contradictory to his last directive that Officer Adair and I were in charge
of running the day-to-day operations of the police department. His complaint alleged that this misconduct
had been occurring over a period of weeks and even months but I only received my new job description in
Author: Thomas Pennington
NOTICE OF COMPLAINT
writing within a week of my termination and was operating well within the boundaries of my old job
description. Again, if there was any misconduct over a period of months, why wasn’t it brought to my
attention at the time? The last written notice I received was in the form of an employee evaluation where
he gave above satisfactory levels with and very positive feedback. There was very little indication that there
was dissatisfaction of my job performance when Davis approached me a week prior to my termination to
offer me a job at the Wise County Sheriff’s Department when he is elected Sheriff? Therefore; due to the
nature and circumstances of my termination I respectfully ask that this city council overturn my
termination, fully reinstate me back to the Rhome Police Department to my former rank and position, and
provide back pay. I respectfully ask that a response to this request be given in writing.
Should this council choose not to overturn my termination then I am requesting the following:
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An amendment to the Separation of License (F5) to indicate an "Honorable" discharge from the
Rhome Police Department.
Remove all complaints in my personnel file that I was not made aware of in writing in accordance
with Sec. 614.023 of the Texas Government Code prior to the discharge date. This amendment
would also include but not limited to the final termination notice letter.
Payment for the remainder of my accumulated vacation time that totaled 394 hours for a total of
$7,832.72 that I was never forced to use or lose. It was stated in an email that I was refused
payment for this accumulated vacation time under rules of the current city policy manual which
indicates that I am only allowed to be paid for 120 vacation hours, but in recent months when
another officer left the department who had even more accumulated vacation time then I did, that
person was paid in full.
On 11/18/15, I received a response from Davis to an open records request that required the full
disclosure on all the documents contained in my personnel file. I received my response in the form of an
email with all the requested documents attached. Some of the contents of these sensitive documents
included my social security number, driver’s license number, address, a computerized criminal history
search, and training records. This document are not unexpected to be found in any police employee
personnel file, but was shocked to discover in the header of the email message that this highly sensitive
information had been copied to three city council members and the city attorney. In a day and age when
identity theft is in near epidemic levels, this information should not have been disclosed under these
circumstances and should have never been disclosed to members of the public to include city council
members. This information is only authorized to be released with a signed and notarized waiver from me.
This letter will stand as a signed formal complaint against the City of Rhome in general and a formal
complaint against Chief Brandon Davis personally.
Thomas Pennington