Should a job be created for a police officer who was recently suspended following a road rage incident? That's exactly what's happening in the city of Soddy Daisy for Ryan Patterson.Patterson was on a 2-week suspension following the road rage incident. That's not right. There are a lot of people out here who don't have, a job and they don't create jobs for them. So is that fair? questions Soddy Daisy taxpayer Rhonda Culver. Monday, we found a number of taxpayers in Soddy Daisy upset about a position that was created within the city for suspended Soddy Daisy police officer Ryan Patterson.Patterson is still working within the city, but in a different department. We found out he's now working as a maintenance operator, making a little over $40,000. That's about a $2,000 pay cut from his prior salary working as a patrol officer. If he was guilty, he should have been fired. He shouldn't have been given another job because when you do something wrong and you're a police officer, that makes it even worse, says Culver.About two weeks ago, Melissa Twiner reported that she was heading home when Ryan Patterson, who was off-duty at the time, followed her home because she break -checked him. Twiner realized she was being followed and called her husband who was outside the home and fired into the air.Monday, the city manager told us he made the decision to transfer Patterson to a different department, but admits there were no openings or vacancies in that department.He had worked with the city for over 13 years, and it's my discretion. He received a 2-week suspension without pay and was transferred to the public works department, says city manager Hardie Stulce. Monday, police chief Phil Hamrick refused our request for an on-camera interview about the internal affairs investigation. He told us that he believes the facts of what happened are a clear violation of policy and procedure.By Jerry Askin
