Hire a retired FBI agent or State patrolman, with excellent records that aren't fabricated. They can work for the salary with their pension!

Is the lady who did Internet searching for predators still there doing that?

You seem to know the dirt!

I doubt that 300 people in the PTC police and Sheriffs office could keep THAT secret. Not counting the Court House.

You can do an open records request at CH and get the separation notice and it will show that it was voluntary. They might charge you .25cents for copying it and that's about it.

If Murray had been fired, there would be lawsuits flying. Oh yeah, his attorney is also Rick Lindsey:)

Nixon's record doesn't show an impeachment either! So!!!!

NO, no Nuk. It was retire or be fired. So PTC Chief Murry retired to save face. I think city council was tired of Murry and the media circus he created which puts PTC in a bad light and shows all the dirty laundry. It's happened time and time again with the media. Chief Murry would call them and put himself in front of the camera so he could be big and bad just like the cops in Atlanta, New York, ect. This fed Murry's inflated ego. I think, one too many times he put his foot in his mouth which in time will cost the city.

On many occasions Chief Murry provided me with a ton of information when I was checking up on something that was to be discussed by city council, simply by my asking him for it.

Perhaps it was his willingness to support local citizens and let the public know what was really going on that may have gotten him in trouble, if that's what really happened.

I don't know of many police departments where a citizen can just walk in to the police headquarters building and ask, "Is the Chief in? I'd like to speak with him if is". Thirty seconds later, here comes the Chief. "Hi, I'm Chief Murry, how can I help you?"

Chief Murry and his staff, other police officers, were always polite and helpful to me when I asked them for something.

Maybe you know something I don't but Chief Murry is and will always be an outstanding law enforcement officer in my book.

I only tried "walking" into police station twice, but the people I wanted to see were never there--not even working cross-word puzzles!

Also, needed an appointment to get stolen property back!

I remember several media circuses, not about path patrols, but about some predator from Missouri!

The only time any of us ever saw him was when he was prancing around in front of a camera. Most of that was while catching sex offenders from other counties. The question really is when wasn't he in front of a TV camera?

I agree all of his officers were very polite and helpful, and really do seem to care about our city.

Chief Murray was a rude little troll. He did protect his people from black mold, and he did work hard to get raises for them.

He cared more about catching sex offenders from other counties(ie, other peoples problems) than he did about patrolling the neighborhoods, or cartpaths all of which seems to be strictly forbidden. Do think the recent "mail bomb" was the first incident like that here?? I wasn't. Just because the police don't patrol the neighborhoods and catch the kids, doesn't mean it's not happening.

Getting back to the main point of the blog, I doubt he was fired. If he was it was in direct retaliation for our DUI city manager. He had his faults but he wasn't stupid.

was when he was prancing around in front of a camera."

Maybe it's a good thing I don't follow the local Atlanta news.

All I can say is that he was courteous and responsive to me.

As for, "He cared more about catching sex offenders from other counties". Those perverts were coming after, what they thought were, local kids.

Really Sky, that's like saying the S.O. only cares more about catching drug dealers from other counties. I know you don't believe that.

As far as I'm concerned, he could have tied them to the bumpers of the patrol cars.

If he dedicated one officer, he didn't, to just catching perverts then I consider that money well spent.

As far as patrolling the cart paths, were about 12 officers short of that goal. I'd suggest you ask the city council when they plan on making that a priority.

First of all I'm glad chief murray was polite to you. I think you are the only one.

First of all, the sex offenders were lured here. I don't think they would have come here otherwise. It is good that he was fighting crime but.....we have plenty of it here.
The problem is when they crack down on the kids, the parents cuss the cops out instead of dealing with the problem.

The SO doesn't have to lure any druggies here, crawl accross the county line like roaches to a cardboard fest. All they have to do is stand there and it is like shooting fish in a barrel. One of my friends at the SO says there is a particular gas station right on the county line that they target. Apparently criminals are slow learners.

I have written to our illustrious city council with many examples and reasons why the cops should be in the neighborhoods and on the cartpaths. The good thing is we have a strong SO. We can always call them.

I don't know why you have such animosity towards Murray, but at least get your facts somewhat straight. The PTC PD is VERY understaffed and its citizen-to-officer ratio is one of the lowest in the entire country. How are they suppose to patrol miles of gold cart paths 24/7 when they don't have enough officers to patrol the streets????

Murray, like any other police dude, has to work with what he is given by the city council and city mgr in terms of a budget. Since staffing PD(and Fire for that matter) hasn't seemed to be a priority for over two decades, both are woefully understaffed. That's not Murray's fault or a Fire chief's fault....that lies right at the feet of the City Mgr, Mayor, and Council who don't seem to understand Econ 101.If you can't fill vacant positions for a period of years at payrate X, maybe you need to examine why. Ooooohhhhhh...we might have to bump more cops' wages if we raise the starting salary! DUH. When other cities are paying $10-$15K more in starting salary, where do you think new cops are going to go?

What Murray did in PTC was pretty remarkable and it also allowed the SO that you think so highly of to concentrate on every other area of Fayette Co besides PTC. If people want the golf cart system patrolled more, let your council know it over and over until they do something about it. Also let them know you're willing to pay more taxes to have the PTC PD fully staffed until of having 3 or 4 patrol cars covering the entire city at one time.

The BS about luring sex offenders is about as myopic and narrow-minded as possible. sex offender freaks are everyone's problem, not just the community they happen to be in at one time. I also fail to see how one person in PTC working about 10-15 hours total a week on catching these predators is a waste of resources.

A couple of questions:

1. What does the police department do with a half million dollars worth of salary and benefits it isn't spending for officers that are unhired? Overtime maybe which the cops want?

2. The predators on the computer (not many over ten years) is of course supposed to be publicity to warn those with kids to check out the kids usage of the computer! That can be done without luring them here, and cheaper, and free cops for crime HERE!

They are underpaid when they are fully qualified and a raise would seem to be as economical as overtime!

Anyway, the Chief should have hired more, or, suggested using the OT for raising salaries. Can't tell me there aren't scores of dudes wanting those jobs just for the pistol, car, and uniform. They do require more supervision and work of the veterans. Even some will have to be fired, which I am told is a no, no.
Can't blame all of the management on the council!

I don't see where 10-15hrs spent online catching some sick people is a drain on manpower. I hardly call arresting some unsuspecting moron in a Wal-Mart parking lot to be much of a risk when they are "lured" to come to PTC. I've never heard of an online predator showing up armed with semi-auto or automatic weapons like what is the norm for pre-arranged drug deals. Considering how many very public busts of these criminals have been done and the fact that there are still other pervs out there who don't know about it and/or willingly come on down should tell you the mentality of these people.

As far as raises, pay, etc....don't you think that it gets proposed every year? Of course it does, then the city mg chops it out and then the Mayor/Council take their turn. That's been happening every year for as long as I recall, same with the Fire Dept who really gets shafted.

All the $$$ not spent by a dept like the PD go right back into the general operating accounts of the city, to be used for whatever else the powers-that-be want it to be used on. That's why some of the golf cart system is in such wrteched shape....budgeted money for repiars and resurfacing kept getting re-allocated elsewhere. Same for the Gathering Place expansion which kept getting budgeted and not funded for years until it became such a costly project the city decided to try and fund it with a bond. Budgeted funds don't accumulate or stay in the dept, therefore there is zero incentive to not spend 100% of budgeted funds every year. Got to love government!

Am I to assume that your answer is NO about the overtime being paid?

..but it is paid if earned. If there was any sneaky coercion or deceit to avoid paying OT, you'd definitely heard about it right when it happened. The PTC PD is unionized.

You continue to sneak around the question!
Of course OT is paid when worked. Ever know a union man to work 5 minutes OT without time and one half paid, or more?

The quesrion is: how many dollars WERE paid in OT in 2007?
You either don't know, or want to know, or are also hiding it.

Our salaries offered are so low, most cops don't apply to work here. They get better salaries in other parts of the metro area.

Our councilFOOLS don't think cops or firefighters are important.

Chief Murray did have his faults, but he did fight to get raises for his people.

He did in fact retire and was not fired. The escort out of CH by 2 Fayette deputies is also BS that must have been started by someone here.

Who did he PO? His dept did their job in giving the city manager a DUI and from that day forward, city manager McMullen and Mayor Logsdon did everything possible to make his life and others in the dept a nightmare.

Everyone at City hall was asked to evacuate the building and proceed to the library, a few minutes later 2 FCSO cars showed up with 3 SOs and entered the building. A few minutes later the Chief showed up in his personal car and entered the building. After about 10-15 minutes the Chief was seen escorted to his car by 2 of the SOs and drove away. Fact not Fiction. I'm not trying to start any trouble here just telling the truth. But if I were a betting person, I would bet that you are right about the city manager and the DUI.

Uuuuh. sounds mysterious!

Maybe that was his private retirement send-off! You think?

You can't be serious.