OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. (WMC) - Action News 5 uncovered another case of a Mid-South police officer who left one department in disgrace only to get hired at another local police agency.
But now, that officer is out of two jobs and could be banned from being a law enforcement officer in all of Tennessee.
On the Collierville Police Department’s Facebook page, you can see a picture of former Collierville Police Officer DeMario Pree standing next to Police Chief Dale Lane at Pree’s graduation from the police academy in November 2022.
On Thursday, Pree was scheduled to appear at a Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission decertification hearing in Nashville for resigning from the Collierville Police Department with disciplinary action against him pending.
Collierville police won’t say what exactly led to Pree’s departure.
But, Action News 5 confirmed Pree left the agency in the spring of 2024 and resurfaced at the Olive Branch Police Department in DeSoto County, Mississippi.
Collierville Police Chief Dale Lane and former Officer DeMario Pree (Collierville Police Department)
In a photo posted to the Olive Branch Police Department’s Facebook page on Thursday, June 6, smiling Mayor Ken Adams shook hands with Pree during his swearing-in with the department.
But after Thursday’s POST hearing, which Pree did not attend, Mayor Adams and Police Chief William Cox released this statement:
“Effective immediately, DeMario Pree is no longer employed by the Olive Branch Police Department. Personnel matters are not discussed by the Olive Branch Police Department nor the City of Olive Branch.”
Pree’s absence at the POST hearing was never explained, though someone in attendance told the commission Pree was aware his hearing was taking place.
”He was originally set last month, and he said he was watching a family member that was sick, wanted it this month and he knew about today,” a staffer told the commission, “I contacted him a couple days ago and he’s not present at the moment.”
The commission even moved Pree’s hearing from second on the agenda to the bottom to give him more time to appear, but he was a no-show.
Despite his absence, the POST commission voted unanimously to decertify Pree. Tennessee’s POST commission will notify the State of Mississippi about Pree’s decertification. It is unclear how or if it will impact his ability to get another law enforcement job in the Magnolia State.
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bookchaser on June 22nd, 2024 at 10:59 UTC »
Fixed that. His absence at a meeting where he could be decertified, a meeting he knew about, and was reminded about, at a time he agreed to, is more reason to be concerned about him.
19CCCG57 on June 22nd, 2024 at 06:05 UTC »
There's always Florida and Alabama left for him ...
nono66 on June 22nd, 2024 at 04:32 UTC »
It really is absurd there is no program or agency that tracks bad cops. They are never decertified. They are just allowed to go somewhere else and keep working as a cop.