Hammond Family questioning Lt. Tiller’s Record

The attorney for Zachary Hammond’s family released an affidavit from a former Seneca Police Officer citing incidents in Lt. Mark Tiller’s past, which the attorney says raise questions why he was not disciplined and why they were not made part of his official employee file. One incident involved a weapon that was assigned to Lt. Tiller but was found by a citizen on the road. The other involved the crashing of his patrol vehicle into the side of a building while he was responding to a report of an armed robbery. Hammond family attorney Eric Bland says, “It is time for Seneca Police Chief John Covington and the Mayor of Seneca to address the numerous workplace infractions committed by Lt. Tiller.” The City of Seneca responded with this statement: “Nothing has been removed and altered from Lt. Tiller’s personnel file. It is not unusual for officers and employees in Seneca, in other law enforcement agencies and in private business to be counseled on a matter and no written documentation be put in a file. For most agencies and companies, only continued patterns of behavior are noted in employee files. The fact that nothing is in there reinforces the city’s original statement about Lt. Tiller’s strong history.”