LAVERGNE, TN (WSMV) -
A La Vergne police officer is under investigation for a conversation he probably thought was private.
Just moments before a ceremony this week to remember the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the officer allegedly made some sexually charged comments to a female jail employee.
He also called the 9/11 ceremony a "PR thing," but what he didn't know at the time was that the entire conversation was recorded.
The conversation, or at least the portion that was recorded, lasted for about 90 seconds and took place in the warrants lobby at the Rutherford County Jail, which is usually a waiting area for people wanting to do business with the sheriff's department.
Daily News Journal reporter Mark Bell was sitting in the lobby Tuesday afternoon when he used his iPhone to record the conversation between a La Vergne police officer and a female behind the warrants window.
Bell reports the banter was anything but businesslike.
Bell said in the conversation, which is posted at the DNJ website, the officer mentioned something about a "stripper pole" to the woman behind the warrants window and asked why she wasn't dancing as he pressed a light against the window.
Bell also reports the officer said something about being "easy but not cheap."
La Vergne police Chief Mike Walker said as soon as he learned of the recording he was sent a copy and was hoping to have answers from internal affairs before the item hit the front page of the DNJ.
"As soon as we complete the investigation then we'll have information, but until such time I can't comment on the investigation," Walker said.
Ivy Brown is one of many DNJ readers who responded to the story online Thursday.
"That's the least offensive conversation I think I've ever heard, you know. Obviously it's just playing around and joking," Brown said.
Walker said investigators want to speak with the woman behind the window and anyone else who may have been within earshot of that conversation. Walker added the officer, who works in the crime suppression unit, is a good employee.
The officer is still working as the investigation continues.
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