Chesterfield Police Chief Jeffrey Katz announced last week that he terminated Daniel Morley, a former school resource officer at L.C. Bird High School who had been linked to white nationalism.
In an April 18 press release, Katz said, “Our community deserves to know the men and women of their police department respect and revere them – whoever they may be. It is true that Mr. Morley has a First Amendment right to free speech and association. However, the views espoused by and attributed to Mr. Morley violate county and departmental policy and our organizational values; his continued employment is antithetical to the expectations of our personnel and those we serve.”
Katz added: “Policing in today’s polarized society is challenging. Successful policing requires relationships rooted in trust. While I will not get into specifics of this personnel matter, I want you to know that my decision to terminate Mr. Morley is predicated on the well-founded belief that his affiliation and online activities make it impossible for him to carry out his duties in a way that would contribute to the building of trust and the maintenance of legitimacy our police department shares with our supportive community.”
Morley worked for Chesterfield police for several years, according to Katz.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported March 18 that it had been notified about Morley the previous week by the Colorado Springs, Colo., branch of Antifa, a left-wing militant “anti-fascist” group.
Morley is the pledge coordinator for Identity Evropa – which was involved in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 – and has been a member since 2017, according to torchantifa.org.
