Ferguson officer placed on leave after referring to Mike Brown memorial as ‘trash’ 
 
 FERGUSON, Mo (KMOV.com) – The Ferguson Public Information Officer for the City of Ferguson Police Department has been placed on unpaid leave after referring to the Michael Brown memorial as ‘trash.’ 
 
 According to the Washington Post, Officer Timothy Zoll, the Ferguson Police Department’s public relations officer said no crime had been reported in connection to the memorial’s destruction early Friday morning. Zoll suggested the department would look at any video of the incident, but did not specify whether the department would investigate after a vehicle allegedly ran over the memorial on Canfield Drive. 
 
 “I don’t know that a crime has occurred,” Zoll said to a Washington Post reporter on Friday. He was quoted as saying “But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? That Washington Post is making a call over this?” 
 
 The City of Ferguson released a statement Saturday, saying they initiated an internal investigation, and Officer Zoll admitted he misled his superiors when they inquired about the contents of his interview. 
 
 Officer Zoll has now been placed on unpaid leave, effective immediately, while the department evaluates disciplinary action. 
 
 The City of Ferguson’s statement says the “negative remarks about the memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of city officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location.” 
 
 Department officials say they are focused on creating a trusting relationship with the entire community and taking steps to improve the effectiveness of the department.​ ||||| A spokesman for the Ferguson, Mo., police department has been placed on unpaid leave after he admitted that he referred to a memorial for the black teenager fatally shot by a white officer as “a pile of trash in the middle of the street,” and then falsely claimed that he had been misquoted by The Washington Post, city officials said. 
 
 Officer Tim Zoll, who has served as the Ferguson Police Department’s spokesman in the months since Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, has been suspended until further notice, the city said in a news release on Saturday. 
 
 Mr. Brown was shot and killed on Aug. 9, and his death has made Ferguson, a mostly black St. Louis suburb with a mostly white police force, the site of repeated protests and the center of a national discussion about race and the use of force in policing. 
 
 After his death, a memorial was built in the middle of the street on Canfield Drive near the site of the shooting. On Christmas Day, the memorial — consisting of flowers, stuffed animals and notes — was destroyed when a vehicle plowed through it, in what was believed to be an intentional act. The memorial was quickly rebuilt Friday morning, and in a story that day about the destruction of the memorial, The Post interviewed Officer Zoll, who said that no complaint had been reported to the police in connection with the incident. ||||| Supporters helped to rebuild a memorial built in honor of Michael Brown on Friday in Ferguson, Mo., after a driver crashed into it overnight. (Netta via Vine) 
 
 People hurriedly cleaned and rebuilt a memorial to Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Friday morning after they said a car intentionally destroyed it. 
 
 Flowers, signs and other mementos, left in remembrance of the 18-year-old who was killed in a police shooting in August, were scattered throughout the streets, stirring supporters who saw pictures on social media to gather to restore the makeshift shrine. 
 
 Just got to #MikeBrown memorial and it’s been ran over. Someone who saw it on video said it was intentional. pic.twitter.com/UlR2TGSxCS — J. Meless (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014 
 
 I can’t believe some destroyed the Canfield memorial on Christmas. Hate is deep. (via @jay_myles2) pic.twitter.com/XumtQ23gMT — deray mckesson (@deray) December 26, 2014 
 
 A few people are here and planning to restore the memorial right now. Hate won’t win tonight #MikeBrown #Ferguson — J. Meless (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014 
 
 Officer Timothy Zoll, the Ferguson Police Department’s public relations officer, said that no crime had been reported in connection to the memorial’s destruction. He suggested that the department would look at any video of the incident, but he did not specify whether the department would investigate. “I don’t know that a crime has occurred,” Zoll said Friday. “But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?” Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown on Aug. 9, sparking a national conversation about race relations and police enforcement in the United States. The memorial sits in the middle of a street near the Canfield Green apartment complex, where Brown was shot and died. The memorial was rebuilt by morning. 
 
 The rebuilt #MichaelBrown memorial on Canfield. @michaelcalhoun first reported car destroying it this am. pic.twitter.com/us85BXlFUy — Brett A. Blume (@brettblumekmox) December 26, 2014
– More bad public relations for the Ferguson police department, this time from its PR officer: The force's chief spokesman has been suspended indefinitely without pay after calling a memorial to slain teenager Michael Brown "trash," reports KMOV. The memorial, in the middle of the street where Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson, was destroyed by a driver on Friday night, apparently intentionally. When the Washington Post asked Officer Timothy Zoll about the destruction, he said, "I don't know that a crime has occurred. But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?" City officials initially backed Zoll, a 12-year veteran of the force, but they changed their position after determining he had falsely claimed to have been misquoted by the Post, reports the New York Times. Zoll "misled his superiors when asked about the contents of the interview," the city said in a statement, adding that it wants to "emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of city officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location." The memorial, including flowers, notes, and stuffed animals, was quickly rebuilt after Friday's destruction.