MOAB, Utah — An officer with the Moab Police Department is no longer employed after referring to the assistant chief as a "****sucker" on his dispatch radio.
FOX 13 Investigates has obtained a copy of the recording, in which Officer Everett Gist can be heard publicly insulting Assistant Chief Braydon Palmer.
“It was nice working with you guys, but Braydon and the rest of them are a bunch of ****suckers!”
A spokesperson for the city of Moab confirmed Gist is no longer employed with the department but declined to comment on whether Gist resigned or was fired.
Assistant Chief Palmer told FOX 13 it was "shocking" to hear Gist's message broadcast over police radio.
"Beyond that, I don’t know there’s anything else to say on it," Palmer said. "I think the only comment I would make is - we wish the best for this individual... He was a probationary member of our team and is no longer employed by our agency. At this point in time we are not going to comment on personnel matters."
Without going into specifics on Gist's frustration, Palmer simply said it "has nothing to do with ongoing investigations."
It has been a difficult few weeks for the Moab Police Department. The agency continues to field questions over its handling of the Gabby Petito case and other investigations involving the use of body cameras.
On Monday, police chief Bret Edge requested time off through the Family Medical Leave Act.
- RELATED: Moab police chief takes leave following outcry over department's handling of Petito incident
Gist was previously an employee of the Utah Department of Corrections.
FOX 13 continues to work on obtaining more details on what led up to the incident and has filed a public records request for information contained within Gist's personnel file.
Law enforcement professionals say, regardless of the nature of the conflict between Gist and Palmer, there is no excuse for behavior like this.
Chris Bertram, the retired deputy chief of Unified Police Department, said he personally views an officer's final sign off from a dispatch radio as "sacred."
"We owe it to the profession. We owe it to those who came before us and those who come after us to make sure we are professional all the time," Bertram said. "To intentionally do something like that and to intentionally use that word, to me, disrespects the profession."
FOX 13 has made several attempts to reach Gist for his explanation. Attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful thus far.