RIDGETOP (AP) — A Tennessee police chief says three city officials voted to close his department in retaliation for his investigation of allegations they destroyed evidence and issued illegal ticket quotas.

Ridgetop police Chief Bryan Morris tells the Tennessean that the board of aldermen abruptly shuttered the police department last month in the city of about 2,000 people as he pushed against the quotas.

Morris and other officers sued, and the closure was blocked days later.

However, he says he returned to the department to find documents missing from a locked evidence cabinet. A special prosecutor assigned to the case found that the board's quota was illegal. There's no penalty for breaking that law.

A public hearing on the city's budget is set for Tuesday.