CNN reported that following the hiring of a Black town manager in a small town in North Carolina, there has been a significant departure of the entire police department, sparking discussions among the residents of the town about race relations and public safety.
Justine Jones, the recently appointed city manager, assumed her position in Kenly, North Carolina, less than two months after the entire police department resigned due to a “hostile” work environment.
Joy Wright, a local business owner, also said that she was mostly frustrated because the residents in the town hadn’t been keeping up with any developments. She mentioned that the community is concerned about what the collective retreat of the police means for the future of the town.
Wright inquired, “Will we be having a town manager? Will we have police?” Wright expressed, “It’s quite peculiar, and we have no information about what to anticipate.”
The cautious course of action is to investigate what occurred and refrain from making impulsive choices,” expressed the Kenly town council in a statement issued this week after an urgent, private meeting last week.
The police chief’s resignation will be in effect starting Tuesday. Until the beginning of next week, the police chief and officers will technically still be in their positions. Once all the resignations become effective next week, an external company will carry out an investigation under the supervision of Alan “Chip” Hewett, who is Kenly’s town attorney, as reported by CNN.
Jones explicitly blames the donor for the allegedly “hostile” workplace, but they don’t provide any details about it. They refer most to the stressful work environment, and the letters are similar in language. The letters of resignation obtained by CNN consist of two town clerks, one part-time officer, and four full-time officers, including longtime Chief Police Officer Josh Gibson, totaling eight.
However, Gibson has placed the blame on Jones for the resignation in a private and exclusive interview with Fox News, since it has been in post on Facebook.
Gibson told Fox News host Laura Ingraham that Jones had written him up multiple times in her short time on the job.
Gibson, who claimed to be the manager, said that something happened if there were case officers there and if the safety officer wrote him up. He further mentioned that he wasn’t sitting at his desk if he was late, and she wrote me up for talking with businesses. Additionally, she wrote me up for other things among her desk. She wrote me up for being late, talking with businesses, and talking with council members for the past 20 years.
CNN cannot verify the disciplinary records referenced by Gibson and has not seen any disciplinary write-ups. The town officials said that they were unable to hand over any documents requested by CNN this week.