A whole metropolis’s management has crumbled after the failure of political leaders to satisfy the police division’s wants, its former chief mentioned.
Your complete Geary Police Division in Oklahoma — together with Chief Alicia Ford — resigned on Oct. 31. Metropolis Council members Rocky Coleman and Kristy Miller resigned shortly afterward, as FOX 25 Oklahoma Metropolis first reported. Mayor Waylan Upchego then resigned, the Watonga Republican reported.
“The rationale that prompted your entire resignation was: it was only a continued failure from the mayor to make change that will have an effect on the division and make it simpler for the group,” Ford informed Fox Information Digital. “It was simply an ongoing subject. He constantly refused to maintain his phrase to us, and that was one thing that we held him to. While you’re a mayor, you’re [supposed] to steer town and what’s finest for town and the departments inside.”
Ford mentioned she had gone to Upchego and town council requesting their assist to handle the overworked and understaffed police division, plus price range cuts that had just lately impacted pay and bonuses for officers, on high of another administrative points. No person stepped up, in response to the previous police chief.
“They lower the jail. They lower our dispatch, and that put pressure on us. However we discovered we went to a different company, they usually have carried out glorious and accommodating us with that dispatch,” Ford defined. “[The mayor] constantly refused to maintain his phrase when it got here to fundamental wants of apparatus and the security points inside our division. We talked concerning the price range cuts that triggered hardships for these officers and myself that had been pointless.”
Hope added that she is aware of that police departments throughout the nation have handled staffing shortages and price range cuts, however her six-person division had just lately dwindled to 4, with herself doing administrative chief work, one officer stationed on the native highschool, and two officers working extraordinarily lengthy shifts doing common every day police work.
“So that will lead two officers to do principally 24 hours . . . 5 to seven days per week. That’s not reasonable,” she mentioned. “However actually, who needs to do this for terribly low pay? I imply, they did it. And actually, I don’t ever actually bear in mind these two officers complaining about it.”
Ford gave the mayor and metropolis council a month’s discover to handle the police division’s considerations, saying that if wants weren’t met, they might resign. They even supplied metropolis leaders a timeline.
“At first, it was type of difficult. It was my first 12 months of being a chief of police. I’ve taken a number of roles in regulation enforcement, however by no means that sort of administrative, excessive . . . position,” she defined. “It was nice. . . . Geary, Oklahoma, was a tremendous group. They had been very accepting of me.”
Upchego couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. An interim chief has since taken over the Geary PD, and residents are nonetheless capable of make 911 calls.
