The following report is from The News & Observer:
The Kenly Town Council emerged from a closed-door meeting Friday night, two days after its police chief, his four officers and two town clerks resigned, with little to say except they they will meet again next week.
The news of the mass resignations has brought media attention to the small Johnston County town of just over 2,000 people. About 50 residents gathered at Kenly Town Hall, huddled in small groups, talking among themselves as the Town Council members quietly took their seats in the small, brick building.
Denise Bennett, a native of Kenly, came to support new Town Manager Justine Jones. In resignation letters, the employees cited a hostile or stressful working environment, some blaming the manager. Bennett said she doesn’t believe Jones, who started June 2, has had a chance to build relationships with people in the town yet.
One of my questions is, what happened between May and July? It takes time when you get a new boss. We just want to make sure that the process is fair, and this ultimatum of her versus him as a police chief is not a good process.
She said.
Christel McGowan stood in front of Town Hall with a sign reading “Save Kenly, Fire Town Manager.”
Police Chief Josh Gibson has said he would consider returning to the job if Jones left, WRAL reported.
McGowan was hoping the Town Council would agree to side with the officers and remove Jones.
They’ve been here over 20 years. This woman comes in and I have a lot to say, but I can’t. She sued Virginia, she sued South Carolina and I wouldn’t doubt it if she sues us.
McGowan said.
McGowan was referring to pending lawsuits between Jones and her previous employer in Richland County, South Carolina, for alleged gender and racial discrimination after she was fired in 2015, also reported by WRAL.
We don’t need to … let everybody walk out because this woman has a hard time managing, and that I know for a fact.
McGowan said. She said she could not say how Jones was a poor town manager.
Longtime resident Cynthia Kirby said the entire issue is racial. Jones is a Black woman, and the police officers who resigned are white men.
They don’t want to be led by anybody Black; that’s Kenly. They’re always harassing Black people. It’s racial. I hope this doesn’t end in her quitting because that’s not right. You can’t judge anybody because they make you do your job.
Kirby said
Jones was hired out of 30 candidates in a national search, according to a town news release. She previously worked in local governments in Minnesota, Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Jones told The News & Observer on Thursday morning she could not comment on the resignations.
Mayor Meets With Residents
Residents Heather and Michael Johnson were also hoping for some kind of resolution Friday night.
The two were in a meeting between Mayor Herbert Hales and some residents in a music hall across from Town Hall before the council meeting. The mayor told reporters they couldn’t be in the meeting.
Heather Johnson said she felt the mayor answered people’s questions the best he could.
He was very upfront, and he said it like it was and said ‘if I don’t know, I’ll do my best to find out.’
She said.
She said she isn’t concerned about any safety issues that could come up with the officers’ resignations.
Kenly only has one officer on duty most of the time, so this is not anything new. As much as the police chief tries to have multiple officers, it hasn’t been possible lately.
I’m hoping they can resolve this in a professional manner where whatever changes need to happen happen and we can walk away as a community and with no hard feelings, and with nobody dramatizing or with an agenda. We just want to be safe in Kenly.
Johnson said
Hales said he still has questions but was aware of some issues between the officers and new manager.
Council was aware there was a possibility but you don’t know what’s going to happen until it happens sometimes. [Tensions] built up very quickly.
He said
The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office will provide law enforcement protection for as long as the town needs, Sheriff Steve Bizzell said in a statement.
Kenly could join a short list of municipalities in the state with defunct or disbanded law enforcement agencies. Last year, the Davie County town of Mocksville voted to get rid of its police department.
Other Town Controversy
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Gibson, who has been police chief for the last two decades, said the new town manager has created an environment where “I do not feel we can perform our duties and services to the community.”
The four officers and two administrators who also quit alleged a hostile and toxic work environment that they could no longer work in.
Neither Gibson or clerks Sharon Evans or Christi Thomas responded to requests for comment from The N&O.
This is not the first controversy involving the town manager’s office. Former Kenly Town Manager Michael Douglas was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery in June 2020, according to court documents.
A civil lawsuit against Douglas and the town of Kenly was filed by a woman who claims Douglas came to her house and grabbed her breast in front of her sister and asked, “Why won’t your sister let me hit it?”
Thoroughly disturbed by this incident, plaintiff contacted the Kenly Police Department to file a report but was prevented from doing so by the Kenly Chief of Police, who informed plaintiff she should just move on from the incident.
According the lawsuit
The woman tried filing a report again with a police lieutenant, but the chief prevented the lieutenant from filing the report, according to the lawsuit.
It is the general policy of The N&O not to name people who say they have been victims of a sexual assault.
The lawsuit states the woman also told the town board about the incident but that it was ignored until Douglas was charged in 2020, according to the lawsuit.
The town denies that the police chief prevented the woman from filing a police report, according to its response in court documents. The town says the town board was notified of the allegation, and after the meeting a council member approached the district attorney to investigate it, according to court documents.
Court documents show that several people connected to Kenly have been subpoenaed in recent months in regard to the criminal case, including Gibson and Evans.
The next court date in the criminal case will be the week of Aug. 15. The civil lawsuit is in mediation.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
We continue to see a breakdown of police and first responders around the country. This is something I have warned we were going to continually see.
Ever since 2020, police all around the nation have shrunk in size and reach due to defunding per the BLM riots. Here in my area on the Indiana-Michigan border, police patrolling the streets since since mid-2020 have drastically fallen off of a cliff. Around the country this is more common. Moreover, you must factor in vaccine mandates that have trimmed down a lot of stations.
I have also warned as more of the vaccinated continue to get sicker and sicker, and die, the police, paramedics, firefighters, hospital-workers, military – will all face that as well, as the system, I believe, will eventually come crashing down.
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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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If the foundations be destroyed, What can the righteous do?
Psalm 11:3 KJV
They want war in this country. The jesuits are in charge including the actual president, cardinal Timothy Dolan, and the Black Pope want war in this country, and you can bet that Donald Trump is behind it.
The easiest way to bring in war to America, reduce the number of police.
The police, at best (even if they are good), show up after the fact when a crime happens. People need to learn to keep themselves from being victims, and also how to protect oneself. I realize that not everyone is able to carry a gun, or has the ability to fight. But you can carry pepper spray, and be aware of your surroundings.
I walk with a cane. I am 58 years old, and I am in very good shape. The cane is not because I need it. It is a martial arts weapon, but people don’t see it that way. I can take it any place, and people think nothing of it. I am older, I am not someone you want to mess with (I take boron, as well (strong muscles and bones)). http://crn.hopto.org/archives/survive/self-defense/
Mitch – A thorough knowlege of the Bible is worth more than a college education. Teddy Roosevelt
With the rising cost of living, how can these cops afford to resign (assuming that most of them quit before the ideal age of retirement) without being able to get their full pensions? Unless, they probably got paid to quit.