A city in Alabama is disbanding, at least temporarily, its police department two months after one of its officers texted a racist joke.
Residents in Vincent, a small city in Shelby County about 30 miles southeast of Birmingham, were outraged after the racist exchange was posted online late last month.
The message, an offensive joke involving pregnant women and slavery, was written by one of the city’s three police officers — who hasn’t been identified by the city.
During an emergency meeting on Aug. 4, the council voted to suspend the police chief and assistant police chief over the incident, while also approving a resolution to fire them. The third officer had already resigned.
Earlier this week, however, City Attorney Bill Justice said that the officers couldn’t be fired because according to the city’s personnel policy, an employee can only be terminated after receiving two written complaints and a verbal warning.
So on Thursday, the council voted unanimously to “temporarily abolish” the department, according to local news outlet Al.com.
“Based on our personnel policies, we cannot terminate them,” Mayor James Latimer said during a two-hour public hearing at the Vincent Middle/High School auditorium,
He also said that ‘the only way” the city had to stop paying those officers was to disband the department.
Earlier this month, Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego said in a news release that he “stands with the City of Vincent in providing emergency law enforcement related services for the citizens during this time.”
The sheriff’s office is “currently handling all law enforcement emergency calls for service within the City of Vincent,” Samaniego added.
Some residents at the meeting expressed support for the council’s decision.
“I think it will be a great change to bring in some police officers who are actually true on the oath they took to protect and serve everyone in the community,” resident Erica Kelley told local television station WBRC-TV.
Others expressed reservations about depending on the county’s sheriff’s office for emergency service.
“We will lose a portion of that safety if we outsource our law enforcement,” resident Rick Crowder said during the meeting.
Another resident, Sesalie Weatherly, noted that the process might take time.
“Some people are impatient and they want things to happen right then, and you can’t expect things to happen right then if you want them to be done the right way,” she told WBRC-TV. “Patience is everything.”
Vincent has a population of just under 2,000 residents.
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