The entire staff of a small North Carolina police department has suddenly resigned, citing a 'hostile' work environment created by the town’s newly elected manager.
The mass exodus transpired Wednesday, and saw five cops, including the force's chief of 20 years, hand in resignation letters to the town manager and city council.
The maneuver left the town of Kenly, home to about 2,000 residents, with just three part-time officers to man the waning force.
Even before the resignations, the department had been short-staffed, down from a norm of eight officers to five, the cops said - one of several complaints aired in the letter.
They were joined by two town clerks who also accused the new manager, a progressive black woman who unsuccessfully sued her previous employer for gender and racial discrimination.
Those accusations came after she had been terminated, and her suit was subsequently dismissed.
The manager, Justine Jones, was hired last month - nearly eight years after her firing - an acquisition the town touted in a press release at the time.
Kenly Police Chief Josh Gibson, however, did not share such enthusiasm Wednesday, when he and the six other city workers penned strongly worded letters to Jones giving their two-week notices.
read more:
Replies