The town council of Cohutta, a mountain community in Georgia, called a special meeting on Friday evening to discuss reinstating the police department after Mayor Ron Shinnick fired the chief and all 10 officers. The notice posted outside the town hall says the council will also consider a request for the mayor’s “immediate resignation”.
Earlier, a sign announced the police department had been dissolved “per mayor Ron Shinnick”, instructing the town’s roughly 930 residents to call a non-emergency county number for help. The firings took effect Wednesday morning, but exact reasons remain a mystery - though townspeople hoped Friday’s meeting might yield answers.
Shinnick said he acted because of social media posts by officers. Former sergeant Jeremy May told local outlet WRCB the posts involved complaints about the mayor’s wife, Pam Shinnick, who was the town clerk. “This all comes to personal vendetta from the mayor,” May said. “We took a stand for transparency, and in result, every one of them has lost their jobs.”
Former police chief Greg Fowler told WRCB he couldn’t comment in detail while officers cleared out equipment. The mayor admitted he’s “not sure what will happen next”. Calls and emails to Shinnick and the town attorney on Friday went unanswered.
With no local police, the Whitfield County sheriff’s office will cover Cohutta, about 100 miles northwest of Atlanta. So residents can now enjoy all the convenience of a police force that exists somewhere else.