JesusCow
Member
I got this story online from my local newspaper. Today, there was a picture of some guy holding an M4 rifle with some shotguns in the background. From what I've read that was the only rifle they had, and some people are freaking out about it.
Not mentioned in this article is that their PD alledgedly spent $5000 on 8 Glocks, 4-6 12GA shotguns and one M4. This was mentioned in a way making it seem like a bad idea. Also pointed out in the printed article was that they had the M4 because it could launch tear-gas, which was never used. The $5000 figured was denied by the former cheif, saying they spent $2400.
Anyways, kinda interesting read. I've boldened the most interesting parts.
Bartlett fires its last 2 police officers
New mayor says department had weapons cache
By Camille Wheeler and Sarah Coppola
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
In the latest high drama to hit the tiny, troubled town of Bartlett, the City Council fired the two remaining members of its Police Department on Monday night, and Mayor Bobby Hill criticized the force for storing what he described as a cache of high-powered weapons in its building.
The city has asked the Williamson and Bell county sheriff's departments to provide law enforcement protection until new officers are hired, Hill said. Bartlett straddles the county line, with about two-thirds of its 1,500 residents living in Williamson.
"They had their own little world over there," Hill said of the Police Department. "They had their firearms and six or seven shotguns, machine guns and ammunition cabinets.
"You'd think we were getting ready for an Iraqi attack in Bartlett."
One of the fired officers said Tuesday night that he would not comment until he speaks to a lawyer. The other fired officer and former Police Chief Robert Franklin, who resigned two weeks ago, could not be reached for comment.
Former Mayor Janice Atchison's only comment on the alleged weapons stash was, "I don't know of anything like that." Atchison hired Franklin in February 2002.
Her allegiance to Franklin may have been a factor in her lopsided loss last month to Hill, a former mayor who faced questions about his 2003 drunken driving arrest and subsequent probation and an unpaid traffic fine.
There was more furor on election night when Atchison asked Franklin to move a ballot box from City Hall to the Police Department. State officials looked into the incident but did not file charges.
In the past two years, some residents have accused Atchison and Franklin of spending too much city money on the department and not enough on street and water needs. The residents called their own public forums, where they complained that the department, which at one time had five full-time officers, was too large, harassed minority drivers and brought drug-sniffing dogs into bars in a predominantly African American neighborhood.
Franklin and Atchison have vehemently denied the allegations.
Two weeks ago -- just days after Hill took office -- Franklin resigned as chief.
"He didn't feel he was going to be happy with the administration," Hill said. "We hadn't given him any directions to make him think that."
Hill said he called Monday's special council meeting to discuss the future of the last two police officers -- acting Police Chief Dean Rebel and officer Meri Burger -- and Utility Director Bruce Sorenson. After meeting in closed session, the four-member council voted in public to fire all three employees. As mayor, Hill votes only to break a tie. Sorenson, who has been the utility director for seven months, said Hill had assured him in the past few weeks that he would not lose his job. He said that when the council went into executive session, he and the two police officers asked for a public hearing on their job performance. The council denied that request, Sorenson said.
If true, that decision may have violated the state's open meeting laws.
"The executive session is for the protection of the employees, so if those employees want it in public, it should be done in public," said Assistant County Attorney Dale Rye, who has not reviewed this specific case.
When the council came back and fired all three, a group of citizens stood up and cheered, Sorenson said. The two officers had been worried that they might be fired, he said, but "I was like, 'Whoa, where did that come from?' They gave us no reasons why they terminated us."
Reached by phone, Rebel said he would not comment until he has talked to his lawyer.
Several council members also declined to comment Tuesday, though Hill tried to explain their reasoning.
"The new council was wanting to make a change . . . one (to) a department that was laid-back and not one with machine guns," Hill said. "They're not happy with their performance.
"The people who live here want a little slower-paced Police Department; it's as simple as that," he said. "It's an economic move as well as anything else."
Tuesday afternoon, a recorded message on the Police Department cell phone said the mayor had disbanded the department.
Hill insisted that wasn't accurate.
" 'We are reorganizing the Police Department' would be a more intelligent way to say that," he said.
Not mentioned in this article is that their PD alledgedly spent $5000 on 8 Glocks, 4-6 12GA shotguns and one M4. This was mentioned in a way making it seem like a bad idea. Also pointed out in the printed article was that they had the M4 because it could launch tear-gas, which was never used. The $5000 figured was denied by the former cheif, saying they spent $2400.
Anyways, kinda interesting read. I've boldened the most interesting parts.
Bartlett fires its last 2 police officers
New mayor says department had weapons cache
By Camille Wheeler and Sarah Coppola
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
In the latest high drama to hit the tiny, troubled town of Bartlett, the City Council fired the two remaining members of its Police Department on Monday night, and Mayor Bobby Hill criticized the force for storing what he described as a cache of high-powered weapons in its building.
The city has asked the Williamson and Bell county sheriff's departments to provide law enforcement protection until new officers are hired, Hill said. Bartlett straddles the county line, with about two-thirds of its 1,500 residents living in Williamson.
"They had their own little world over there," Hill said of the Police Department. "They had their firearms and six or seven shotguns, machine guns and ammunition cabinets.
"You'd think we were getting ready for an Iraqi attack in Bartlett."
One of the fired officers said Tuesday night that he would not comment until he speaks to a lawyer. The other fired officer and former Police Chief Robert Franklin, who resigned two weeks ago, could not be reached for comment.
Former Mayor Janice Atchison's only comment on the alleged weapons stash was, "I don't know of anything like that." Atchison hired Franklin in February 2002.
Her allegiance to Franklin may have been a factor in her lopsided loss last month to Hill, a former mayor who faced questions about his 2003 drunken driving arrest and subsequent probation and an unpaid traffic fine.
There was more furor on election night when Atchison asked Franklin to move a ballot box from City Hall to the Police Department. State officials looked into the incident but did not file charges.
In the past two years, some residents have accused Atchison and Franklin of spending too much city money on the department and not enough on street and water needs. The residents called their own public forums, where they complained that the department, which at one time had five full-time officers, was too large, harassed minority drivers and brought drug-sniffing dogs into bars in a predominantly African American neighborhood.
Franklin and Atchison have vehemently denied the allegations.
Two weeks ago -- just days after Hill took office -- Franklin resigned as chief.
"He didn't feel he was going to be happy with the administration," Hill said. "We hadn't given him any directions to make him think that."
Hill said he called Monday's special council meeting to discuss the future of the last two police officers -- acting Police Chief Dean Rebel and officer Meri Burger -- and Utility Director Bruce Sorenson. After meeting in closed session, the four-member council voted in public to fire all three employees. As mayor, Hill votes only to break a tie. Sorenson, who has been the utility director for seven months, said Hill had assured him in the past few weeks that he would not lose his job. He said that when the council went into executive session, he and the two police officers asked for a public hearing on their job performance. The council denied that request, Sorenson said.
If true, that decision may have violated the state's open meeting laws.
"The executive session is for the protection of the employees, so if those employees want it in public, it should be done in public," said Assistant County Attorney Dale Rye, who has not reviewed this specific case.
When the council came back and fired all three, a group of citizens stood up and cheered, Sorenson said. The two officers had been worried that they might be fired, he said, but "I was like, 'Whoa, where did that come from?' They gave us no reasons why they terminated us."
Reached by phone, Rebel said he would not comment until he has talked to his lawyer.
Several council members also declined to comment Tuesday, though Hill tried to explain their reasoning.
"The new council was wanting to make a change . . . one (to) a department that was laid-back and not one with machine guns," Hill said. "They're not happy with their performance.
"The people who live here want a little slower-paced Police Department; it's as simple as that," he said. "It's an economic move as well as anything else."
Tuesday afternoon, a recorded message on the Police Department cell phone said the mayor had disbanded the department.
Hill insisted that wasn't accurate.
" 'We are reorganizing the Police Department' would be a more intelligent way to say that," he said.
