An entire North Carolina police department resigned after a Black woman town manager was hired

[Commander Quackers]

An entire North Carolina police department resigned after a Black woman town manager was hired | CNN

The mass exodus of an entire police department after the hiring of a Black town manager in North Carolina has opened a conversation about public safety and race relations in a small town of just over 1,500 residents.

www.cnn.com

Kenly, North Carolina (CNN)The mass exodus of an entire police department after the hiring of a Black town manager in North Carolina has opened a conversation about public safety and race relations in a small town of just over 1,500 residents.

Last week, the entire police department in Kenly, North Carolina, resigned, citing a "hostile" work environment less than two months after Justine Jones, a Black woman, began her role as the town's newly selected city manager.

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CNN obtained eight resignation letters in total, consisting of longtime police chief Josh Gibson, four full-time officers, one part-time officer and two town clerks. The letters are similar in language, with most referencing a stressful work environment, though they don't provide any details about the allegedly "hostile" workplace, nor do they explicitly blame Jones.

However, Gibson has placed blame on Jones for the resignation -- both in a Facebook post that has since been made private and in an exclusive interview with Fox News.

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"She came in, first of all, to start giving us tasks and all these projects all the time. And unfortunately, we are -- we only have five officers and I was working double shifts at the time to try to keep up officer safety and be there with the officers in case something happened," said Gibson, who claimed the manager wrote him up for being late if he wasn't sitting at his desk, among other things "She wrote me up for going to businesses and talking with businesses. She wrote me up for talking with council members I've known for 20 years."

CNN has not seen any of the disciplinary records referenced by Gibson and therefore cannot verify the write-ups. The town said it was unable to turn over any documents right now that were requested by CNN this week.

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Michelle Dawes, who's from Kenly and used to work for the town, told CNN that she thought the situation was complicated. She said it's possible that race and gender played a role in the resignations, but issues of accountability are really at the center of the situation.

"I have never had any personal problems with [Police Chief Josh] Gibson, but as a former employee of the town, I know how it works there," said Dawes. "I immediately knew, this is someone new. She doesn't know what, I call them, the 'off the books rules' are. Basically, when she came and got hired, she poked the bear by making him accountable."

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🤔

 

[Dest]

which one

which one was the bad apple...

 

[It’s Time To Go]

issues of accountability are really at the center of the situation.

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Lmao sure they are

 

[timrtabor123]

I mean that's one way to root out police corruption.

 

[Rosebud]

Only a few bad apples...

 

[BassForever]

So she asked them to do their jobs correctly and that was too much work for them? Let me get out the world's smallest violin.

 

[Allard]

Well... bye.

 

[Fuzzy]

Did she thank the officers for saving them money?

 

[shinobi602]

 

[Isilia]

They weren't allowed to talk to people. That was the reason?

Yeah, no. Sounds like they were bsing most of the time and she told them to knock it off

 

[Cenauru]

Bad apples? No, the tree just withered up and died.

 

[CorpseLight]

Only a few bad apples...

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Isn't the saying "A few bad apples spoils the barrel" tho?

 

[GK86]

She came in, first of all, to start giving us tasks and all these projects all the time. And unfortunately, we are -- we only have five officers and I was working double shifts at the time to try to keep up officer safety and be there with the officers in case something happened," said Gibson, who claimed the manager wrote him up for being late if he wasn't sitting at his desk, among other things "She wrote me up for going to businesses and talking with businesses. She wrote me up for talking with council members I've known for 20 years."

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Poor babies. Are they receiving therapy help to deal with the trauma??

 

[Wereroku]

Dude was working double shifts because they didn't have enough officers yet spent a ton of time going out and talking to his friends. Sounds like he was socializing on the clock and didn't like when he was told to knock it off. Probably had a pretty good profit over the years getting bonus pay to not work.

 

[Deleted member 13798]

I wish this actually mattered for future employment for cops.

"Why did you resign your previous role?"

"They hired a black lady who had different expectations than I was used to so instead of talking to her and collaborating or even involving the union in holding talks I quit."

 

[Leafshield]

Others in the community say they believe there is not a racial component to the situation due to the fact the previous town manager was a Black man.

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Not really sure how there being a previous Black town manager changes stuff. Could just be sexism and accountability.

 

[mbpm]

Cops don't do overtime, they only do overtime where they stand around and collect checks without doing things or brutalize minorities

 

[DukeBlueBall]

I wish this actually mattered for future employment for cops.

"Why did you resign your previous role?"

"They hired a black lady who had different expectations than I was used to so instead of talking to her and collaborating or even involving the union in holding talks I quit."

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They hired a black lady that actually managed.

 

[III-V]

We did it Joe

 

[Nepenthe]

That municipality is safe for now.

 

[Fuzzy]

Isn't the saying "A few bad apples spoils the barrel" tho?

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No it's "One bad apple spoils the bunch". ONE.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

...THAT'S IT! THAT'S THE TRICK!

Quick, everyone, hire Black woman town managers!!!

 

[Ducarmel]

So Chief resigned because he was not getting his special privileges anymore?

 

[TheCed]

Aaaaaw... The United States sure are weird.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

This sounds less like a outright racist thing and more a "the new manager won't let us clock overtime while we're chilling at the diner with our friends" which is how many a corrupt policeman become some of the highest paid civil servants in their respective states.

 

[NickatNite]

Didn't something like this happen ~6 years ago in Georgia?

 

[III-V]

Aaaaaw... The United States sure is racist.

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FTFY

 

[sangreal]

and nothing of value was lost. Despite that, this story is manipulative. You see, it was written before they realized the previous manager was also black. When that was pointed out, they edited to say it's due to the new manager being a black woman

North Carolina town's entire police department quits after town hires Black city manager

The mass exodus of an entire police department after the hiring of a Black city manager in North Carolina has opened a conversation about public safety and race relations in a small town of just over 1,500 residents.

web.archive.org

 

[Surakian]

Is this all it takes to get them to quit? We need to hire more black women into these roles.

(And yet I know it will actually put black women into dangerous situations or be run out of their job because of racists)

 

[Leafshield]

This sounds less like a outright racist thing and more a "the new manager won't let us clock overtime while we're chilling at the diner with our friends" which is how many a corrupt policeman become some of the highest paid civil servants in their respective states.

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Essentially, systemic corruption when those friends are high-ranking town officials and local businesses. Yeah I can see why they'd object to a new broom cracking down on all that boys club shit.

 

[entremet]

This sounds less like a outright racist thing and more a "the new manager won't let us clock overtime while we're chilling at the diner with our friends" which is how many a corrupt policeman become some of the highest paid civil servants in their respective states.

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Very common with the NYPD. They max out their retirement pension by working tons of OT in their final year.

 

[Clay]

"She doesn't know what, I call them, the 'off the books rules' are. Basically, when she came and got hired, she poked the bear by making him accountable."

Jesus.

 

[Leafshield]

and nothing of value was lost. Despite that, this story is manipulative. You see, it was written before they realized the previous manager was also black. When that was pointed out, they edited to say it's due to the new manager being a black woman

North Carolina town's entire police department quits after town hires Black city manager

The mass exodus of an entire police department after the hiring of a Black city manager in North Carolina has opened a conversation about public safety and race relations in a small town of just over 1,500 residents.

web.archive.org

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Yeah they jumped the gun. Seems more likely it's a reaction to a crackdown on small-town corruption and a push for accountability from a capable new manager that isn't part of the in-crowd. Which seems like a solid way to begin to address systemic issues.

Not gonna say it's not an understandable assumption but CNN should really be checking stuff like that before publishing.

 

[Indy in the Fridge]

Trust me, I live 5 miles from Kenly. This area is nothing but small, rural, fairly agrarian towns. Kenly is most famous for it's truck stop mall.

It was because she was black.

Luckily Johnston Co. is providing officers to the area. Funny they haven't reported any issues so far.

Oh and the former chief was embroiled in controversy after he allegedly dissuaded a town employee from reporting sexual harassment by the previous town manager.

 

[mrmyth]

FYI, previous town manager was a black dude named Michael Douglas.....who 'resigned' after a sexual battery charge. CNN could've left the black part out here. These fuckers just didn't want to do their jobs.

https://www.wral.com/council-votes-out-kenly-town-manager-after-battery-charge/19135282/

 

[Ra]

I guarantee what actually happened was, they were pulling bullshit double shifts and running up crazy overtime pay, when there was literally no justification for it in such a small town. Cops and departments do this all over the country with no oversight and murder their cities fiscal budgets.

She asked them to do some actual work for the money and killed the OT, suddenly holy shit this negro is tripping.

 

[Bing147]

Not really sure how there being a previous Black town manager changes stuff. Could just be sexism and accountability.

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Sure, that's reasonable. The article specifically though tried to paint it as based on race, and so the previous manager also being black does matter. It's also notable that they didn't resign when she was hired but after several months of working with her. Which speaks to it not specifically being that they were opposed to her because she was a black woman. Which doesn't mean that her being a black woman didn't bias the way they related to her as they worked with her, it very well may have and I'd even say very likely did. But the specific issue here seems to be an issue of management style and them not approving of her expectations of them. Which may or may not have been reasonable. A lot of reading between the lines definitely suggests she was trying to crack down on them socializing and low effort "overtime" which is a very good idea and also something most police officers are going to be very strongly against.

 

[sangreal]

I guarantee what actually happened was, they were pulling bullshit double shifts and running up crazy overtime pay, when there was literally no justification for it in such a small town. Cops and departments do this all over the country with no oversight and murder their cities fiscal budgets.

She asked them to do some actual work for the money and killed the OT, suddenly holy shit this negro is tripping.

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100%

 

[Indy in the Fridge]

I guarantee what actually happened was, they were pulling bullshit double shifts and running up crazy overtime pay, when there was literally no justification for it in such a small town. Cops and departments do this all over the country with no oversight and murder their cities fiscal budgets.

She asked them to do some actual work for the money and killed the OT, suddenly holy shit this negro is tripping.

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This is so insightful fuck you are spot on.

 

[Leafshield]

Sure, that's reasonable. The article specifically though tried to paint it as based on race, and so the previous manager also being black does matter. It's also notable that they didn't resign when she was hired but after several months of working with her. Which speaks to it not specifically being that they were opposed to her because she was a black woman. Which doesn't mean that her being a black woman didn't bias the way they related to her as they worked with her, it very well may have and I'd even say very likely did. But the specific issue here seems to be an issue of management style and them not approving of her expectations of them. Which may or may not have been reasonable. A lot of reading between the lines definitely suggests she was trying to crack down on them socializing and low effort "overtime" which is a very good idea and also something most police officers are going to be very strongly against.

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Yeah fair point- I agree, it seems more likely it's her actions cracking down on them getting paid for hanging out with local buddies, which has a side-effect of corruption when those drinking buddies are local employers and politicians too.

 

[Slayven]

That municipality is safe for now.

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Until they throw the black woman under the bus because white people looked like they were slighted

 

[Squarehard]

"How dare she make us do our jobs!" is really the central framing for this discussion.

 

[Charizard]

I misread it as "fired" at first and was so confused.

Oh if only that was what actually happened... *sigh*

 

[Ra]

This is so insightful fuck you are spot on.

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Yeah I mean his story is:

" I was working double shifts at the time to try to keep up officer safety and be there with the officers in case something happened" = Bruh, what Avenger:Endgame crisis in your small town has you needing to work 16 hour days, 7 days a week?

'Gibson, who claimed the manager wrote him up for being late if he wasn't sitting at his desk' = I she showed up because he was, on multiple occasions, collecting pay for that time and found him to be AWOL aka still at home asleep

"She wrote me up for going to businesses and talking with businesses" = She caught your boy at the bar or some restaurant while on the clock "talking to the owner"

"She wrote me up for talking with council members I've known for 20 years" = again, why are you working a double collecting overtime bruh? Officer safety her ass.

Dude is fresh out of a 'We Own This City' episode lmao. So used to being untouchable she dropped his brain into an ice bath.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

"How dare she make us do our jobs!" is really the central framing for this discussion.

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Agreeed.

I guarantee what actually happened was, they were pulling bullshit double shifts and running up crazy overtime pay, when there was literally no justification for it in such a small town. Cops and departments do this all over the country with no oversight and murder their cities fiscal budgets.

She asked them to do some actual work for the money and killed the OT, suddenly holy shit this negro is tripping.

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As someone who has seen this shit before, this wouldn't surprise me either.

 

[LCGeek]

It's almost as if history is repeating

Always been a shit state.

 

[BlueTsunami]

There is no greater threat to a cop than accountability

 

[Lord Fanny]

CNN has not seen any of the disciplinary records referenced by Gibson and therefore cannot verify the write-ups. The town said it was unable to turn over any documents right now that were requested by CNN this week.

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My source is that I made it the F@#& up

Imagine a world, Raiden. Free of cancel culture.Where no one can call me out for my outlandish claims!from the funny Max0r video:https://youtu.be/TgmTsa3rFU0...

youtu.be

 

[Kenai]

I guarantee what actually happened was, they were pulling bullshit double shifts and running up crazy overtime pay, when there was literally no justification for it in such a small town. Cops and departments do this all over the country with no oversight and murder their cities fiscal budgets.

She asked them to do some actual work for the money and killed the OT, suddenly holy shit this negro is tripping.

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This is 100% what happened, was gonna mention something similar. Soaking up all that OT pay and pension for doing what they'd be doing at home for free

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

issues of accountability are really at the center of the situation.

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IF that is true, the new officers will have the same problem shortly after starting the job
Problems with management or organization policies tend to remain even if you change employees.
Now if the new staff does their job well and doesn't complain, then it is clear that the problem is "something else".