City of Homer disbands police force
HOMER, LA (KSLA) -
“It hit me dead in the face,” Homer Police Chief turned ex-chief Russell Mills says about Monday’s vote by town leaders to disband its police force.
Homer’s five-member council moved to get rid of its police force effective March 1. Homer’s police department had 8 officers, one chief and one secretary.
Of the department’s 10 members, only two will remain — a captain and a lieutenant — until August as a transition goes on with the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Department, Mills says.
Mills, though no longer chief, says he is slated to be Homer’s new town marshal.
KSLA News 12 tried to reach out to Homer’s mayor and city council but was unsuccessful.
Claiborne Parish NAACP official Terrence Willis describes tensions between Homer’s Mayor and five-member city council and the police force.
More important, Willis says he is concerned about how the chief, an elected official, can be fired with just a vote of the council.
Town of Homer to dismantle and phase out police department
HOMER, La. -
The Town of Homer council voted Monday night to dismantle and phase out the Homer Police Department, effective March 1.
The vote, which was tallied during the special meeting rides the heels of much discussion regarding the town’s expenditures and said financial woes, alongside a heavy raise given to a police department captain by the council earlier last week.
The town opted to keep two of its top-ranking policemen until August, while electing to demote Chief Russell Mills to city marshal. The
change will tremendously drop Mills’ salary to roughly $400 a month.During a regular meeting session earlier this month the council voted to increases the salary of the police department’s single captain. The move hiked that employee’s salary to a rate far higher than that of the police chief.
Officers have not been officially notified.
Municipal government also decided to eliminate term limits for the mayor and the council during the special meeting.
Calls placed to Homer Mayor Alecia Smith were not immediately returned.
Homer leaders vote to disband police department
HOMER – The Homer Board of Selectmen voted unanimously during a special meeting tonight to disband the police department effective March 1.
In the discussion leading up to the vote, the selectmen discussed “numerous reasons for their decision,” Mayor Alecia N. Smith said in a statement to The Times. Included are concerns of leadership, historical budget overruns and numerous pending lawsuits.
Smith consulted after the meeting with Sheriff Ken Bailey about a transition that would have deputies in charge of law enforcement in the town.
“There are numerous details to be worked out dealing with this transition. However, citizens should know that safety will always be a priority and will not be compromised,” she stated in the brief news release.
02/12/2013 at 12:18 pm |
I didn’t think you could do this to an elected chief. Another episode of Mayors Gone Wild!
Not saying it is always a bad idea; but, when decisions are made so hastily it is usually motivated by personal issues rather than what’s best for the public. I wish politicians in this state would get their heads out of their asses and quit acting like little kids. It only causes problems for us, the taxpayers, while you display your complete ineptness for the world to see.
02/12/2013 at 1:09 pm |
I just wonder if the police chief was black???????? How it have been
02/12/2013 at 2:00 pm |
The chief (who is black) is elected as city marshal so he retains that title. But he will have no department to manage.
02/12/2013 at 2:24 pm |
Just look at who is in charge of all these changes……
02/12/2013 at 3:11 pm |
The chief is not black. His name is Russell Mills, and he is very much white. The captain who was just given a raise above what the chief was making, on the other hand, is black, and he is one of only two officers keeping his job.
02/12/2013 at 9:32 pm |
Since it was a unanimous decision of the town leadership, there must be a valid reason. I want toi know more.
All levels of government should have accountability. if the department would not do right, the town did the right thing. I wish we had more real leaders who would try to keep things straight.
02/25/2013 at 11:47 am |
You didn’t mention in the article that she also did away with hers and the councils term limits. She also would not turn over records about her spending and sent Chief Mills a letter telling him that he could not go to town hall to obtain records. Does this sound like America?
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