The police service in a South Carolina town quit, along with the chief of police. The town now doesn’t have any police.
McColl Mayor George Garner told WMBF News on Friday that the community is in a “difficult situation” and stated that the town does not have any police officers anymore.
Mayor Garner said, “We’re working hard to hire a new police chief and more officers.”
Garner said that Police Chief Bob Hale quit first, and then the other cops did the same.
Hale said in a public Facebook post that he was quitting because of what he called a “hostile work environment” and repeated harassment and personal attacks by an unknown member of the city council.
“It is with a heavy heart that I do confirm my resignation as Chief of Police of the McColl Police Department along with all four of my fellow officers,” Hale said. “My personal decision to step away from the McColl Police Department can be attributed to repeated acts of harassment, personal attacks on my character, and the overall creation of a hostile work environment perpetuated by a specific Councilman.”
Hale also said that the unnamed councilman’s acts made it impossible for the department to do its job.
“For months, I have endured unwarranted and malicious behavior aimed at undermining my integrity and leadership,” Hale said in the post. “These actions not only hurt me personally, but they also made the workplace toxic, which made it harder for the department to do its job.” Even though we’ve tried to deal with these problems in a professional way and through the right routes, the bullying and harassment have not stopped.
Hale also said in his statement that the police department’s budget had been cut and that other important needs were not being met.
Hale said they didn’t choose to resign lightly, and he’s sorry for how it might affect the community they worked so hard to serve.
“I think taking a step back is the only way to show how bad these problems are and demand accountability and change.” “I’m still hopeful that the Town of McColl will work together to deal with these problems, put an emphasis on moral leadership, and make sure that people who work for the government can do their jobs without being harmed or bothered,” Hale wrote.
One McColl resident told WMBF that he is worried about the safety of the people who live there now that the town does not have a police force.
“Say if someone were stabbed or shot or whatever – without police enforcement, they would have to come from the sheriff’s office in Bennettsville,” said William Groom of McColl. We’re talking about ten to fifteen minutes, which is enough time for someone to die. Without police presence, things are not going well.
Even though Hales said that Garner told WMBF that Hale was not leaving town on bad terms.
“I wish they would stay. They were a great bunch. “But we’re going to keep going,” Garner said.
He also said that he had asked the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office and other nearby police departments to help watch over the town until further notice. For extra help, he also asked the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division to help.
For the job of Chief of Police, the McColl Police Department is now taking applications. Garner said that applications can be picked up at McColl Town Hall.
In October, something similar happened in a different neighborhood to the town of McColl.
The entire Geary Police force in Oklahoma quit, including the chief of police, saying that political leaders did not meet the needs of the police force.
