The Columbus City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint Doran Johnson as interim police chief effective Aug. 16.
Chief Fred Shelton submitted his retirement letter July 12, hours before a special-call meeting to discuss his job performance. He alleged that Mayor Keith Gaskin told him to retire, resign or be terminated. Shelton’s last day is Aug. 15.
Johnson has served about 2 1/2 years as assistant chief. He previously worked at CPD from 1988 until around 2000, leaving as a sergeant. He then worked for the Columbus Municipal School District’s police department for about 15 years, with the last five of those as chief.
“I feel like I am ready to accept that position,” Johnson told The Dispatch after the council meeting. “I’ve been in Columbus for the last 36 years, and I know the community well. The people know me well and trust me to do the job and be fair and honest.”
Johnson said law enforcement needs to “connect back to the community.”
“We need to be a part of the community,” he said. “It’s almost become the police against the community and we have to realize that all of us have the same goals. Citizens and police want a safe community, and we need to team up and work together.”
Gaskin last week said publicly that he had approached Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins about being the interim chief. Hawkins confirmed to The Dispatch the discussion had taken place but stressed he would serve for no more than 90 days.
When the issue of interim chief came up Tuesday night, Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard moved to give the job to Johnson, with a second by Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones.
“The former chief’s last day is (Aug. 15),” said Ward 1 Councilwoman Ethel Taylor Stewart, who has openly criticized Gaskin’s effort to make Hawkins interim chief. “I want it clear that at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 16, this position becomes effective.”
The council also established a search committee to begin looking for Shelton’s permanent replacement, but that process was less smooth.
Gaskin asked the council to bring in consultant K.B. Turner to head the search for a new chief. The city hired Turner back in 2017 to come up with a plan to reform CPD. He eventually recommended then-chief Oscar Lewis be replaced.
“I would like to solicit the guidance of a consultant to lead a national search for a new chief,” Gaskin said. “I believe someone who understands police culture and the broad spectrum of issues and problems, which all departments face in today’s society, will assure the citizenry that we are moving in the right direction.”
Gaskin said Turner, a former police officer who now works as an academic and consultant, would be an ideal choice for the job. He asked the council for permission to approach Turner to work with a search committee that would also include local citizens.
Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene moved to authorize Gaskin to contact Turner and was seconded by Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco. The motion failed 4-2, with Greene and DiCicco voting yes and Stewart, Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens, Beard and Jones voting no.
The search committee piece of Gaskin’s request did survive, however. As part of the motion to designate Johnson as interim chief, Jones asked that a 10-member search committee, with four of those coming from the community, be created.
Members of the committee will be appointed at a later date.
Johnson confirmed he would try to drop the “interim” from his title.
“Let me say up front I am going to apply for the position,” he said.
Community pushback
Tuesday’s meeting was heavily attended by members of the public, many of whom were upset by Gaskin’s suggestion that Hawkins be designated interim chief over Johnson.
Local NAACP head Lavonne Latham-Harris spoke to the council during the citizens’ input portion of the meeting, and argued that Johnson should be interim chief. She compared the situation to Columbus Fire and Rescue, where then-Assistant Chief Duane Hughes was made interim chief after then-Chief Martin Andrews retired.
Gaskin has argued that it would not be ideal for Johnson to serve as interim as he may want to apply for the post himself.
“We don’t see the difference,” she said. “The previous chief recommended (Hughes) be the interim, and now he is the fire chief. We don’t see the difference with (Johnson) serving as the interim in the police department.”
Harris also criticized the plan to have a national search.
“Why do you got to do all that?” she said. “We have an assistant chief of police that is well qualified. We are trying to figure out what (Hawkins) can do for the police department. There is crime everywhere. It’s in the city, it’s in the county.”
She accused Gaskin of not communicating well with the council.
“The council don’t know nothing about what you did or said, and we got a big problem with that,” she said.
Gaskin said his plan for Hawkins to step in was a contingency plan “if the chief had left immediately.”
“It would be something for them to consider to vote on for the interim position,” he said. “I know it’s not popular with some folks, I understand. … The council did not have to support it. That was just my suggestion.”
Gaskin said he did not mean for the idea to be “derogatory” toward Johnson.
“I’m sorry that it caused the situation that it has,” he said. “But that was my thinking, and it was based on things that I had seen and conversations that I had had.”
Gaskin repeated he didn’t think it was a good idea for a potential candidate for the job to sit as interim.
“I met with the assistant chief and the captains,” he said. “I pointed out that sometimes if an internal candidate is interested in being chief and there’s a lot of serious stuff going on, then that interim position may not be the best place for them to be while they’re applying for the chief’s position.”
Beard didn’t agree with Gaskin’s decisions, and made that clear.
“I knew nothing about this, I’m not for it, and I feel like the situation is absurd,” he said.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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