Despite public outcry for Columbus City Council to terminate police officer Keith Dowd, rather than let him resign, a Mississippi Attorney General’s opinion says firing him isn’t a valid option.
Dowd, 48, submitted his resignation letter Thursday in the wake of an investigation into his conduct on an Aug. 18 traffic stop in east Columbus. His resignation is effective Monday.
Mayor Robert Smith, though, said he has received numerous calls and seen hundreds of social media posts requesting the council fire Dowd to sully his employment record and hurt his chances of being hired as an police officer elsewhere.
During the traffic stop — which was presumably for speeding — Dowd, who is white, levied a series of raised-voiced insults and accusations toward a black driver, 20-year-old Joshua Hibbler. The officer repeatedly insisted Hibbler smoked marijuana, and at one point said he could “empty a magazine” from his service weapon into the car Hibbler was driving. Ultimately, Dowd let Hibbler go with a warning, instead of a ticket.
The Dispatch obtained officer body camera footage from the incident, via an open records request, and published it last week. The council was scheduled to consider discipline, and possible termination, for Dowd at its regular meeting Tuesday. CPD’s Citizen Overview Committee voted unanimously Thursday to recommend termination, hours before Dowd submitted his resignation.
City Attorney Jeff Turnage provided The Dispatch a copy of the AG opinion, which states any council vote to reject a resignation after its effective date would “have no effect.”
Turnage said Dowd’s resignation, by law, is automatically effective Monday. The council may still vote to accept it Tuesday, but it would be a formality.
“Basically, as of Monday, he’s no longer our employee to fire,” Turnage said. “… There’s nothing for the council to consider (on Tuesday).”
The city sought the AG opinion after the council voted in late 2015 to terminate police officer Canyon Boykin, instead of accepting his already effective resignation, for violating CPD’s body camera and social media policies.
Boykin shot and killed 26-year-old Ricky Ball on Oct. 16, 2015, after Ball fled on foot from a traffic stop in north Columbus. He later sued the city for wrongful termination. Boykin and the city settled that case last week for an undisclosed amount of money.
A permanent record
Four of the five councilmen The Dispatch reached by press time said they would accept Dowd’s resignation.
“It’s a tough one, and I understand there is a public outcry for termination,” said Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens. “Sometimes, you have to cut your losses and move on.”
Ward 4 Councilman Fred Jackson, however, said he plans to push for termination on Tuesday, despite the AG opinion.
“Termination is the way we should go,” he said. “(Allowing him to resign) will actually give him a chance to do the same thing again in another community. That’s not fair.”
Even without termination, Smith said Dowd would be “hard-pressed” to find another law enforcement job.
The city intends to provide the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Office of Standards and Training — which licenses police officers in the state and requires reports from cities and counties when officers resign or are fired — a copy of the body camera footage from the stop. The report also will indicate Dowd resigned to avoid discipline.
“That way, it will show up and not be camouflaged,” Smith said. “Any law enforcement agency where (Dowd) applies for a job will have access to the video.”
The Dispatch could not reach Councilman Stephen Jones, who represents Ward 5, by press time.
Dowd began working for CPD on July 24. Smith said there were at least two other traffic stops where Dowd “exhibited similar behavior” prior to Aug. 18 while he was a CPD officer. Dowd previously worked stints as a police officer in Jackson.
Mayor’s letter
In an open letter to Columbus citizens Smith provided The Dispatch, he outlines 10 “important points” from the Dowd investigation and released some new insight on how events transpired.
After Police Chief Oscar Lewis saw the body camera footage of the stop, he initially gave Dowd only a written reprimand “against the advice of the assistant chief (Fred Shelton)” and left him on active duty, according to the letter. Smith later saw the video and ordered the police chief on Wednesday to place Dowd on paid administrative leave, while directing scathing criticism toward Lewis for his “inadequate” response to the officer’s “embarrassing” conduct.
Smith, in his letter, asserts Lewis planned only to recommend a seven-day suspension for Dowd to the council on Tuesday.
Smith, who along with the Citizen Overview Committee wanted termination, “felt that was also inadequate.”
Neither Lewis nor Shelton would comment on the record about the specifics the letter addresses.
“I know there’s information being publicly released, but until this all plays out, I’m not at liberty to say these things,” Lewis told The Dispatch. “I’d really just rather stay silent right now on matters of personnel discipline.”
Lewis called the Dowd ordeal “eye-opening,” and while he said the officer’s conduct on the Hibbler traffic stop was unacceptable, he had hoped Dowd was “salvageable.”
Now, with the national media attention the issue received and the local criticism of Dowd’s conduct, Lewis said it would be difficult for Dowd to find another job in law enforcement.
“It’s pretty hard to overcome something like that,” he said.
Council criticizes Lewis response
All five councilmen The Dispatch spoke with for this article said they disagree with Lewis’ response after he saw the video. However, none said they felt Lewis should be fired.
“I believe Chief Lewis was doing what he thought was right in his heart and mind,” said Ward 1 Councilman Gene Taylor. “He was looking out for one of his officers. Do I agree with his decision? No.”
The mayor placed Lewis on an action plan for improvement, which the council ratified, after a consultant hired to study CPD recommended in August Lewis be removed as chief. The consultant, in his report, openly questioned the chief’s leadership skills.
Mickens, who has long supported the chief, is now strongly criticizing Lewis’ failure to make the council aware of the body camera video — rather than the mayor providing councilmen copies weeks after the incident. He said he also isn’t satisfied with Lewis’ discipline recommendations.
“We dropped the ball on this one,” Mickens said. “… At the end of the day, you’re the chief. The mayor is not the chief. (Lewis) should have made a different recommendation.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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