The city council on Monday upheld its original decision to allow community service as discipline for two police officers who got into an altercation in November outside the Municipal Complex.
In a special-call meeting at City Hall, the council voted 4-1 to override Mayor Keith Gaskin’s veto of the punishment. Gaskin’s veto came after the council voted 5-0 Dec. 17 in favor of the community service punishment.
Police Chief Joseph Daughtry first recommended short-term suspension for the officers without pay, but before last week’s meeting he changed that recommendation to 40 hours each of off-duty community service. He previously told The Dispatch the community service would involve speaking to middle school and high school students about conflict resolution.
Monday’s special-call meeting, held almost entirely in executive session, lasted more than 40 minutes. Gaskin told The Dispatch council members “heavily discussed” the option of tabling the discipline issue and having the officers come before the council.
Votes to table the matter and to override the veto both failed, Gaskin said, before a second try to override passed.
“We’re going to revisit this,” Gaskin told The Dispatch, insisting the officers would still come before the council at a future meeting.
Ward 6 Councilwoman Jacqueline DiCicco, who was absent for the Dec. 17 vote, was ultimately the lone vote supporting Gaskin’s veto Monday. Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens, who represents Ward 2, did not attend Monday’s special-call meeting.
“The chief’s original recommendation was the appropriate disciplinary action, which I supported and still do,” DiCicco texted to The Dispatch, referring to her support for suspending the officers. “The council wasn’t made aware of his decision to change his recommendation before the council meeting.”
There’s no point in bringing the officers before the council to “revisit” their punishment, Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones said Monday. But he acknowledged, in retrospect, that based on Daughtry’s amendment coming last-minute, the council should have tabled the matter Dec. 17 to make sure it had enough time to consider it, instead of pushing forward with a vote.
However, Jones believes he would likely have still supported the chief’s recommendation in the end.
Since the council did push forward with a vote, Jones believed the only fair thing to do was stand behind it.
“These officers already knew their punishment,” he said. “I thought it would have been unfair to change their punishment after we had already given them their punishment.”
Gaskin issued his veto Friday, saying the council needed to reconsider the officers’ discipline.
In response, Jones took to Facebook, calling the veto “political maneuvering” and accusing Gaskin of using his veto power out of “personal dislike,” labeling that “both immature and divisive.”
Daughtry, for his part, told The Dispatch on Friday he thought the veto was personal because Gaskin dislikes him and frequently “finds the negativity” in the police department.
Gaskin has not commented on Daughtry’s remarks, but he fired back Monday at Jones’ Facebook post.
“This is a very serious personnel issue,” Gaskin told The Dispatch. “It’s unfortunate that it was politicized by a council member deciding to put it on social media and making the statements he did in the public. (It) shows poor leadership.”
Jones, in response, said he still believes the veto was political, but he did not mean his post as a shot at Gaskin.
“It certainly wasn’t my intent to politicize anything because it wasn’t a political matter,” Jones said. “It was what I thought was fair to the police.”
The Dispatch could not reach Daughtry for comment by press time.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
