Murphy police chief forced out
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  1. #1
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    Murphy police chief forced out

    Murphy police chief forced out



    Police committee asks for Thigpen’s resignation at possible illegal meeting


    By BROOKS RICE
    brice@thecherokeescout.com


    Murphy – After more than four years on the job, police chief Mark Thigpen abruptly resigned Thursday.
    Chief since June 2002, Thigpen said the city’s police committee asked him to resign but gave him no reason why they wanted him out. He cited “irreconcilable differences” between him and council members in his official resignation letter.
    Thigpen said he had no indication that his performance was less than satisfactory until Aug. 2, when police committee chairman and council member David Hilton told Thigpen he would be asked to resign at an evaluation meeting the following day.
    “There had been some various issues that had come up previously ... always little things they wanted tweaked ... but nothing [big],” Thigpen said.
    Thigpen said he was told that if he resigned on his own, he would be given a severance package that would include one month’s salary and two months of insurance coverage. He earned $38,376 a year.
    At Thursday’s meeting, neither Town Manager Ann Payne nor council members gave Thigpen any reasons for seeking his resignation.
    #147;There really weren’t any,” Thigpen said. “I really don’t know what they were, other than they weren’t happy with my management.”
    Thigpen said he did not fight the council because “sometimes you just know.”
    Town government officials have remained mum on the specifics of Thigpen’s resignation. Hilton said he could not discuss it.
    “You know we never comment on personnel matters,” he said.
    The police committee includes Hilton, Payne and council member Phil Mattox. Mattox and Payne also refused comment, citing the resignation as a “personnel matter.”
    Marie Speigel, president of Businesswomen of Murphy, led a protest at Monday’s town council meeting. However, council members refused to answer her inquiries as to why Thigpen was asked to resign.
    “It’s city business, why do you want to know?” council member Sandra Sumpter asked Speigel.
    Speigel said the response disappointed her because Murphy residents and business owners deserve to know the council’s rationale behind Thigpen’s removal.
    “I was appalled by the lack of response,” she said. “I’m very disappointed that they don’t think that it’s our business.”
    Payne acknowledged the police committee met Thursday morning with Thigpen. The police committee does not have a consistent meeting schedule and did not notify the media of Thursday’s meeting, which N.C. Press Association attorney Amanda Martin said violates state open meetings law.
    “That’s certainly not legal,” she said.
    While personnel meetings are closed to the public, the committee failed to provide the media with at least 48 hours notice that the meeting was to take place. State law requires public bodies, such as the police committee, to advertise any meeting that is not consistent with a schedule and to keep minutes.
    Thigpen’s resignation surprised the police department.
    “It came as a shock to all of us,” Investigator Justin Jacobs said.
    Thigpen is the second personnel loss for the police department this year. Former assistant chief Donnie Burchfield resigned in the winter.
    Capt. Joe Morris of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office has been named interim police chief until the position is filled.
    Morris served with the N.C. Highway Patrol for 20 years and 10 years in the Macon County Sheriff’s Office. He recently served as the county’s jail administrator, a position he will resume once a permanent police chief is hired.
    “He has agreed to help us for the time being,” Mayor Bill Hughes said, adding that the position will be advertised in local and Asheville media.
    Meanwhile, Thigpen has no plans at this time.
    “I appreciate the opportunity to have served the citizens,” he said.
    Staff Writer Cindi Herr contributed to this report.

  2. #2
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    New Home

    I am in the process of moving up there from Miami Fla in a few months. Is your dep't accepting out of state officers from Fla.

  3. #3
    Guest

    Re: New Home

    Quote Originally Posted by Officer Bob
    I am in the process of moving up there from Miami Fla in a few months. Is your dep't accepting out of state officers from Fla.
    LOL...You must be an idiot not to know what is going on here. Read the forums at Cherokee County. This place is a joke and property taxes just sky rocketed! Go anywhere east of Asheville, NC and you will be okay.

  4. #4
    Guest

    EMPLOYMENT

    NO, JUST SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT ALL HIS LIFE. I KNOW THERE ARE GOO COPS LIKE YOUR SELF WHO NEED BROTHERS WHO ARE WILLING TO EFFECT CHANGE. OK AFTER READING I SEE AND AGREE THAT IF WHAT IS WRITTEN IS TRUE,I FEEL YOU DO HAVE IT ROUGH, BUT THAT CAN CHANGE ! WHEN IT DOES I WANT TO BE PART OF THAT CHANGE. AFTER ALL WE WEAR THE BADGE THE SAME WAY AND FOR THE SAME REASONS.

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