Cohutta Mayor Fires Officers, Dissolves Police Dept.

In the small north Georgia town of Cohutta, Mayor Ron Shinnick fired Police Chief Greg Fowler and about 10 officers on Wednesday, effectively dissolving the department and prompting the town council to call a special meeting Friday evening to consider reinstating it and requesting the mayor's immediate resignation.

The terminations followed social media comments by officers, according to Shinnick. Former Sgt. Jeremy May linked the action to prior complaints that officers, including himself, had filed against the mayor's wife, Pam Shinnick, who had served as town clerk until her dismissal earlier this year for creating a hostile work environment. "This all comes to personal vendetta from the mayor, and I wholeheartedly believe that," May said. "We took a stand for transparency, and in result, every one of them has lost their jobs."

Town attorney Bryan Rayburn told reporters he had reassured officers days earlier that their positions were secure, despite rumors tied to the complaints about Pam Shinnick. "My understanding is that a lot of the police officers heard through the grapevine that they were going to be terminated because of the letters that they wrote," Rayburn said. "I...