Pending an investigation into the text message, the City Council in Vincent, Ala., suspended the police chief and assistant chief at a meeting Thursday and moved to disband the department, Mayor James Latimer said Saturday. After that decision, the remaining member of the department resigned, the mayor said. Following the suspensions and resignation, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Friday that it was handling emergency law enforcement calls for the city. The statement added that Sheriff’s Office officials “equally condemn” the allegations of misconduct. The city, which is about 30 miles southeast of Birmingham, has just under 2,000 residents, 392 of them black, according to census data. “This has torn this community apart,” one City Council member, Corey Abrams, said at the meeting, according to AL.com, which reported this week on the text message. Mr. Latimer said the assistant chief, John L. Goss, had sent the message, an offensive remark about slavery. The Rev. Kenneth Dukes, president of the Shelby County branch of the NAACP, said the text was the “tip of the iceberg” and reflected the community’s unspoken concerns about racism in the community. “I think now the Council, along with the mayor, see that this is completely unacceptable and that people have said ‘No more,’” he said. Mr. Latimer said Police Chief James Srigley and Chief Goss were suspended with pay at Thursday’s council meeting. One officer, Lee Carden, resigned. The council passed a resolution to continue firing the chief and assistant chief, the mayor said. Chiefs Srygley and Goss and Officer Carden could not be reached for comment Saturday. The council also agreed to draft an ordinance to disband the police department and work with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to contract for law enforcement coverage. Rev. Dukes said his organization plans to meet with community members in the coming weeks to hear their feedback before the next City Council meeting on Aug. 16. He said he appreciated the city’s quick response to the text message allegation and waited to see if the chief and assistant chief would be fired as per the Council’s recommendation. “I think at the moment we’re happy with the result and hopefully everyone will move on once it’s confirmed,” he said. McKenna Oxenden contributed to this article.
