| Updated: 3/09/2010 8:45 am |
Published: 3/08/2010 2:17 pm |
John Howell told FOX16 that Mayor Carl Redus fired him Monday for insubordination.
"The police chief was terminated today...yeah," Mayor Redus said.
Redus also said they are not discussing why Howell was fired right now. "That's something at this particular point and time we are not discussing with the public."
But Howell is discussing it. Chief John Howell says the mayor fired him after a meeting Monday morning for insubordination and didn't know why.
Mayor Redus said he couldn’t confirm what Howell said. "I'm not really sure at this particular time if I should be commenting on that," he said.
The mayor is commenting on the fact he has the power to hire and fire. But the city council can override that decision with a 2/3 majority vote. The mayor admitted there have been differences with Howell about the department.
“Different directions on how things should be done."
And as of Monday night, the police department was without an acting chief.
“We haven't discussed that at this particular point and time. There is a process but it hasn't been worked out," Redus said in response to who will be the interim or acting chief.
“So you don't know?"
"We do know, we are just not sharing it with you," Mayor Redus said.
Howell has been Pine Bluff police chief for the past four years. Before becoming chief he worked at the Criminal Justice Institute, after retiring from state police.
