Months after Pine Bluff Mayor Carl Redus
fired the City’s Police Chief, the mayor is naming a replacement. A “university” police chief from Georgia will fill the slot left vacant when former Police Chief John Howell was fired.
A City Councilman says it all came down to two finalists, an assistant police chief in Detroit and a police chief of a small Georgia university. Mayor Carl Redus chose the later, a decision that is bringing mixed reaction.
"I thought Chief Howell was doing a great job and really thought he was taking the department in the right direction," said City Councilman Bill Brumett.
It’s why Councilman Brumett voted to
overturn the Mayor’s decision to fire former Chief John Howell, but the majority vote fell shy of the 2/3rds needed to keep him.
An argument surrounding anti-crime initiatives sparked the chief’s dismissal.
"That is a personal issue that you and that person should solve personally between the two of you and not involve the entire municipality in," said Gary Wilson of the Concerned Citizens of Pine Bluff Coalition.
Wednesday, Mayor Redus will introduce Brenda Davis-Jones as Pine Bluff’s New Police Chief. She comes from Georgia where she worked as a Chief of Fort Valley State University’s Police Department.
"If she is going to be someone beneficial to the city of Pine Bluff then I welcome her with open arms. If she's going to be another one of the mayor's puppets then I guess we'll just see what we'll see," Wilson said.
Councilman Brumett interviewed Davis-Jones. Mayor Redus made the final decision.
"You know how you meet with somebody and sometimes you don't get the feeling that they're totally what they present themselves to be? I'm a little bit concerned whether she has what it takes to walk into this department and get it on the right track. Time will tell and I hope she will," Brumett said.
