CHETOPA — Chetopa’s police chief and two other officers have tendered their resignations effective next week or later this month. The resignations result from what one officer described as a hostile work environment.
The change will leave only one officer on staff, Jason Wammack. The Chetopa City Council on Tuesday night named Wammack interim police chief, and the council also decided to advertise the openings.
The council was to meet with Sheriff Darren Eichinger on Thursday to discuss patrol assistance until the positions can be filled. That meeting took place after the deadline for this article. As a second class city, Chetopa has to provide law enforcement protection, but that would be costly if the city had to contract with the sheriff’s office.
Chetopa’s Mayor Bob Boyd claimed in Tuesday’s meeting that the sheriff’s office was holding the city “hostage” by recruiting the three officers away from Chetopa.
Eichinger on Wednesday disagreed with Boyd’s statement. He said the three officers came to him seeking employment.
“They came to me,” Eichinger said of Chetopa Chief Scott Feagan and Officers Travis Rakestraw and Alexis Scofield. “I need the people. I didn’t hold anybody hostage.”
Eichinger had a road deputy position to fill and hired
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another road deputy instead of replacing a detective who is retiring this year. This will leave two detectives on staff and the department in a better position to meet patrol obligations, he said. The jail also had an opening that Rakestraw sought. He formerly worked in the jail.
Eichinger asked that the three officers’ body armor come with them to the sheriff’s office. The armor is fitted to the officers so it would not fit other officers who join the Chetopa Police Department. He also asked Chetopa to release Scofield from her contract. She agreed to work for two years for Chetopa but filed her resignation in her first year.
The council accepted all the resignations on Tuesday but wanted to discuss Scofield’s contract more.
Boyd read the resignation letters. Feagan wrote that he’d “proudly served” the city for 18 years and seven months. He hoped to retire from the department.
“However, circumstances being what they are, I do not feel that is possible. I will forever be grateful to the many people that I’ve served over the years, as well as the coworkers that have become more like family,” Feagan wrote.
He wrote that his last day will be May 23 and that he would assist his successor as best he could.
Rakestraw, a 14-year veteran of the department, wrote that his last day would be May 15.
“It has been my honor to serve the city and my childhood home. However, in light of recent events that have taken place in the city, I cannot in good conscience continue to work here,” Rakestraw wrote.
Scofield filed her resignation last week. Her last day will be May 16. She wrote that she appreciated serving the city. She’s learned a lot about being a police officer in her eight months with the department. She wrote that she found an opportunity with better pay, more training opportunities and a stable work environment.
“I never imagined leaving my first agency in eight months due to a hostile work environment,” Scofield wrote.
Councilman Justin Nading then read Eichinger’s proposal to help cover shifts in the city in the short term in exchange for the three resigning officers keeping their body armor and Scofield being released from her contract.
“We’ve got two options here. We can let her leave in good standing with sheriff’s department, because we are literally screwed right now. We are down to one officer,” Nading said.
A wide-ranging discussion ensued, involving council members and many of those attending the meeting. If the city contracted with the sheriff’s office for patrol, the cost could be up to $500,000 a year, some said.
Boyd, who was president of the council, was voted by the council last month to fill the unexpired term of mayor Ryan Darnell, who resigned. He indicated he wasn’t happy with the situation with the department and sheriff but that the sheriff’s proposal “is the deal on the table.”
“I feel like we’re being held over the barrel and being held hostage, because our officers are resigning and at least two of them and maybe three are being signed on by the people who are holding us hostage,” Boyd said.
He said he wouldn’t sign the contract with the sheriff if the council passes a motion to accept the proposal.
Nading said it was better to have a working relationship with the sheriff.
“We already have that,” Councilman Chuck Bentley said. “They’re down here all the time. They cannot deny coming into this town and patrolling.”
A business owner said this issue was a big concern to her and that the police department has done a “wonderful job” of protecting her businesses.
“Noted,” Boyd said. Boyd complained about the police department not doing enough to stop people from riding four-wheelers up and down his street. He asked why four police trucks couldn’t stop one four-wheeler.
Feagan told the mayor that the department has cited the driver at least twice. He said he cannot get into a pursuit with the four-wheeler on traffic issues because that could constitute deadly force. If the four-wheeler driver wrecked and died because of that pursuit, his family could sue the city.
Feagan added that the four-wheeler driver had been cited in the past for fleeing and eluding and other citations, some of which are still going through court.
In other matters, the council: — Agreed to sell old utility poles and fire hydrants to Chad Tyler and his wife, Jessica, who are renovating the former Sinclair gas station in town. Tyler said the hope is to bring the station back to the way it looked in the 1930s.
— Praised the work of volunteers in the community working toward improvements.
— Named Josh Moore to the council. He is taking the seat vacated by Boyd when he took over as mayor.
— Discussed out of state registrations of vehicles that belong to people living in Chetopa. Boyd said he was tired of hearing that the police department can’t do anything about it. Feagan said the city’s standard traffic ordinance doesn’t include anything on that violation. The citations go through district court when the sheriff’s office finds violators.
