HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Discussion around who should be the next Hopkinsville Police Chief continues, with a resident and city official further addressing speculation around the decision to no appoint an interim chief at the most recent city council meeting.
Chief Jason Newby announced his resignation in mid-September, saying that his last day would be Oct. 11. Community members quickly rallied behind a possible replacement for the position, but the city opted to wait until after the election to appoint a chief and to not appoint an interim chief at all. Current Deputy Police Chief Erik Pacheco, who initially also resigned, would instead remain in his current role through the remainder of the mayor’s term.
Following the closed session discussion at a city council meeting last month, a “tell-all” press conference that had been announced by Newby where he would discuss his chief recommendation to Mayor Knight was suddenly cancelled, and the city announced their plan with Pacheco later that day.
Comments during recent city council meeting
At the Oct. 6 Hopkinsville City Council meeting, resident Gwenda Motley spoke during public comments, expressing the mixed messages resident were receiving from the city after they were directly asked for input.
“On the morning of Sept. 15 before the council meeting, a group of about 25 African American citizens were invited to a meeting where Mayor Knight asked for our support of his recommendation of Major Mike Atkins as interim police chief,” Motley told the council.
She explained that during that private meeting, Knight said there was pushback from the council about this decision due to Atkins’ lack of budget knowledge and college degree.
“We left that meeting feeling a little hopeful that the council would go into closed session, and the mayor would ask for a vote,” she continued. Alongside Motley, residents ended up packing the council chambers at the public meeting to specifically endorse Major Atkins as interim chief during public comments under the assumption that a decision would be made during closed session, which it was not.
Motley also pointed out to councilmembers that comments Knight later provided to a local news outlet about “outside influences” impacting his chief decision caused additional confusion about his intentions.
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Councilmember Sumner shares his take
At the end of the Oct. 6 council meeting, Councilmember Clayton Sumner spoke in length about alleged discussions surrounding the appointment of the interim chief of police. He began by apologizing to the city attorney for potentially making him feel uncomfortable by sharing this information.
“I don’t do fake, and I don’t play those side games where I run to the media and tell them a story so it makes it look like I’m a good guy knowing that everybody got played,” he added, in reference to statements given by Mayor Knight.
Speaking from his personal experience and not on behalf of the council, Sumner first explained that as reflected in the agenda for the previous city council meeting, they never had the intention of voting on who would fill the chief position after they went into executive session. If they intended to take action as a result of closed session discussion, an executive or municipal order would have been on the agenda.
“For me, there was never a concern of degree,” said Sumner in response to rumors that Atkins was not chosen because of his lack of college education. However, other aspects prevented him from meeting the minimum requirements for the position.
He also emphasized that the city council was not involved in the resignation or rescinding of a resignation of Deputy Chief Pacheco before it was announced that he would take over duties in the interim.
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