A small town in West Virginia is currently without a functioning police department after its remaining officers were dismissed amid a dispute involving an alleged break-in at the department’s evidence room.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the Barrackville Police Department said all department members had been relieved of duty, effective immediately, by the Barrackville Town Council and Mayor Tom Straight.
A former sergeant, identified by 12 News only as Sgt. Hunt, said he arrived at the police department Tuesday morning and discovered that the evidence room appeared to have been broken into.
Hunt said he then called for an immediate meeting with Straight and members of the town council.
According to Hunt, council members had previously expressed interest in conducting an inventory of the department without officers present. He also alleged that one council member acknowledged taking a set of police keys.
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Hunt said that after he accused members of the town government of entering the evidence room, he and the department’s only other officer were promptly taken off active duty.
The former sergeant said the department’s police clerk also stepped down, leaving Barrackville with no police personnel. He added that he told the mayor and council he planned to seek whistleblower protection.
The sweeping dismissals came less than a week after Police Chief Zachary Freeburn resigned. Hunt said Freeburn left the post following ongoing disagreements with the town council over its authority and level of control over the department.
Marion County Sheriff Roger Cunningham told the station that deputies will continue responding to calls in Barrackville while the town of 1,288 people is without a police department.
Resident Isabella Pham said she hopes the turmoil comes to an end.
“I just think that the town right now is in a little bit of a mess,” Pham told the West Virginian Times.
“We’ve gone through a lot of different people, and I’m just hoping that at the end of this, we can get a little bit of stability, transparency and security, and get back to having a stronger community versus a town of pitchforks and torches.”
