The Craig Beach community is without a police force after six officers quit at Tuesday’s village council meeting.
The Craig Beach Police Department, including Chief of Police Kyle Pettus who did not attend the meeting, submitted letters of resignation at the meeting. The council unanimously accepted all the resignations.
Officers cited a hostile work environment, “constant struggles” with the council, and maintenance issues with patrol cars.
The village council has criticized the department’s finances and other issues, including a December social media post by Pettus expressing the department’s frustration with the council.
In particular, Councilman Jamie Becker asked why a department that provides 20 hours of police coverage per week needs three cars. He also noted that the council received “a bunch of invoices for thousands of dollars’ worth of purchases that were made in the last six weeks,” WFMJ 21 News reports.
In a meeting clip from WKBN 27 News, Becker asked: “So, I’m supposed to accept the resignation of the entire department without any accounting of public property whatsoever? Is that what you’re saying?”
Mayor James Becker told WFMJ News he’s not concerned about public safety despite the resignations, as the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department responds to about 60% of calls. He claims the department is not working cohesively and they are on two separate pages.
The resigned officers included Chief of Police Kyle Pettus, Commander Crystal Casterline, Sgt. Renatta Griffith, Sgt. Michael Hudson, Lt. Richard Johnson and Patrolman Ernest Hudson. The seventh officer is on active military service and couldn’t submit a resignation letter, WKBN 27 News reports.
Griffith took the lead at the meeting, reading from one of the resignation letters.
“I love the community that we serve, and it has been an honor to work under Chief Pettus,” Griffith said.
Council members asked why inventory reports hadn’t been turned in and questioned the need for more than two cruisers. Officers said those cruisers have been in need of repairs for months.
“Given the maintenance issues, you guys have so passionately informed the rest of the crowd over, we decided it would be better to wait until we had the funds to buy a new one. This is how it all started as far as I’m concerned,” Councilman Jamie Becker said at the meeting.
In the report by WFMJ 21 News, councilwoman Charlotte Ashe said they cannot legally get rid of the police department but “what we did want them to do was their job.”
In recent months, the officers have claimed retaliation and poor communication from council members. The now-former Chief Pettus was briefly laid off in December and reinstated following a social media post against village leaders.
"I've had council members tell me that I won't support anything that you put through but not give me a reason as to why," said Pettus in the social media post made back in December.
“Council has been very vocal about wanting our department to fail and refusing to support any efforts for us to improve,” Griffith said at the meeting.
According to the officers, their current vehicles are in desperate need of repair.
“If we have two vehicles that you say we’re allowed to have — one goes down — that leaves us with one vehicle. That’s one issue. The second issue is during the summertime, we come into our peak season,” Lt. Johnson said at the meeting.
After a heated exchange, instead of continuing to talk, the officers walked out, refusing to answer any more questions.
In another interview with WFMJ 21 News, Lt. Johnson said, “We’d all love to come together to serve the public, but with everything that’s happening, we’ve been put in a position, it makes us not functional.”
Griffith added, “We didn’t have a choice.”
Griffith said the officers constantly feel disrespected and micromanaged by the council. The department was trying to raise funds for a new police cruiser, which the mayor said was illegal.
Sgt. Hudson told WFMJ 21 News “We are the first on scene when we’re working on the beach compared to other departments… I just feel bad for some of the residents”
The department serves Craig Beach, a small village that includes Lake Milton in northeastern Ohio.
The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department will respond to all emergency calls in Craig Beach for now, according to WKBN News.
