Minco City Council Unanimously Approves New Acting Police Chief Amid Officer Walkouts

The town of Minco has been under staffed after several police officers walked off the job this week. The city council approved its new leader on Thursday night. Before Thursday night’s Minco City Council meeting, there was no police chief to serve this community.

“You’re not without police protection,” said Vice Mayor Susan Hollandsworth to residents at Thursday night’s council meeting. 

The Minco Police Department lost three members of its force, including former police Chief Josh Fletcher, on Monday because of proposed budget cuts.   

Fletcher told News 9 on Tuesday the drop in funds would make it difficult to prioritize safety.

“Once those officers start working multiple days in a row for 12 hours and they have to cover a day because somebody was sick,” Fletcher said. “It worries me how tired they're going to be. They might make a mistake that hurts somebody else.”

Even former Mayor Keith McMullen submitted his resignation letter on May 30, citing town safety and protection. 

Thursday the council voted unanimously to approve Fredrick Johnson to serve as the acting police chief.  

“We were never without police patrol because there was him and another boy on duty,” Hollandsworth said.

Johnson started his career in emergency medical services in the 1990s, years before becoming a police officer. For now, the Grady County Sheriff's Office is helping on life-threatening calls, and it will be up to Johnson to run a police department that only has a few officers left to service this community.