Milner, GA lost its entire full-time police force on Monday after Milner Police Chief Lamar Bunn and Milner City Manager Tausha Grose resigned during a city council meeting. Bunn said city hall had secretly placed a tracker on his truck, while Grose told the council that most of the town's part-time volunteer officers had also resigned.
Bunn told the council, "City Hall every day, it's got a tracker on my truck, it was bought with personal funds and placed on my vehicle without the city council or my supervisor, city administrator knowing it," and linked his departure to conflicts with city leadership over legal and ethical issues. In his remarks, he also said, "I've devoted my life to Lamar County. 15, 16 years with the sheriff's office and now I'm back here in this county. My dad was here in '74 policing with his police department. I got roots here."
Milner council meeting
Grose announced her resignation at the same meeting and said, "It is with my extreme sorrow that our entire full-time police department has resigned, most of our part-time police. And also, I've also filed my resignation with the city clerk today," according to remarks she made Monday night. Mayor Craig Timmons acknowledged the concerns at the meeting and said he hoped the situation could be resolved.
Tracker allegation and resignations
The dispute had already included arguments over police overtime and a proposal to bar officers from using city vehicles for part-time work. Those issues were not given as the reason for the resignations, leaving the city with no full-time police officers and most of its part-time volunteer officers gone as well.
The unresolved question at the center of the dispute is who placed the alleged tracker on Bunn's truck. His account ties the device to city hall, but the meeting remarks and resignation letters do not identify the person responsible, and the fallout has already stripped Milner's police department of its full-time staff.
