Residents may voice their concerns regarding the Mayor’s appeasement of extortionary tantrums by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.

COLUMBUS, Ga. — “When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything.” — Gen. George S. Patton.

Officers of the Columbus Police Department have now come forward to confirm information that one of the department’s assistant chiefs is effectively seeking a hostile takeover of the department.

The officers’ information comes after city councilor Walker Garrett (District 8) came forward earlier this week to ensure the public knew the truth about why Mayor Henderson has refused to appoint a new interim police chief to the department.

Immediately after former police chief Freddie Blackmon signed a  severance agreement and was relieved from all duties on April 6, assistant chief of administration Joyce Dent-Fitzpatrick began making baseless threats to sue the city for ‘discrimination’ if she was not made the department’s interim chief of police, despite the fact that such a claim would have no legal standing whatsoever.

In response, Mayor Henderson has refused to appoint anyone to the position for over four weeks while consistently lying to the public about the situation, opting to appease and cower to Fitzpatrick’s hostile behavior instead. 

According to sources close to the Muckraker, a supermajority of city council strongly agrees with Garrett’s words, which are now also corroborated by police officers themselves who have witnessed the events.

INTENTIONAL SABOTAGE

As a result, Fitzpatrick has now effectively staged an internal coup within the department in hopes of achieving a hostile takeover.

According to CPD officers, Fitzpatrick has formed a clique with two others to intentionally disrupt the daily operations of the department in order to sabotage anyone else from becoming the department’s new chief. 

“Fitzpatrick, Graham, and the civilian PIO, Santiago, have been teaming up against the other command staff,” one officer said. “There is a very uneasy feeling around here.”

It goes without saying how outright dangerous Fitzpatrick’s actions are for our city’s police force; she is purposely sabotaging police operations in hopes of benefitting her own career at the expense of our city’s police officers and the city’s safety itself. Nonetheless, Mayor Henderson has not taken any action to intervene and Fitzpatrick is left unchecked.

The officers’ words also lend credit to several instances of Fitzpatrick illegally signing paperwork on behalf of the office of Chief of Police, despite the Mayor’s strict instructions that any such documents must be signed by him and him alone in accordance with the law. 

THE MAYOR’S APPEASEMENT

One officer also said that the department’s other assistant chief, Debra Kennedy, has tried several times to have Mayor Henderson take action to rectify the situation, though Henderson has outright dismissed Kennedy every time.

“Kennedy has tried to talk to the mayor and he dismisses her because he is scared of Fitzpatrick,” the officer said.

Another officer said Fitzpatrick is “wreaking havoc over administrations” while Kennedy is left to clean up the mess and actually run the department, despite the Mayor’s apparent lack of care for the situation.

“Officers don’t just walk away from Fitzpatrick, they run away from her. She’s that toxic,” the officer said. “Now, she is wreaking havoc over administrations. The mayor would be insane to even consider appointing her to chief of police. In fact, he should fire her, or at the very least demote her back to her original rank of captain.”

HENDERSON’S FEAR

One officer spoke heavily about how the Mayor’s lack of action to stop Fitzpatrick’s reckless and hostile behavior shows how weak the Mayor is as he leaves the city’s police force hanging out to dry yet again.

“It’s sickening,” the officer said. “I know for a fact the mayor and city council know how toxic Fitzpatrick is. And what will be done? Nothing, as usual. The mayor continues to be weak.”

The officer continued by describing how obvious it is to everyone in the department that Henderson was originally prepared to appoint an interim chief from within the department, but then backed down as soon as Fitzpatrick began making her baseless threats to sue the city.

“We all know he was prepared to appoint an interim chief from within CPD. Then the threats from Fitzpatrick started and he backed down as usual. Now we have no interim chief.”

A TALE OF TWO CHIEFS

It was the best of chiefs, it was the worst of chiefs, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness — or so the namesake novel contends.

Further showing the baselessness of Fitzpatrick’s claims and dangerously-hostile actions, the department’s other assistant chief, Debra Kennedy, is of the same professional title Fitzpatrick is. Kennedy, however, is not the one staging an internal coup; Fitzpatrick is.

One officer had the following to say about Kennedy’s true ability to continue running the department in spite of Fitzpatrick’s intentional sabotage and the Mayor’s refusal to intervene:

“I will say that Asst. Chief Kennedy is doing a fine job — like really fine. A true leader. She is the only one in upper management that fights for the troops … I think she literally works 18-20 hours a day. She is very highly respected.”

Another officer shared a very similar consensus of Kennedy, stating the following:

“The officers of this department would walk through fire for Kennedy … I know officers will come back (to the department) if the mayor appointed Kennedy as the interim, and she would prove her value and could absolutely be permanent chief.”

The officer’s words speak to the extreme importance of strong martial leadership on the morale, welfare, and effectiveness of officers and the department as a whole.

In contrast, the same officer had the following to say about how Fitzpatrick’s recent hostile behavior has impacted officers’ willingness to stay on the job with CPD:

“The racial tension and accusations are back in full force with Fitzpatrick thinking she rules the house … The remaining officers will walk out if he (Mayor Henderson) were to appoint Fitzpatrick as interim chief.”

Perhaps Mayor Henderson should heed these words, grow a spine, and step up to the plate for our city’s police force.

Residents may voice their concerns regarding the Mayor’s appeasement of extortionary tantrums by emailing Mayor Skip Henderson directly at SkipHenderson@columbusga.org, while cc’ing their respective city council members on the email.

Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether city officials like them or not.

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