Will police union’s lack of support cost chief his job? Here’s what Columbus mayor says
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson will not ask police chief Freddie Blackmon to step down after the city’s police union said it had no confidence in the top officer’s ability to lead the department.
Henderson told the Ledger-Enquirer Thursday that he and Blackmon will meet with the Columbus Fraternal Order of Police in the near future to discuss the issues that the union put forward at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Crime and public safety, Henderson said, is his number one issue.
Blackmon was at a departmental meeting Thursday morning and unable to participate in the L-E’s interview, Henderson said. Attempts to contact the chief before publication were unsuccessful.
“I have prided myself, as long as I have served the citizens of Columbus, Georgia, on trying to do what is right. I don’t typically react from a political pressure standpoint,” Henderson said. “He’s going to be the chief for Columbus. ... I have no plans to remove chief Blackmon.”
Henderson’s statement of support comes days after the Columbus police union shared survey results showing officers were unhappy with the current state of the department.
Union leadership received responses from 219 officers, which represents about 70% of the city’s police force and 95% of the union. Union president Lt. Ralph Dowe said during Tuesday’s Columbus Council that only 5% of the respondents expressed confidence that Blackmon could manage the department in a manner that provides for officer safety and the fair treatment of officers and reduces crime.
Henderson said Columbus residents should trust Blackmon to lead the department because of his training and decades of experience within different areas of law enforcement. Blackmon is a Columbus native with more than 35 years of experience. He started as a patrol officer in 1986 and rose through the ranks as a sergeant, lieutenant and captain before he was promoted to major in 2014. Blackmon is the city’s second Black police chief.
“I believe he’s got people in place to try to move Columbus forward towards a goal that we set. And that is to be one of the safest cities in America,” Henderson said.
Blackmon’s tenure has been defined by officer shortages and a surge in violence in 2021. Columbus recorded a record-breaking 70 homicides last year. Henderson said the shortages existed before he was elected mayor and before Blackmon took over as police chief in November 2020.
Data provided by the city showed that the shortages grew worse in 2021. Human Resources Director Reather Hollowell told council members during Tuesday’s meeting that the police department had 130 vacancies. In 2021, 74 police officers resigned — the most in a 12-year period dating back to 2009. The department hired 37 officers in 2021, the fewest in that time period.
Henderson and city leaders have attempted to fix those issues. Henderson said officer pay has increased by about 11%. The Columbus Council recently approved a measure to temporarily increase law enforcement sign-on bonuses to $5,000. Current officers and other first responders will receive temporary $1,500 retention bonuses every three months. The city is working on a study to address pay issues. The results will be used to create a new pay plan.
Still, the COVID-19 pandemic and other developments have exacerbated long-standing issues that are now making Blackmon’s job more difficult, Henderson said.
“Freddie has been working hard under some really incredible circumstances over the last 14 months,” Henderson said. “He’s dealt with everything from the pandemic but also the ‘Defund the Police’ atmosphere. ...They’ve also had to deal with (former DA Mark Jones) that came in here and wiped out all the experienced prosecutors and made a very public statement that he was going to take care of cops who weren’t doing their jobs right.”
John Anker, the only other person who’s declared for the 2022 mayoral election in May, is set to speak at the police union’s monthly meeting Feb. 28. He’s also purchased a billboard ad on 13th Street near downtown highlighting the city’s officer shortage. Attempts to contact Anker before publication were unsuccessful.
Henderson said he’s not concerned about Anker’s actions.
“That hadn’t crossed my mind,” Henderson said. “I’m worried about the police officers, and I’m worried about the command staff. And I worry about the chief, and I worry about the public. My focus is entirely on trying to put together additional strategies ... to build the best and biggest police force we can.”
Henderson added that he was looking forward to his upcoming meeting with the police union.
“We want to work together to try and make sure that we’ve got all the resources to make sure our police officers are as safe as they can be,” Henderson said of the union. “We’re going to meet together. I hope we have multiple meetings after that because there’s a lot of things that we need to try to work on to increase retention and to try to improve recruiting.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 2:28 PM.