Mayor Ron Shinnick dissolved the Cohutta Police Department on Wednesday and terminated all 10 of its employees, ending the town’s police force in one move and putting the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office in charge of law enforcement.
A notice posted on the department’s door said, “The PD has been dissolved, and all personnel have been terminated.”
The firings came weeks after officers accused Pam Shinnick of continuing to work for the town after council meeting minutes showed she had been terminated. She had previously been let go for allegedly contributing to a hostile work environment, and former Sgt. Steven Thornton said he was told the mayor still wanted every officer fired and that it would happen.
Shinnick dismissed the backlash when asked about the layoffs, telling reporters, “If you want to report on the low concrete, that’s really a more pressing issue here in Cohutta. Low concrete.” He also defended the decision by saying, “They’ll get a paycheck. We’re not that way, and I appreciate their service, okay? It is time for a change.” Later, he compared the move to a coaching change, saying, “It’s a guy thing. You know, occasionally, college football programs, you have to change the coach, and some people like it, some don’t.”
Cohutta has fewer than 1,000 residents, and the city now has no municipal police department as the council prepares to respond. The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office stepped in after the shutdown, while the town council scheduled a meeting for Friday to discuss reinstating the department and requesting the mayor’s immediate resignation. Thornton said the officers believed the dismissals were retaliation tied to complaints about the mayor’s wife, a dispute that has now spilled from the police station into the center of town government.
What happens next is no mystery: the council will try to decide whether Cohutta’s police department comes back at all, and whether Shinnick can stay in office after ending it himself.
