Vincent’s final police officer resigns from department

SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - The small Shelby County town of Vincent has no police officers on the force as of August 5, 2022.

After both the chief and the assistant chief were suspended following a racist text allegation, the one remaining officer resigned.

Vincent Mayor James Latimer confirmed the final officer remaining in the department turned in his resignation via text message overnight. This happened only hours after the city council voted to pursue dissolving the police department entirely. That one remaining officer was appointed as interim chief for the time being.

Tina Franklin who moved to Vincent in 2013 said she was disappointed to find out the news.

“We were already rallying to make sure he stayed in place so we want him there,” said Franklin. “He needs to represent us because we don’t want to back down off of somebody and say ‘We left you out in the fire to burn.’ We want him to know that he has our support here.”

WBRC asked the mayor if they will continue creating the ordinance to dissolve the department. Mayor Latimer says even though they technically don’t have to go through the process anymore, they will continue so the city council can hear from the public.

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