Enfield police chief, captain cite 'hostile' and 'noxious' work environment in resignation letters
The police chief and captain of one small town in Halifax County submitted letters of resignation on Thursday. Enfield Police Chief James Ayers cited the controversy over the destruction of the town’s Confederate monument in his letter. In his resignation letter obtained by WRAL News, Ayers cited a "oppressive and hostile work environment" by town leaders.
"It has been an honor serving the citizens of Enfield. The noxiousness of events that have occurred in the time that I have been in my position is extremely unsettling," Capt. Corey J. Bullock wrote in his letter.
While neither letter directly mentions town Mayor Mondale Robinson, both they hint at his leadership.
Ayers said he reported one of the town leaders to the State Bureau of Investigation and faced retaliation, though his letter does not specify who.
"When one of the town leader’s destructive behavior causes racial division and community turmoil, it not only infuses tension in the community, but goes against the ethics of a public servant," his letter said. "I cannot in good conscious continue to work in an environment where performing my job duties is publicly questioned by one of our town leaders."
Both Ayers and Bullock left the Enfield Police Department this week. They put in their two weeks notice after Robinson removed a Confederate statue in a local park.
Robinson took a Facebook livestream of the moment a bulldozer brought down the monument. The town council had previously voted to remove the monument, which began as a Confederate memorial in the 1920s. It later added plaques to honor veterans of other wars, causing some people in the community to protest Robinson's decision to knock it down.
Robinson refuted the claims in their resignation letters, saying that neither men were present after the Confederate monument came down.
"It's as foolish as the day I received it," he said about the letters. He said Bullock only became Enfield's police captain less than a month ago.
"The captain and I never had a one-on-conversation," Robinson said. "The chief and I spoke once after the monument went down, and that conversation was shorter than 20 seconds."
He said Hayes had to take leave due to a family emergency right after the monument came down and didn't return.
Bullock's letter said the police force did not receive proper support from the town's government, and said in his letter "our governing body is in chaos."
"When we swore an oath to office, we are expected to serve the community, this includes elected officials, who also swore an oath to office, there is a disconnect in establishing a positive community," Bullock said in his resignation letter.
On Tuesday, Robinson called for Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein to come to the town to investigate recent messages of racism.
Robinson said letters his residents received are "domestic terror threats" and should be grounds for a state of emergency.
Residents received letters in a plastic bag with a racial slur, calling on the "white people of Enfield" to do something after someone “stomped down a piece of their white heritage.”
Enfield is a town of around 2,300 people, according to the latest estimate of the U.S. Census Bureau. The majority of Enfield is Black.
According to the 2022-23 budget for the town of Enfield, there are 10 police officers on the force: three police officers, one K-9 officer, two police detectives, one part-time police lieutenant, one full-time police lieutenant, a police captain and police chief.
