Milner, Georgia, is dealing with a police staffing crisis after Mayor Craig Timmons acknowledged secretly placing a GPS tracker on Police Chief Lamar Bunn’s city vehicle and setting up a camera aimed at City Hall. Timmons said he took those steps because he had concerns about work hours and timesheets.
The response was disastrous for morale. Bunn and all five full-time officers resigned, most reserve officers followed, and City Manager Tausha Grose also stepped down. Their resignations took effect Wednesday, leaving the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office to handle law enforcement calls in the small town.
Nothing says smooth local-government cooperation quite like covert surveillance before bringing a concern to the people responsible for overseeing the department. The city council later censured Timmons for failing to use the proper channels and methods. Council members said the mayor should have first brought his concerns to them, as required by the city charter.
Timmons confirmed his actions to WSB-TV reporter Mark Winne. The mayor said he bought the tracker with his own money and installed a camera at a car wash, aimed at City Hall, after receiving permission from the property owner.
Winne asked, “Did you place a tracking device on the police vehicle driven by the Milner police chief?”
“Yes sir, I did,” Timmons said.
Winne followed up, “Did you put a video camera out back of car wash pointed at the building where his office was?”
“Yes, City Hall, yes sir, and with approval from the property owner,” Timmons said.
The mayor said his signature appears on the police chief’s timesheets and that he believed there were problems with the reported hours. Explaining his view of the job, Timmons stated, “The mayor’s position is not just shaking hands and kissing babies.”
Bunn told the council that the tracker was placed without his knowledge or the knowledge of the council or city administrator. He called the action a violation of his rights.
The officers’ resignation letters cited a lack of trust, concerns about the mayor’s judgment and decision-making, and ethical issues. Captain Craig Walton specifically called for an independent investigation into Timmons’ conduct. That is a serious request, especially from inside a department that has now lost its chief and full-time officers.
Lamar County Sheriff Brad White said his deputies would continue answering calls in Milner as they always have. If the police department remains absent long term, White said the city will have to contract with the sheriff’s office for police services.
Timmons said he is already receiving unsolicited resumes for police positions and for city manager. Milner now has a censured mayor, a departed police department, sheriff’s deputies covering calls, and a very public argument over how local government is supposed to function. A timesheet dispute turned into a trust collapse, and the GPS tracker sits at the center of it all.
