- Beachbook
- Coastal Review Online
- Dare County
- Duck
- Island Free Press
- Kill Devil Hills
- Kitty Hawk
- Manteo
- Nags Head
- Nighthawk News
- Southern Shores
- Bill's OBX Beach Life
- N.E.S.T Online
- Natural Outer Banks
- Red Headed Beach Girl
- Rosie Hawthorne
- See more local blogs »
Fear Part II: Watch your back
Fear of reprisal in government is very real. Recent actions by Kill Devil Hills officials against the two remaining active police officers who had filed suit against the town provide a case in point.
On Jan.19, Superior Court Judge Milton F. Fitch Jr. issued an order allowing — not ordering, as some reported — town employees to file grievances or appeals with the senior resident Superior Court judge in this district.
His concerns were that town employees were being subjected to “violation of personal rights” and “violations of public policy” while the town’s “polices and procedures” were contributing to those violations.
The judge cited “numerous complaints” and new complaints following the filing of petitions by four officers for the removal of the town’s police chief, Gary Britt.
Britt had been suspended while an internal investigation was conducted by the town and the North Carolina League of Municipalities, which underwrites the town’s insurance. Britt was eventually cleared and went back to work.
The officers had claimed a variety of violations of their rights. One was fired and another was allowed to resign rather than be dismissed. All four had taken their complaints to chief resident Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett.
Fitch noted in his order that a subsequent revision to town policy that would prohibit employees from taking grievances outside the internal chain of command was contrary to the spirit of North Carolina’s constitutional right for citizens to petition for the removal of a sheriff or police chief.
He also cited whistleblower protections for state employees, and matters of public concern and abusive authority, which are covered by North Carolina’s Retaliatory Employment Discrimination Act.
Fitch said the town’s “measures substantially interfere with and impede redress. They may also be indicative of obstruction of the truth-seeking mechanism.”
Finally, he ordered that there be no recrimination to any employee for failing to follow the revised town policy. A memo indicated the policy was to be implemented in January 2012.
Before the Voice published a memo from the town manager that cited the new policy, officials had denied it existed. The town hedged its words, saying no policy would prohibit an employee exposing matters of “public concern,” a phrase used by Fitch and open to broad interpretation.
The four officers subsequently filed a civil suit that was later dismissed. Two remained on the force.
But on May 29, supervisors showed up at the homes of police officers Joe Knight and Andy Ennis. They were relieved of their weapons and badges and suspended until interviews were conducted, followed by disciplinary hearings.
Knight was terminated and Ennis, in a move riddled with cliché, was transferred to animal control. Subsequently, he resigned from the police force.
Prior to May 29, a number of other town employees spoke to the Voice off the record about conditions within the department. Since the termination of Knight, most of those sources will no longer speak to the Voice.
Fitch was criticized by two local media outlets for his involvement in the dustup between the police officers and the town.
At the end of the day, the judge appears to have been more prophet than provocateur.
There was recrimination against the officers, and as far as the media’s role in the “truth seeking” mechanism is concerned, that too has been effectively silenced.
Fear is alive and well in Dare County and will continue until the public demands more. The media and four brave employees can only do so much.
And as one attorney reminded me, the First Amendment instructs Congress to make no law that would prevent the right of the people to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Employees are citizens, and in this case, their employer was the government.
If the First Amendment is good enough for Congress, it should be good enough for the town of Kill Devil Hills. The right of employees to petition the courts for redress should be sacrosanct.
See what people are saying:
Join the discussion:
- MOST READ
- MOST DISCUSSED
NagsHeader says:
Hear, hear!
Perry says:
Right on the money.
builder says:
Well said. We have been afforded the right to submit to government . At all cost…….it’s sad…
Russ says:
When employees are afraid to talk, even off the record, a real problem exists. The current administration, no matter intent has, lost their way and should be replaced. That can be accomplished at the ballot box.
Ray Midgett says:
It appears the Voice has taken anold story and unneedlessly rehashed it in the form of commentary by smoothing out some of the rough edges that were presented in its earlier news reporting. To wit: this commentary uses a play on words on a very important matter, that being whether or not the “new grievance pollicy” was “in place” at a pertinent time. The fact that it was on a piece of paper, did not make the policy “in place” or even certain that it would ever be, especially if one knows all the facts. Also, it would be naive for the writer to dismiss the coziness of Judge Fitch and Judge Tilett in this matter. Fitch was not a prophet. IMO, he served as an enabler for Tillett’s questionable involvement. Again, JMO.
Just saying says:
I must disagree with you Russ. The ballot box WILL NOT fix the problem. Many many people have spoken to the Mayor as well as the new board members about the conditions in the town and more importantly the police department and NOTHING has been done.
It is well known that the new Mayor and Town Manager are very good friends and the Mayor is going to do nothing to disrupt that.
Ray Midgett says:
The best part of this commentary, by far, is the first sentence,”Fear of reprisal in government is very real”.
With that said, I would like to see the Voice take it and run..do a story on how county employees feel about that issue. No doubt, the Voice can get closer to the fire than a lot of individuals. Such a story can be done without naming names..readers aren’t stupid, and it might help the situation. Could I do it? Yes. But, then again, I’m no newspaper. JMO.
Frank Moore says:
There is still smoke so there is still a fire and it won’t be extinguished until our “leaders” including the Mayor,Town Manager, Asstistant Town Manager and the other sheep (Board of Commissioners)stop fearing Britt and his gang, although some of the above mentioned I feel are part of, if not all his gang, grow a backbone and stand up and do what is right for our lovely Town and those of us who pay their salary and gut the disease that has crippled this lovely spot. Just a thought. Russ please keep reporting this story, it is NOT old news, it is ongoing news !!
Russell Lay says:
FYI–the Russ making comments above, while having a cool first name, is a different Russ from me!
KDH Rezident Evil says:
Ah, the perils of living in a right-to-work state. In the end is there really any recourse? Isn’t the system is rigged against the employee from the get-go? If I was just getting into the workforce, I’d avoid government service like the plague. The deck is stacked and the dealer has aces up both sleeves.
Timothy says:
Good God man, let it die. They aired their grievances and lost. “The public” is ready to move on, not scandalized by this nonsense. “The public” demands that this stop, and the police be allowed to be the police again. This place is eaten up with criminals, drugs, domestic violence, thievery, degenerates, and perverts. And your focus is on old news generated by entitlement-minded whiny little cry babies? I never thought I would agree so whole-completely with Ray Midgett. If you want something police-related to report on that is worthy of the public’s ire, find something new: Like the rampant dysfunction in the sheriff’s department.
Frank Moore says:
Has Sgt Anderson come back to his part time job at KDH police department ??? Just a thought.
voice reader says:
Anderson is back, but he’s not sportin’ any stripes. Voluntary are not, I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him. For all you looking for new stories, why did you stumble into part two if you already knew the premise?
The point of the story is the sources Lay had before Knight’s termination are no longer willing to talk out of fear. If they canned Knight and “transferred” Ennis, what would be in store for other current employees? Same fate? Got to put food on the table.
RAP MAN says:
I’m sure these cops were legitimately terminated. It seems they were quick to run to an attorney when they tried to get the chief fired. Why haven’t they run for help to be reinstated to their former positions. Maybe their sponsor won’t cough up the legal fees? Remember that a police department is a paramilitary organization.The officers should not be allowed to make any comment concerning thier superiors.Personally,I know that that if I openly criticized my employer,especially in a newspaper,that I had better have already secured a new job.Maybe Russ doesn’t realize that these men were teminated legally and this whole BS story should be dropped. If this had happened in Charlotte,New York,Baltimore or any other city these coppers would have been brought to court in their locker room by their fellow cops. These characters involved policemen,other than Chief Britt. Perhaps lawsuits will start flying in the other direction.
Just saying says:
Rap Man said…”The officers should not be allowed to make any comment concerning thier superiors”
Seriously!?!? An officer finds out that a superior officer is falsifying his time card, putting down more hours than he really worked but because he is a superior officer, no one should say anything?
That sure is a slippery slope were are climbing when certain people believe that just because you are a superior officer, you can essentially break the law with no worries of anyone below your rank, spilling the beans.
RAP MAN says:
There is a chain of command to take care of such issues.This should have been handled by others in the city government or county.I still don’t understand why these officers would spend their money,if it was their money,on attornies and not ask for any monetary settlement.All they wanted is for the chief to be fired.It don’t make sense.There is a whole lot more behind this than what is brought forth in these columns.
NH Citizen says:
@ RAP MAN
1. It is my uderstanding that the officer went to his immediate supervisor who refused to nothing.
2. How are “others” in city government supposed to “handle” the situation if no one tells them about the possible violation of the law? It has to come from somewhere and in this case, Officer Knight was attempting to do so.
3. Why would the county get involved in a Town’s issue?
4. If you admit that there is a “whole lot more” behind this issue, then why are you so sure that these cops were legitimately terminated?
RAP MAN says:
Britt was cleared by the judge and the insurer. Who else should get involved to satisfy those who are still after him? No one has stated why Knight was fired and Ennis transferred to dog catcher.Of course Ennis later resigned for some reason not given in any of these articles.I think it is time to drop this witch hunt. So,goodby.
Russ A says:
Sorry Russ, I have made the distinction between us a little more apparent. I am Russ A.