Entire police force of Tennessee town quits after being 'micromanaged' by female mayor: report

A Tennessee town has lost its entire police force after every officer quit in protest of the new female mayor's alleged excessive "micromanaging." The now-former police chief told WTVF that he had no choice but to leave the department after Alexandria Mayor Beth Tripp attempted to control the officers' every move, despite having "no experience" in policing.

"To just up and leave like I did, it bothers me," said ex-police chief Travis Bryant, who resigned on Aug. 16. along with another officer. "But it is just what I felt was in the best interest for myself, and I had to do that."

Alexandria, a small town with a limited budget, can only afford three police officers. After Bryant and another officer decided to walk out, the remaining officer quit this past weekend, leaving the department with no one to respond to calls. Mayor Tripp had assumed her position earlier this month after she ran unopposed. She received just 88 votes out of the town's roughly 900 residents, per Census Bureau data.

"This is my third mayor," said Bryant, as per the outlet. "The previous two I had no problems with. I could sit down and talk to them. When the new mayor came in, she tried to reassign our duties to the sheriff's department and then it was becoming a micromanaging issue where she wanted to try to control the police department and she has no experience."

Tripp dealt with significant problems even before her town lost its police force. For example, water quality issues have resulted in high water bills for residents. And the taxpayers are not too thrilled about the cloudy, brown water, according to WTVF.

The Dekalb County Sheriff's Department is now in charge of answering calls from the town. The agency is located 25 minutes from Alexandria.
 

Mayor Tripp has denied the "micromanaging" allegations, claiming that she simply asked officers to take control of a road that has been having issues with speeding.

"You're going to get that in politics - that's nothing new. But I didn't figure it would be this bad. To keep on attacking me for no reason, when I'm only trying to do my job?" Tripp told the outlet.

Mayor Tripp said she is in the process of interviewing candidates to be the next police chief.