West Virginia mayor FIRES entire police force after claims town leaders interfered with investigations

The Barrackville, West Virginia, Police Department announced in a Tuesday Facebook post that the town of 1,200 people, led by Mayor Tom Straight, has fired every officer employed by the city.

“Effective immediately, the entire Barrackville Police Department has been relieved of duty by the Mayor and City Council,” the post read.

“We are sincerely grateful for the support, trust, and encouragement shown to us by the Barrackville community throughout our service. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve and protect this town," the post continued.

“We thank the citizens of Barrackville for allowing us the opportunity to serve, and we wish the community continued safety and the very best in the future.”

Fired Police Sgt. Hunt explained to 12WBOY that upon arriving at police headquarters, he discovered the evidence room had been broken into.

Hunt then met with the town’s mayor and the town council, where he noted that the town council had expressed a desire to inventory the department without any officers present. The Sgt. also relayed that a council member confessed to taking a set of police keys.

Hunt told 12WBOY that when he suggested it was members of Barrackville’s government who broke into the evidence room, he and the only other officer were placed on leave. Hunt relayed that the police clerk quit and that he told city leadership he would seek whistleblower status.

These firings come after Barrackville Police Chief Zachary Freeburn, appointed in 2025, resigned due to what he considered overreach by the city council, according to 12WBOY.

Freeburn wrote a letter to the town and its leadership to be read at the town council meeting Tuesday night, but that meeting never happened. Freeburn shared the nearly two-page letter with 12WBOY, in which he outlined his concerns regarding the relationship between town leadership and the police department.

“I had a meeting behind closed doors that immediately raised numerous red flags as to the direction the Town wished to take the Police Department,” he wrote.

“During this discussion, I was informed a council member would be directly supervising the Barrackville Police Department, which is against West Virginia State Code," he said.

"The Mayor is in charge of all daily operations of the Town and Police Department, and the only person he can appoint to supervise a Police Department is the Chief of Police… This again is a violation of West Virginia State Code as the Chief of Police is the person in charge of all of these items.”

Freeburn said that the letter had been written before the firing of the police force. Marion County Sheriff Roger Cunningham said that his deputies would respond to calls in the tiny town until a new police force is established.