Fired police chief plans to appeal

By Carrie A. Mizell

At 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Trenton City Manager Taylor Brown terminated Police Chief Billy Smith’s employment with the City of Trenton after an investigation deemed the law enforcement officer was unprofessional.
On Tuesday morning, Smith’s attorney Ray Earl Thomas Jr. said over the telephone that his client plans to appeal the city manager’s decision to terminate his position.
After firing the police chief, Brown announced that he would assume the police department’s administrative functions, on a temporary basis, until an interim police chief can be named.
Brown indicated that he had notified the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office, and the State Attorney’s Office that a change in administration had been made within the city’s police department.
“The Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office will provide supplemental law enforcement coverage within the City of Trenton, while a search for a new police chief is conducted,” Brown stated in a press release on Monday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been called in to assist in conducting an inventory of all evidence being held by the Trenton Police Department since the investigation revealed that Chief Smith had mishandled evidence.
Brown explained that the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office will be assisting the city in developing new policies and procedures for the proper handling and storage of evidence, since Chief Smith reportedly did not submit important evidence, including firearms, to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s lab for testing.
In the investigation report, Trenton Mayor Glen Thigpen and City Manager Taylor Brown called the police chief’s handling of evidence “disgraceful.”
Once the evidence inventory is completed, Brown indicated that Trenton Police Officer Johnny Thomas would assume the role of primary evidence custodian, with the assistance of Connie Wombles, of the police department’s administrative staff.
The Trenton City Commission will hold a special hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 23 beginning at 5:30 p.m. At that hearing, Smith will have the opportunity to appeal his termination directly to the Trenton City Commissioners.