A small town in Alabama has voted to dissolve its police department after racist texts sent by an officer were revealed to the public.
As reported by NBC News, lawmakers of The Vincent City Council voted on Thursday to fire the town's police chief and dissolve the entire police department after the community became aware of a racist joke that was texted among officers.
The small town is located around 35 miles east of Birmingham and has a population of roughly 2,000 people.
The council voted unanimously to scrap the town's police department, with Mayor James Latimer saying at the meeting: "I have thought long and hard about this. It's not a decision that I have come to very easily.
"As all of you know, I've always wanted us to have the best police department possible. I think in light of recent events, it's no longer possible, at least in this moment, for us to continue services of the police department."
"We passed a resolution with intent to pass an ordinance to disband the police department," Latimore said, per al.com.
ABC News reports that the racist message was shared among police officers and included a "joke" referring slavery.
The individual who wrote the messages has been identified only as "752".
At Thursday's meeting, City Councilman Corey Abrams said: "This has torn this community apart. It doesn’t matter what color we are as long as we do right by people."
Abrams added that "appropriate action has been taken" against "752".
Additionally, Latimer confirmed that Police Chief James Srygley and Assistant Chief John L. Goss had been dismissed.
Shelby County Sheriff John Samaniego has voiced his support for the council's decision.
A statement from the sheriff's department released on Friday read: "The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office was recently notified by the Vincent City Council and Mayor regarding the recent allegations of misconduct within the Vincent Police Department and we equally condemn these actions.
"Sheriff John Samaniego stands with the City of Vincent in providing emergency law enforcement-related services for the citizens during this time."
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