PAGELAND, S.C. -- At an emergency town council meeting in Pageland Wednesday night, the Chesterfield County Sheriff, Jay Brooks, was named interim police chief.
The decision was made in an executive session Wednesday night after more than half of the Pageland police force walked off the job Tuesday. The officers tendered their resignations after a town council meeting Tuesday night in which the embattled police chief, Larry Brown, was reinstated.
Brown has been under investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for months. SLED has not made public the details or allegations of that ongoing investigation.
Only five of the Pageland Police Department's 11-officer staff reported to work Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday day shift, there was not a single Pageland officer working, Sheriff Jay Brooks said.
While Brown's reinstatement is effective this upcoming Monday, he will report to Sheriff Brooks.Many of the officers met with the town council in a closed-door session Tuesday and expressed reservations about working for Brown, according to Brooks. The council voted to reinstate Brown after those discussions.
"After that meeting, a large percentage of the police that work here walked off the job," Brooks says. "Some left right then, some gave two week notices, some dispatchers walked off."
In the interim, his off-duty deputies will be patrolling the town.
"We'll continue to do that 'round the clock; if it takes a week, if it takes a month, if it takes a year until Pageland gets straightened out," Brooks says.
He did express concern about a long-term plan.
"We're already stretched-- as you know this is a huge county," Brooks says, adding that if the officers do not return to work, it could take months or even a year to replace the positions.
NBC Charlotte knocked on Brown's door for a statement about the resignations. A gentlemen at the home said Brown was not there.
"They need to get this figured out because they have little small children that depend on all these adults so everything needs to get set in stone," said Christina Whitley, a concerned Pageland parent.Brown and Brooks plan to meet early Monday morning to iron out scheduling for the temporary move. No word yet on a return for the remaining Pageland police officers.