How we got here
On April 14, City Manager Heather Neeley presented the proposal to terminate Libby, who has been chief of the Oak Ridge North Police Department since 2018. Neeley said the recommendation came following the loss of 19 police officers from the department since 2020 who each cited concerns about a toxic work environment and a lack of training.
“You can't have [officers taken] off the street [patrol] to go to trainings when you have to have those [officers] on the street; that's what the citizens want," Neeley said. " ... You can't send [officers] to additional trainings outside of what they have to have per law, if you don't have someone covering the streets."
Early this year, a performance review committee composed of Neeley and City Council members Frances Planchard and Heather Smoot reviewed the processes within the police department and concerns regarding the work culture and training issues.
Following an annual performance review, Neeley recommended Libby’s employment as police chief be reconsidered by council.
“I am willing to do whatever it is I need to do and take corrective steps,” Libby said during the meeting, arguing against his termination. “The fact [is] that I have taken corrective steps; we have begun doing policies for the police department. When I started here, I was informed that the policy procedure manual for the police department was your Penal Code. The policy procedure manual was a couple pages. Now we have probably up to 80 policies, and we're working on the accreditation.”
Another point of view
Residents and former city employees spoke at the meeting regarding Libby’s service to the community over the years, citing a history of community service within Oak Ridge North.
“I don't know what has prompted this, but you have to look at his entire career. He is a good person. He loves this city. He has spent his career in this city, and I would hope that when you go into and discuss whatever this is, that you remember the service that he has provided to the residents of this city,” former Oak Ridge North council member Leah Gray said.
However, council members Alex Jones and Rick Moffatt said they were concerned about the city’s policies, which they said may not clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the chief in relation to the city manager position.
“I feel like this point here that there's internal issues, and it sounds like maybe there's policies or codes or something that may be missing or may need to be added to kind of help rectify the situation, to make it clear between the general manager and the police chief's positions as far as what they are responsible for doing and who says what, and so forth," Jones said. "I think that those need to be investigated."
The action taken
Following a tie vote among council members on whether to terminate Libby, Mayor Paul Bond made the deciding vote to allow Libby to stay on as police chief under a probationary review period.
“Something is going on at that PD that's not right," Bond said. "It is either [Libby] or the people that are directly working under you, and I want it stopped. I want this city to be welcoming, and I want it to be a great place to work for kids coming up. We'll give you the opportunity to go through the training and come up with the correct processes to train these guys and keep them engaged, but I want these new officers trained, and I want them on the street, and I don't want to hear any more about people leaving for a few dollars more in a municipality that's overrun with calls.”
