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South Carolina Town’s Entire Police Force Resigns

(Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

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What was left of the entire North, S.C., police department resigned Tuesday as officers expressed concerns over how the newly elected mayor was trying to silence them.

It is not uncommon for public and private sector employees to strike against their superiors. Strikes involve a temporary work stoppage and protests in order to show discontent with workplace policies. It is much more rare, however, to have an entire workplace resign but that is exactly what the North Police Department did when newly elected Mayor Patty Carson put a gag order on them.

“For her to be directing procedures that were contrary to national standards, that was going to cause a problem,” former Police Chief Mark Fallaw said, according to NewsChannel 5. “So I just said it was best for me probably to step down.”

Carson reportedly banned the department from speaking to the media, demanded to review their emails and said her office would handle all press requests. She also, according to Fallaw, demanded the department give a two-week notice for all public appearances. He addressed the concerns in his resignation letter Nov. 17 but remained silent on the issue up until his last Tuesday.

North has a population of roughly 750 people. The town originally had three police officers, but over the last few months they have all quit, reports WSOC-TV. For the time being, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office is filling in for North’s jurisdiction. The move is unlikely to be a permanent. Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young warns it’s putting a lot of stress on the county.

“When you have to start policing areas that were not a part of your original jurisdiction, it causes us to have to start using man power and other things in addition that causes overtime issues for the county,” Young told KSLA TV. “So there is a cost to the county for dealing with a situation like that.”

Carson did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.

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