Oklahoma Police Department tendered their resignation en bloc on 31 October 2024, when Chief Alicia Ford and all three serving officers parted ways with the agency. The small town of nearly 1,000 residents was left in shock as community members pondered just how the absence of law enforcement would impact public safety. Making these times even more tumultuous, two members of the city council-Glen “Rocky” Coleman Jr. and Kristy Miller-also said they were resigning from their respective positions, citing continued frustrations over communications and decision-making at the level of the city administration.
News of the mass resignations broke via a social media post by Chief Ford, who said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the decision but felt it was necessary.
Ford had been chief for just one year, and throughout her tenure, encouraged residents to actively participate in council city meetings. She showed the residents that the participation of the community makes a difference in being able to promote positive change into implementation. During resignation, she encouraged the town to “stand together as one” and use their combined voices to be heard in shaping up their city. Though the speech was of farewell words, she didn’t state her specific reasons to resign. The city’s leadership acted quickly, appointing a 27-year veteran law enforcement officer, JJ Stitt – who happens to be the relative of Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt – as acting chief. Stitt did his best to impress upon everyone that he was going to work toward bracing the city’s police operations.
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s offices of Blaine County and Canadian County have announced that they would take up Geary’s law enforcement duties until further orders to ensure that emergency services aren’t left unanswered. The Public Information Officer Terryl Allen reassured on social media that emergency 911 calls would get answered with the response as always, even under impaired conditions.
That sudden exodus has left many Geary residents shaken and wondering about the future implications for their town’s public safety. “Why now, and why all at once?” asked a local resident who showed up to ask about the recent city council meeting. Because no explanation has been given in detail, some are confused and others frustrated. Such a decision made by both the police department and members of the council raises quite a number of eyebrows as to what deeper issues might have driven such a radical decision. For Councilmen Coleman and Miller, their exits derived from growing difficulties in communication and what they described as a lack of alignment between the city council and the administration.
In a letter of resignation written by Coleman, he cited that the communication with the city officials was often falling short, thus leaving the members uninformed about critical issues until they reached the council floor.
He urged the citizens to be more participatory in the meetings and know what transpires within the council for transparency in governance. The resignations in Geary come amidst a wider trend of small-community law enforcement departures across Oklahoma. Just days before, the four out of five deputies serving Grant County-some 115 miles north of Geary-likewise resigned, citing no specific reason for their actions.
This has questioned the stresses put on law enforcement officers in small towns where resources are thin and tasks can be monumental. For its part, Geary was a bustling trade hub at the start of the 20th century and has dramatically shifted in character over the years. With a diminished population, the stresses on this police department are unmistakably great. The latest resignations pointed, on one hand, to administrative challenges of the city and how these may fall on public servants.
The city officials are trying to gain control in its public safety structure with the installation of JJ Stitt as interim chief and supplemented temporarily from sheriff’s offices in counties that surround them. But still, concerns abound about just how the city will get through this transitional period. Mayor Waylan Upchego and other city leaders have not publicly spoken regarding the future of the local police department, thus keeping residents at a wait-and-see position as regards the next steps.
