Sheriff’s Office Takes Over Patrols In Town Of Kenly

Town of Kenly without full-time police force as of 2:00pm Tuesday

KENLY – Kenly Police Chief Josh Gibson and his four full-time officers ended their duties at 2:00pm this afternoon (Tuesday). The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office has now taken over patrols in the Town of Kenly.

On July 20, Chief Gibson and his officers simultaneously submitted their resignations to Town Manager Justine Jones claiming in part a hostile work environment where employees were allegedly micromanaged.

Town Clerk / Assistant Town Manager Sharon Evans and Utilities Clerk Christy Jones also tendered their letters of resignation.

The Kenly Town Council held an emergency closed session meeting on July 22 to discuss the alleged issues between town employees and the town manager. Jones was hired as the new manager on June 2, 2022.

On July 27, town attorney Chip Hewett announced an outside firm had been hired to conduct a thorough independent investigation into the allegations. The investigation could take several weeks to complete.

At 2:00pm today (Tuesday), the Kenly Police Department no longer has any full-time patrol officers. The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office immediately took over law enforcement response in the small town.

“The citizens of Kenly won’t go without protection,” Chief Deputy Bengie Gaddis said Tuesday afternoon. “The sheriff’s office is here to make sure they have the law enforcement protection that they need.”

The sheriff’s office assigned eight deputies to patrol the Town of Kenly in four shifts. Two deputies will be on patrol at all times. They will work 12 hours shifts and respond to all 911 calls in the Kenly town limits.

This afternoon, First Sgt. John Collins with the State Highway Patrol in Johnston County said troopers will respond to investigate all traffic collisions in the Town of Kenly.

The town council has requested the outside firm to complete their independent investigation as soon as possible.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. I’m thinking the chief and officers were certain the town would fire the manager and they would keep their jobs…oops

  2. The town will never admit they were wrong with their woke hire. They’d rather sacrifice the safety of their citizens than admit fault and have WRAL do a story on how racist they are for firing someone who is obviously promoting a poisonous work environment. They tried to put a square peg in a round hole and it doesn’t work. The citizens of Kenly should vote out each and every one of their council members. This kind of stuff will only stop when politicians are made to suffer real material loses for their woke virtue signaling.

    • @OleSmokenhouse: I’m not sure that’s the right take… the Kenly PD has a history of corruption and a string of “internal investigations.” I think it is closer to the truth that the new manager didn’t want to “play ball” and instead instituted reforms to improve transparency and accountability. Those that couldn’t/wouldn’t change have left. I think it is telling too, to see exactly how many of the those that left actually live in Kenly town limits — I think you’ll be surprised. They have no love for the town at all.

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