LANCASTER, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Two men with more than 40 years of combined service to their city say they are done.
Interim Police Chief, Phillip Hall announcing to the Lancaster City Council on Tuesday night he will be retiring this Spring. His last day is April 1st.
It was a heated council meeting as long time City Councilman Gonzie Mackey walked out in the middle of the council meeting.
This all happening just two weeks after council made the decision to hire a outside firm to help with the police chief search which will cost taxpayers $24,500 dollars.
The city has been without a chief since May of 2021 when council fired former chief Scott Grant.
Phillip Hall was put in the role as interim chief and says he’s even interviewed for the chief position and was hoping he would be selected.
Hall spoke with CN2 news on this Wednesday about his decision to retire. He says with more than 20 years in law enforcement, the decision did not come easy. Hall says he could have retired in May but wanted to continue to serve his community.
He adds in his time as interim chief he is proud of his accomplishments, including adding more training for employees and starting the department in the process of becoming accredited.
Hall also adding morale is very low at the department and they are short 13 positions, 9 of those patrol officers. He says he does believes the community is safe and the department will continue to serve the best they can.
We did reach out to councilman Gonzie Mackey to learn more on why he walked out of the council meeting, but he did not get back in touch with us by our deadline.
Lancaster City Administrator commenting on the recent events say he has already met with the command staff with Lancaster Police Department and everyone knows what their roles are moving forward and the city is safe.
Lancaster Mayor Alston DeVenney adding the search for a police chief will continue with the firm as planned and he hopes residents can focus on the good things happening within the city.
