5?>
DO
CH.
DO
»0
D5
D5.
D5 i:
I
!»] *)ftou*UicUtt
f/
‘TKinrun
SS/j
IJfi
VOL. 3 NO. 35
KINGS MOUNTAIN. NORTH CAROLINA 28086 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28,1974
Chief McDevitt
Resignation Is
Talked Monday
w
j
Bf JAY ASHLEY
Mirror StaffWrIter
About 10 minutes after
adjourning the scheduled
t meeting of the city board, the
members re-convened
Monday night and made CapL
J.D. Barrett acting police
chief in the wake of Tom
McDevitt’s resignation.
The action was made
following a message sent to
the Forest City Police
Department asking the
question, “Who is your chief of
police?” Forest City
responded, “Tom McDevitt,
formerly with the Kings
Mountain Department”
The chain of events began in
the Monday night meeting of
the board of commissioners
4 when a letter of resignation
from Tom McDevitt was
presented to the audience.
Ward Five Commissioner
James Amos told the
audience, “Before this
meeting the board went into
executive session to open a
letter submitted to this board
by Tom McDevitt”. Amos
read the text of the letter
which is as follows;
“Since it is absolutely im
possible for me as Chief of
Police to supervise the
members of the Kings
Mountain Police Department
without your full support, it is
with utmost humility I submit
my resignation as of this date
* (Feb. 25). It would be a great
help to me and family
you see fit to allow the dty
clerk to pay me for two weeks’
vacation pay that I have
coming.”
After reading the letter of
resignation, Amos said,
“Ladies and gentlemen, as
you know my position from the
start of this situation, you
know 1 have supported Tom
McDevitt and regret his
resignation.”
Ward Two Commissioner,
Lloyd Davis concurred with
Amos’ remarks and said, “All
I can say is we’ll be losing a
good man.”
Mrs. Orangel Jdley, who
petitioned the commissioners
once before to retain McDevitt
as chief, addressed the board
members with a letter signed
by several citizens. The letter
stated the board members had
caused McDevitt’s resignation
and urged support for the
chief (Full text of letter will
appear on editorial page).
Mayor John Moss read Mrs.
Jolley’s letter to the board and
audience. Lloyd Davis noted
again, “we have lost a good
man and Fd like to rehire
him.”
Mrs. W. A. Russell, a signer
of the letter, asked Davis if he
would rehire McDevitt with
foil powers of authority over
the department. Davis said
“yes, I would. Any police chief
should have the authority and
responsibility to run his
department”
Mrs. Jolley noted, “I have
been a life-long resident of
Kings Mountain and the past
six years have been the best
for our police department
It's the first time we have ever
had trained policemen and I
think if M^evitt resigns,
we’ll be taking a step back
ward ten years. He has been a
model chief and our com
munity and city is going to
have a situation it doesn’t
want or need. He is a
dedicated man and I know he
will not try to do the job the
dty Unless he has tte iulJ '
support of the commissioners.
I think the the newly-elected
commissioners have let the
chief down and proved they
are against him.”
After further discussion.
Ward Six Commissioner M.C.
Pruette asked the question
that would later result in a re
convened session of the board
when he asked, “Does the
chief have another job?” The
board members talked among
(see CHIEF p.8A)
J.D. Barrett, Assistant Chief
Roper Is Named
KM Police Chief
Bv JAY ASHLEY V
By JAY ASHLEY
Mirror Staff Writer
CHIEF AND ASSISTANT CHIEF
..William Roper, J.D. Barrett
William Roper, Jr. was aj^ointed KMPD Chief
of Police, Capt. J.D. Barrett was appointed
Assistant Chief and according to a tape of the city
council meeting Tuesday night, Tom McDevitt’s
resignation is still uncertain.
The technicality behind the former Chief’s
resignation came after a discussion of a five point
4i%
list of “wants” submitted by members of the
police department.
As outlined by dispatcher Black Leonard, the
list asked the board to act on the following: (l) To
accept the resignation of Tom McDevitt. (2) To
appoint William Roper chief and J.D. Barrett as
assistant chief. (3) To increase starting
patrolman’s pay from $110 per week to $125 per
week with increments of $5 each three months for
one year. (4) To institute a 15 percent pay raise
across the board immediately with a $1 per week
addition fa- each year of service with the
departmtnt (e.g. a man with the force three years
would receive an additional $3 per week as
longevity pay). Longevity pay is now 25 cents for
ea^ year of service. (5) To institute full pay to
officers who cannot work for reasons of sickness
or hospitalization.
■ /
Photo by Jay Ashley
SQUARING OFF - Sgt. T.F. King (left in checked coat) got
into a heated verbal exchange last Monday night with Mrs.
Orangrel Jolley (right at edge of photo) over the attributes of
former Police Chief Tom McDevitt. King noted,
Slavs, I know I'll be fired for what I’ve said.”
‘if the man
Mrs. Dedmon Seeks
Court Clerk Office
Clerk of Superior Court
Ruth Dedmon has filed to seek
another term.
Her filing statement,
released in Shelby Friday,
states;
“When I announced my
candidacy for the office of
Clerk of Superior Court four
years ago, I made the
following statement; “It is my
purpose and intent to render
courteous, competent and
'efficient service to all people,
and you as a citizen of our
county deserve such service
at the hand of any public of
ficial. I make no promises
other than to serve our people
fairly and impartially, without
fear or favor, in accordance
with the law.” This I have
done, to the best of my ability.
I have put forth an honest
effort to merit the continued
support of our citizens.
“The following is an excerpt
from a letter I received from
Hon. Bert M. Montague,
Director of the Administrative
Office of the Courts, Raleigh,
dated July 6, 1972; “It gives
^e a great deal of pleasure to
recognize the tremendous
improvements in the
operation of the Clerk’s office
under your administration.
We shall look forward to a
continued operation in your
county in accordance with the
high standards that you have
already set.”
“When I was elected to this
office it was my aim to make
this one of the outstanding
Clerk’s offices in the state,
and with the help of my One
staff, we have reason to
believe we have been able to
attain this goal. We sincerdy
hope the people of this county
will allow us to continue our
•
If McDeifitt
Be FirecLA
Stays, ril Probably
T.F. King
In addressing himself to the
board, Leonard said the entire
police department, with the
exception of Ptl. Ernest Beam
who could not attend, met
Tuesday morning to discuss
the recent situation in the
department.
Leonard stated all the
members present, except two
who were excused for bona
fide reasons, signed the five-
point list
The , dispatcher, in
discussiDg item one said,
"Mr. McDevitt talked with me
last Thursday. I received a
letter from him in the mail
and as a result of that letter I
came and talked with him.
Tlien on Friday he stated to
me, and asked me not to
repeat it, but I feel that 1 am
_free to now because he stated
to me he had accepted a job
with the Forest City Police
Department as their chief and
that he would be sworn in on
Monday.”
Leonard said in view of this
information, McDevitt should
be granted his resignation and
the department wished him
good luck in his new employ.
On item two. Leonard stated
the department wanted the
city board to “appoint Capt.
William Roper as Chief and
Capt. J.D. Barrett as
Assistant Chief. ” According to
Leonard, “we as a group feel
Ciipt. Roper is well qualified
to leadusand unite us and that
all the members can co
operate v;»»h him. We feel 'hat
he, filong with oihei membei s
of the department, are
qualified to be the police chief
here.” He then outlined the
other three ^ints of the list.
Members of the board
questioned the policemen
present about the list, con
centrating mostly on the
proposed pay scale.
Ward Five Commissioner
James Amos finally said,
“Mr. McAbee and I have
voted differently a number of
times in the few meetings we
(See ROPER p.8A)
Rhyne Takes
On Broyhill
RUTH DEDMON
efforts,” she said.
In February 1970, Mrs.
Dedmon was appointed by
Governor Robert Scott as one
of two Clerks in the state to
serve on the Courts Planning
Committee of the State of
North Carolina Criminal
Justice Manpower Program.
In January of this year,
Mrs. Dedmon received the
U.S. Department of State
MeritoriousService Award for
outstanding community
service for voluntary par
ticipation in the Passport
Application Acceptance
Program.
Mrs. Dedmon is the fornier
Ruth Spangler, daughter, of
A.S. and Mittie Warlick
Spangler of Cleveland County,
^e is married to Roy D.
Dedmon. Tlie family resides
on RL 1, McBrayer Rd.,
Shelby. They have one son,
Rodney, 13, student at North
Cleveland Junior High School.
After the “first” meeting of
the city council Monday night
adjourned, several citizens
and police officers remained
to “discuss the situation.” The
discussion turned into a rapid-
fire verbal exchange that
resulted in a policeman
noting, “I’ll probably be fired
for saying these things if
McDevitt stays, but I’ve kept
my mouth shut too long”.
The remark came from
KMPD Sgt. Tommy F. King,
shift commander of squad
“B”. His words were promp
ted by a statement from Mrs.
Orangel Jolley who said there
wasn’t anyone, in Kings
Mountain qualified to serve as
police chief.
As the arguemnt began.
Rocky Ford, a citizen of Kings
Mountain, said, “when a
person says no one in Kings
Mountain is qualified to be
chief, that's putting the people
of the city pretty low. If a man
has been here for 18 years as a
policeman and someone says
no one is qualified, that’s
putting everyone down.”
Tommy King; “If a man in
Kings Mountain is not
qualified to do the job, the best
thing to do is to fire the entire
police department and hire a
new department. There were
police officers in Kings
Mountain when I was born and
they'll be police offers in
Kings Mountain when I am
dead and gone. How can
anyone say no one is
qualified?
Ford; “The only reason we
have not had an even better
police department is pay. TTie
board here hasn’t given
proper raises.
King; “You can’t run a
department and lie to your
men and the man (McDevitt)
has lied to me personally. I
know for what I’ve said, that
if the man stays he’ll fire me.
The thing in this department is
if you’re in the clique, you’re
in and if you’re not, you’re out.
“Alright, you talk about
police officers being qualified
or not, we have two men in the
department, in the history of
Kings Mountain, who have
two-year college degrees in
police science. Officer Dodge
and myself. I do not owe my
degree to Chief McDevitt. I
owe that to my own hard work
and time spent going to
Gaston College. I was not
allowed to drive a city vehicle
to school either, I had to drive
my personal car."
Dorothy Howell (secretary
and policewoman with the
KMPD); “You were reim
bursed for your expense,
travel time...”
King; “Partially reim
bursed, yes, from the United
States government.”
The discussion then drifted
towards the chief’s
relationship with the men in
the department.
King; “When you write a
citation and the young man
goes to the chief and he looks
at the citation and says, ‘well,
that officer doesn't have any
sense, he’s stupid, we’ll make
a fool out of him in court,’ —
that’s happened to me. Now
don’t start talking without
knowing what you’re talking
about.”
A lady in the group; “Well,
my son got a ticket and Chief
McDevitt didn’t try to help
him”
King; “Did he ask him?”
Lady; “I did”
King; “Did you get any help
on it?"
(See "I’LL p.9A)
As Resignation Reason
Ex-Chief Cites
Lack Of Support
“The statement in my letter
of resignation tells exactly my
reason for leaving the
department”, said former
police Chief Tom McDevitt in
a phone interview Tuesday
fi om Forest City.
TOM MCDEVITT
..Now In Forest Ctty
In his letter, McDevitt told
the commissioners it was
“absolutely impossible for me
as Chief of Police to supervise
the members of the Kings
Mountain Police Department
without your foil support.”
McDevitt said he had
contemplated resigning “for
about three weeks” and
decided to make it final over
the weekend.
The former chief joined the
KMPD on Feb. 28, 1968,
coming from Asheville. His
resignation came three days
away from his sixth an
niversary as chief here.
While McDevitt’s
resignation was being
discussed by the city council
Monday night. McDevitt was
being sworn in as Chid of the
Forest (3ty Police Depart
ment. McDevitt succeeds Joe
Brown, who has recently
served on a limited basis due
to illness. The Forest City
department is composed of 16
men witha "very active police
reserve force.”
(See EX-CHIEF pJA)
Jack Rhyne, 38-year-oid
state senator from Belmont,
will oppose James Broyhill for
the Congressional seat from
the 10th District in the
November General Election.
Neither Rhyne nor Broyhill
have opposition in the May
Primary Elections.
Rhyne, who was the
youngest mayor in the United
States when elected to that
post in Belmont in 1963. served
two terms in the North
Carolina House before run
ning successfully for the State
Senate.
In Broyhill, Rhyne will be
trying to unseat a six-term
congressman and one of the
state’s most attractive
Republicans. Broyhill, who
some people consider un
beatable, has scored onesided
victories over Democratic
challengers in recent elec
tions.
However, some of the more
powerful Republicans in the
state have apparently become
upset at Broyhill within the
last few days. Some G(**
party members say it is
because BroyhiH’s brother-in-
law. William E. Stevens, a
state reoresentative and of
ficial with Broyhill Industries
in Lenior, has filed for the U.S.
Senate. Hamilton C. Horton of
Winston-Salem had previously
stated he would seek the
Senate seat, but withdrew
when Stevens filed.
Rhyne is married to the
former Sue Wallace of
Charlotte, they have three
children,Robin, afreshmanat
UNC-Charlotte, Johnny, a
sophomore at South Point
Hi^ School, and Susie, a
student at Belmont Centra'
JACK RHYNE
School. The Rhynes reside on
South Point Road, BelmcnL
Monday when he filed to run
for congressman, Rhyne
issued the following
statement;
“Last week I announced
that I did not see my way clear
to run. Since then, my phone
has rung almost constantly,
causing me to reconsider.
These calls came from
Democrats, and Republicans
with many promises of small
contributions.
“Realizing that the task will
require somewhat of a
miracle, I approach this en-
dcavorwith all determination,
humility and compassion that
f possess. The decision to
gamble with such high odds on
everything I worked so hard
for all my life has not come
easily. It is a decision reached
only after much time and
prayer in somber
meditation.”