Entire police department resigns after town's 'failure' to meet law enforcement needs: former chief

An entire city's leadership has crumbled after the failure of political leaders to meet the police department's needs, its former chief said.

The entire Geary Police Department in Oklahoma — including Chief Alicia Ford — resigned on Oct. 31. City Council members Rocky Coleman and Kristy Miller resigned shortly afterward, as FOX 25 Oklahoma City first reported. Mayor Waylan Upchego then resigned, the Watonga Republican reported.

"The reason that prompted the entire resignation was: it was just a continued failure from the mayor to make change that would affect the department and make it more effective for the community," Ford told Fox News Digital. "It was just an ongoing issue. He consistently refused to keep his word to us, and that was something that we held him to. When you're a mayor, you're [supposed] to lead the city and what's best for the city and the departments within."

Ford said she had gone to Upchego and the city council requesting their help to address the overworked and understaffed police department, plus budget cuts that had recently impacted pay and bonuses for officers, on top of some other administrative issues. Nobody stepped up, according to the former police chief.

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"They cut the jail. They cut our dispatch, and that put strain on us. But we found we went to another agency, and they have done excellent and accommodating us with that dispatch.," Ford explained. "[The mayor] consistently refused to keep his word when it came to basic needs of equipment and the safety issues within our department. We talked about the budget cuts that caused hardships for these officers and myself that were unnecessary."

Hope added that she knows that police departments across the country have dealt with staffing shortages and budget cuts, but her six-person department had recently dwindled to four, with herself doing administrative chief work, one officer stationed at the local high school, and two officers working extremely long shifts doing regular daily police work.

"So that would lead two officers to do basically 24 hours . . . five to seven days a week. That's not realistic," she said. "But honestly, who wants to do that for extremely low pay? I mean, they did it. And honestly, I don't ever really remember these two officers complaining about it."

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Ford gave the mayor and city council a month's notice to address the police department's concerns, saying that if needs were not met, they would resign. They even offered city leaders a timeline.

"And then we followed through with our timeline," Ford said.

Ford took on the job of police chief in October 2023 after the department had been rocked by another unrelated scandal. 

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"At first, it was kind of challenging. It was my first year of being a chief of police. I've taken several roles in law enforcement, but never that type of administrative, high . . . role," she explained. "It was great. . . . Geary, Oklahoma, was an amazing community. They were very accepting of me."

Ford has since accepted a position as an investigator with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office, which helped meet the Geary Police Department's dispatch needs after budget cuts. Right now, she's focused on her family.

Coleman shared a letter with FOX 25 explaining his decision to resign from the city council following the police department resignations, saying he had left the council because his "core values do not align with the city's current direction."

"I have tried to be a voice of reason. Unfortunately, I was just one voice. The City Council and administration should not allow personal goals or agendas to affect the city. Decisions should be made only to benefit the city," he wrote, adding that council members lacked communication and were frequently left in the dark about agenda items.

"Transparency is also crucial for communication. I would love to see more communication online, not just in person. For example, the financial reports should be posted for the community to read. I have never shied away from explaining the state of the finances to any citizen who has asked. When people are informed, they are more likely to understand that we have a failing infrastructure and why rate increases must happen. I have repeatedly asked that we be more proactive instead of reactive. We should be prepared for the worst and not hoping for the best."

Upchego could not immediately be reached for comment. An interim chief has since taken over the Geary PD, and residents are still able to make 911 calls.