Headland City Council Meeting is Standing Room Only Tonight

Sandra Stokes Walden

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Posted by: Sandra Walden
Date: Feb 06 2012 6:58 PM

Matt, Linda, Penny Jones and Sandra are covering the meeting tonight.  Ray Marler, Mayor, John Mellown, Benton Beasley, Kendrick Spruling, John Glover and Jody Singleton are present for the city council. We have just had the Pledge of Alligiance and opening prayer.  The council is approving the meetings from the prior meeting.  They are approved.  

Maury Yance is next on the agenda with the Judson Baptist Association, he is the Men's Ministry Representative for this year.  Judson Baptist Association desires to have a 5K run and ride in order to raise money for missions.  They are planning a 40 mile ride and a 25 ride.  The rides will be toward Haleburg.  They are asking for assistance with crossing the four lane at 99 and paramedics.  The bicylce ride will be out 134 West to McKay Farms.  There will also be a 5K in town.  Saturday, April 21st is the date they would like to do the run and ride.  A motion to approve and seconded was made and the ride was approved.

Ordiance 2-2012-1 regarding council salaries.  It is a ordinance establishing salaries for the mayor and council.  Motion carried. Last time Headland salaries were changed was 1984.  The salaries for the council are lower than Abbevilles, although Headland is the largest city in the county. 

Ordiance 2-2012-2 regarding redistricting.  Every ten years when you have a census you have to come back in redistrict according to the census figures to balance the districts according to population and race to try to equal it out.  The motion carries for the redistricting.

Mayor's report:  Ribbon cutting at 10 at Covenant Health and fitness on the square on February 9.

Motion made and approved to put a street light at the entrance to Sweetwater.

Reappointments were made to the Headland Airport Authority. Joey Armstrong is being appointed as a new member of the authority.  

Bids were rejected on two new street sweepers and they are going back to get bids on used equipment.

General Public Comments:  Limited to 3 minutes.

Reverand Kenny Glasglow is the first speaker.  He wants to dispell the tension, it is not a racial issue.  He has asked for the Open Records Law to be invoked and the records made available to the family. He is here as a advocate for the family and others in the community. He is asking the city council to look at the Dothan Eagle article and that he is here to ask the city to look at standard operating procedure.  He wants the council to look at SOP for deadly force and for mentally challenged procedure.  He would like for the city to establish a citizens review board to look at situations that occur in cases like this.  Glasglow is asking the council to work with them to establish procedures as to how to deal with the mentally challenged.  He has looked at Mobile, Montgomery, Dothan and other areas as to their procedures as to the handling of mentally challenged.  He says that he had not idea what was going on in Headland and he asks the officials of Headland to work with them to make Headland the community that we want it to be.  If we implement these procedures that there will be other procedures available for the officers to deal with the mentally challenged.  

Herman Fryer is the second speaker.  He wants to reiterate what Reverand Glasglow has said.  He is stating that the mother called for help and stated that her son was off of his medication, taken off of the medication by his doctor.  When the mother calls for help to take her son to the hospital and the EMT comes and they are not able to handle to him so they called for back-up.  He is saying that when the first officer called and called for back-up to come for help.  Mr Fryer is saying that when the second officer came he did not pepper spray him or tase him he shot him.  This is not a black and white thing but it might esculate to that.  We want justice for the death of a man.

Ms. Dorthiea Culver, Henery County Chapter President of the NAACP, is now addressing the council.  The reason of our existance is to protect the rights of all Americans, that is our right.  But last Tuesday when the police and paramedics was called out to assist the mother with her son.  We assume that those responding would be trained to assist in a situation like this.  The victim was unarmed.  The man who should have been taken to the hospital to receive the attention he needed, instead he was killed.  The question raised here concerning the NAACP of Henry County is the the council going to uphold the tragedy that happened in our town.  We know the ABI is going to be involved in this case.  There is usually a tape in cases like this. Where is the tape, if there was a tape then there would be no questions. Regardless of what the ABI says we do not want these officers back.  WE have had good relations, when we have had problems we have been able to talk.  When somebody who works for the injustice then the whole city is called in to be tried by the court of public opinion.  We are requesting that regardless of the findings are these officers are not allowed back.  And we ask the city to see that their employees are properly trained.  

James Boyur, NAACP of Henry County, is addressing the council.  He says that once a policeman looses his positon in one county he is hired in another county.  We need to get the bad officers out of the loop.  We don't want to bring in outside people in, we want to solve this situation among ourselves.  We need to stop the bad officers from going from place to place.

Reverand Joseph Flowers, lives on Railroad St.  I was heading to the 4-lane and this officer had a person stopped on one side frisking him, when I came back a few minutes later hse was frisking another person.  I want to know what it takes to make me look suspicious.

Tom Hawthorne, does business in Headland.  A few weeks ago I came to Headland and I was stopped and treated like I was the Taliban.  He searched me for a cracked windshield.  

Patrick's father is now addresses the coucil.  He appreciates people coming to show support.  He is angry and hurt, he is in control.  He has had his ups and downs with police officers in this city but he can move on.  Nine times out of ten I was in the wrong.  January 31, I received a call from my wife and she said did you hear about your son Patrick, he was shot down and he is dead by the police.  I was in McRae, GA, 178 miles from here.  My wife went a couple of times to check, she said the place was lit up and Patrick was laying on the ground in a pool of blood.  She went to the hospital to wait with him until I could get there. Patrick was mentally challenged and schitzoprenic.  He was not a violent person.  The lights and all of the commotion pushed him over the edge and he ran, he was running because he did not understand what was going on at the time.  I think I would be less than a man and less than a father if I set her and tell you I ok with the way the situation was handled with my son.  I think the officers should be terminated and prosecuted to the extent of the law that you would prosecute me.  Sometimes He says he can't hold it.  

His daughter ran comments off of Rickey Stokes.  He read the comments and could see where there was some justified things.  When I was a kid and my mother used to bake a cake and I knocked a glass off an broke it and I had to justify how I broke that glass.  When I came back from the hospital I came here and asked to speak with the Chief of Police and they said he wasn't available and that I could not get in touch with him.  I told them my son had just died in the hospital and all I wanted was someone to tell me that they were justified in what they did, there was no one to tell me,  I went to work.  I came back the next day and they took me in the back and I told them that I just wanted a explanation about what happened. They put a officer on the door and one beside me.  They told me word for word what I read in the paper.  

I have some problems with what you are telling me.  Do your officers carry a stun gun, pepper spray?  Some of them.  I said do you mean to tell me that you had two police officers that should have had pepper spray or a stun gun that could not take down a 160 pound man down, without two 44 slugs.  I got up and left.

Rickey Stokes said that the officer was throwing up and calling out to God following the shooting.  What do you think I was doing when I receieved a call that my son was shot. The doctor called me and described his injuries.  I told him to do what he could for my son.  He called me back a little while later and said that he was going to have take him back into surgery that he had started bleeding again.  And you said the officer was throwing up and calling out to God.  I am going to keep myself in control and I am going to leave this with someone else who is more qualified than me.  

Larry Morris said if they had not hired Tony back when they had a problem with them then we would not be here.  When you hire a officer you need to teach them what that sign on the side of the car means.  

Betty Reeves said that Tony had stopped her 15 year old grandson and put a gun in his face.  I came up here and talked with you Mayor.  I have been told that you have it under control.  Two policemen murderd that child.  

How long will it believe before Glasglow receives something on what he is talking about.  I will get with Glasglow tonight to give him my number and we will start talking.  Glasglow asks that those that want to be on the council give their names to the family tonight.  Mr Fryer is saying that they don't necessarily want all black on the board we just want to get something going.

Mike Gamble is now addressing the council asking why they can't speak about the investigation.  Why can't you share some of the basic facts with this group?  You have had a week to get with the police, you need to get facts out.  Marler said we can't now.

Bobby McKee asks if the council knew about the complaints about this policeman before the accident.  Yes sir we did and we addressed them.  

Marler asks to move on to the next business.

The council chamber has cleared of most of the attendees.

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