Tatum votes on complaints against police chief

TATUM – The Tatum City Council met on Monday night and the first item on their agenda was reviewing formal complaints and concerns raised against chief of police James Smith.

Leading up to the meeting, council members received an anonymous email from concerned citizens asking them to review past conduct from their police chief and asking what the council will do to restore public trust. The city’s mayor responded with his own email saying he will bring all facts forward, but the council will have the final decision.

Following the closed-door executive session, the council voted on the four written complaints against Chief Smith, deciding unanimously to take no action on three complaints. The city council acted on the fourth complaint, voting for a hard verbal warning and directing him to take a class.

“Because it is a personal concern, we are exempt from discussing that in open session, so at that point, we will adjourn to executive session, council will discuss the matters in regards to the complaints,” Mayor Michael Henry said.

Chief John Smith declined to provide a comment to our news partner KETK.