The president of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police - Manchester, Tennessee, Police Chief Mark Yother - resigned from the group last week, citing increased workload following the recent suspension of the association's executive director.
On March 2, association Executive Director Maggi Duncan was suspended.
The association's board said in a statement March 10 that it has "growing concerns of financial accountability and personnel issues that warranted immediate action."
The association in September 2021 established an organizational readiness commission charged with determining the association's "fitness and preparedness," and during the course of the assessment, the commission discovered "several accountability issues requiring prompt action by the board of directors for the association," the statement said.
Duncan, contacted Monday by phone, reiterated a statement she issued last week that expressed her surprise.
"Supporting Tennessee's law-enforcement community over the past 21 years has been one of the greatest honors of my life," Duncan said in the statement.
"I'm proud of our accomplishments over the years to professionalize the [Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police], strengthen its financial position and advocate for sound public policies to protect all Tennesseans," the statement said. "I'm saddened and surprised by the board's actions. Under the circumstances, I have no choice but to explore my options."
Duncan did not add anything to her statement Monday but did point to reports that noted the association's financial picture brightened since she was hired in 2000 and its net assets grew from $51,500 to $887,900.
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Yother said Monday in a telephone interview his resignation was not related to an investigation or any other probe and he was stepping down simply because he had too much work to do as Manchester's police chief to assume the role of interim executive director for the association, which the president must do if there is no executive director.
"We started at the beginning of my presidency a thing called the 'commission on readiness' where we did deep dives into all aspects of our association, one of them being financial, and when the financial report came back we called two emergency meetings - one Zoom and one in-person - and that led to the administrative leave with pay for the executive director," Yother said.
The suspension meant the job of executive director fell to the association president.
"To me, it just became overwhelming for my time to continue as president," he said. "I was spending all my time on [association] business when I need to be spending it on the Manchester Police Department."
Yother said he'll remain a member of the association but he will no longer be a member of its board.
The association's vice president - Police Chief Deborah Faulkner of Franklin, Tennessee - will assume the role of interim president, officials said.
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"The integrity the [Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police] has demonstrated for over 50 years will continue to be our goal," Faulkner said in the statement. "There will be swift and deliberate action to correct all issues identified during this assessment, as approved by the board of directors and [Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police] membership."
Additional details will be provided following future actions of the association board, officials said.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.