The tiny city of Milner, Georgia, has been thrust into turmoil after its mayor admitted to secretly tracking his own police chief and surveilling City Hall with a hidden camera, triggering a mass exodus from the towns police force and senior staff.
According to Gateway Pundit, Mayor Craig Timmons acknowledged that he covertly attached a GPS device to Police Chief Lamar Bunns city-issued vehicle and installed a camera on private property aimed at City Hall, claiming he was worried about work hours and timesheets. The revelation infuriated the department, leading Bunn and all five full-time officers to resign, with most reserve officers and City Manager Tausha Grose also walking away, leaving the Lamar County Sheriffs Office to shoulder law enforcement duties for the town.
Timmons confirmed his actions to WSB-TV investigative reporter Mark Winne, conceding that he personally purchased the tracking device and arranged for the camera to be placed at a local car wash with the owners consent. When Winne asked directly, Did you place a tracking device on the police vehicle driven by the Milner police chief? the mayor replied, Yes sir, I did.
Winne pressed further, asking, Did you put a video camera out back of car wash pointed at the building where his office was? to which Timmons responded, Yes, City Hall, yes sir, and with approval from the property owner. The mayor defended his actions by pointing to his oversight role, saying his signature appears on the chiefs timesheets and insisting, The mayors position is not just shaking hands and kissing babies.
The city council later voted to censure Timmons, faulting him for bypassing the procedures laid out in the city charter and failing to bring his concerns to them through proper channels. Chief Bunn told the council the tracker was installed without his knowledge or that of the council or city administrator, denouncing it as a violation of his rights.
Resignation letters from officers cited a breakdown of trust, serious doubts about the mayors judgment and decision-making, and broader ethical concerns. Captain Craig Walton went further, explicitly demanding an independent investigation into the mayors conduct and the legality of his surveillance tactics.
Lamar County Sheriff Brad White stated that his deputies will continue to respond to calls in Milner as they always have, but warned that if the police department remains shuttered, the city will need to formally contract with his office for ongoing police services. The mayor, meanwhile, maintains he was acting in the towns best interest and says he is already receiving unsolicited rsums for both police positions and the vacant city manager role, underscoring how one officials overreach has now forced a small community to rebuild its institutions from the ground up.
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