QUESTION: What’s become of Graham’s assistant police chief Rodney King, who some thought a shoo-in for the interim chief’s post that’s been assigned to Chris Smith, a retired member of Burlington’s police force? Is King still with Graham’s police department? Is he on active duty or currently on leave?
ANSWER: Graham’s personnel director Lorrie Andrews assured The Alamance News that it was “situation normal” with King when the newspaper inquired about the assistant police chief’s status earlier this week.
Under North Carolina’s Public Records Law, state and local government agencies are obliged to disclose certain details about their employees. This information includes salaries, dates of employment, and the nature and date of the latest change in a staff member’s employment status.
The Alamance News initially sent an inquiry about King’s status to Graham’s city manager Megan Garner, who forwarded the newspaper’s request to the city’s personnel director. Andrews informed the newspaper that King had joined Graham’s police department on August 25, 2014 and has a current annual salary of $104,895.06. Andrews went on to list the most recent change in King’s status as a cost-of-living raise that he received on July 13 of this year.
The newspaper sent Andrews a follow-up query to ascertain if King is presently on leave – and if so, whether the hiatus is medical, disciplinary, or something else entirely. The city’s personnel director insisted that King isn’t on leave.
“Assistant Chief Rodney King is in active status,” Andrews stated in her reply on Wednesday.
The Alamance News dropped by the police department’s headquarters later that afternoon to confirm that King is, in fact, on the job as per usual. A desk sergeant told the newspaper that the assistant chief was out of the office that day, although he said he didn’t know anything about the nature or duration of his absence.
