SOUTHPORT, Ind. — The Southport mayor has fired the police chief, 13News confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
Mayor Jim Cooney terminated Police Chief Tom Vaughn, who’s served the city for 11 years.
Vaughn said he learned about the termination in an email from the mayor Monday evening.
"I got an email at 5:13 p.m., saying I was terminated forthwith," Vaughn said. "I don't know what the reason is. Personally, he's never told me. I've gotten the Jefferson Award. I've gotten Person of the Year three times in the 11 years. I have no write-ups, no discipline on my record."
The email terminating Vaughn offered no specific explanation for ousting Vaughn as chief and reducing his rank to unpaid reserve officer.
Cooney told 13News his reasons are simple.
"The police chief reports to the mayor, and I decided to take the department in a different direction," Cooney said.
But Vaughn was stunned. He questions not just the decision, but the timing of the termination.
"I think it's retaliation and a power grab," Vaughn said.
According to Vaughn, he says he got fired two hours after filing a grievance against the mayor.
"The shortest term is for him overstepping — he was asking officers to do things that weren't by code or by ordinance," Vaughn said. "He overstepped his authority with Code Enforcement and things like that. Of course, I stepped in and said, 'No we can't do that, and here's the reasons why,' and he got upset about that. I'm angry, and I think I was a disservice. I filed a grievance, and I get terminated, so I find that kind of odd."
"It had nothing to do with that," Cooney said. "I will refer back to my statement that the police chief reports to the mayor. I intend to be a little more hands-on with the current interim chief."
Cooney named former Southport Deputy Chief Nate Williams as interim. Meanwhile, other city leaders said they're in the dark with this decision.
City-Council President Carol Bowling says city leaders got an email, but no explanation. They're wanting to know why Vaughn's out, and they're concerned the mayor went rogue by making the decision alone.
"I don't know, and I'd like to know," Bowling said. "Whatever needs to be done, you discuss it. You don't just make that decision on your own. And tell us what possibly he could have done to merit this. We're not being kept in the loop, and that's the frustrating part about it."
Bowling also fears now there will be fallout affecting public safety in Southport, that other officers will resign in solidarity with Vaughn.
"I do believe there's at least four possibly that will follow," Bowling said.
When 13News asked Cooney about that possibility, he said, "Officers may leave. Other hired individuals may leave. Yes, there's always fallout when you have a leadership change."
It's a change Vaughn plans to fight. Vaughn said he's hired attorneys and believes city ordinance and state code prohibit the mayor in a third-class city like Southport from firing police chiefs without input from the Board of Public Works.
"Appointments are terminated only by the mayor," Cooney responded, when asked about the process.
The mayor held a news conference on Wednesday, Aug. 14 to discuss the firing.
Wednesday evening at the Southport Board of Public Works meeting, Vaughn's termination is expected to come up. His demotion is also listed on flyers for the city-council meeting on Thursday, Aug. 15. Both of those start at 7 p.m.
(NOTE: on Aug. 15, 2024, Chief Vaughn was reinstated as Southport Police Chief.)