Former police chief in Lincolnton resigns after heated called meeting

LINCOLNTON, Ga. — Former Lincolnton Police Department chief Brandon Lively tendered his resignation on Sept. 15, according to Lincolnton Mayor Mike McCombs.

In a called meeting on Sept. 8, the Lincolnton City Council voted 3-2 to terminate Lively’s employment after 13 years with the LPD. McCombs says the council had previously met in executive session with Lively to discuss their concerns with him and how he performed his duties. The mayor said he had a file full of issues that were discussed with Lively in detail.

At the time, McCombs says that the council had suspended Lively for six days with no pay but gave him the option to resign by Sept. 8. This was due, McCombs says, to Lively’s response to the council and their concerns. McCombs says he wanted to give Lively time to resign, since that would be a better option than termination because Lively has a wife and children.

When Lively didn’t tender his resignation by the time the called meeting on Sept. 8 came to order, McCombs says he felt the council had to terminate Lively’s employment.

According to McCombs, Lively has on numerous occasions been insubordinate, choosing to not follow directions from the mayor and the council. He has also, McCombs said, provided false reports to the council for the past several months. In those reports, Lively indicated that the department had answered hundreds of calls for service. In June, the report stated that the department had answered 821 calls in May, in August he reported 916 calls in the month of June, and in September, he reported the department had 1,650 officer contacts in August. McCombs says there is no paperwork to support those figures.

McCombs also points to the numerous requests sent by emails and phone calls to Lively regarding cases from the District Attorney’s office, which went unanswered.

During the called meeting, McCombs said that he felt that Lively needed someone to give him direction.

“He needs somebody to direct him to do what’s right because it worries me about the things that he don’t worry about,” the mayor said.

In a written response to his suspension provided to The Journal Messenger & News Reporter on Sept. 8, Lively wrote that he has never received a clear order from the mayor or the council. McCombs said that he had directed Lively on more than one occasion to not take police department vehicles outside of the city limits due to liability issues. Lively had continued to respond to calls in the county until, he says, he was informed in July that the city’s insurance does not cover LPD vehicles if they operate outside of the city limits.

“He was leaving the city naked to run out to those county calls,” McCombs said.

The mayor also said that he had directed Lively specifically to handle a recent case involving a dog attack in the city, and that Lively had sent someone else, not going to the home until five days after the incident.

By that time, a family member had contacted Lincoln County Sheriff Clay Smith, who had taken action to remove the dog from the home and place it in another county. Since there are children in the neighborhood, McCombs said he wanted the dog removed as soon as possible. Lively felt, the mayor says, that Smith was “taking over his case.”

McCombs says that with Lively’s resignation, and the resignation of Officer Travis Comtois, there are three officers left in the department. He said they are not looking to hire a new police chief at this time but will operate the department with the three officers they have currently, under the supervision of the sheriff. A search for a new chief will likely occur after the first of the year.

He adds that there are no plans to consolidate the city and county law enforcement departments, but that Smith can provide the leadership the LPD needs in the interim.

Editor’s Note: Following the publication of this article, Sheriff Clay Smith commented that he will not take on the supervisory role of the Lincolnton Police Department. Smith says apart from his office offering additional manpower when needed, he will offer no other supervision to the department.