FAIRMOUNT HEIGHTS, Md. (WMAR) — The Fairmount Heights Chief of Police Stephen Watkins tells CNN he was voted out during a Thursday council meeting.
This comes days after a former officer in the department was indicted on 11 charges, including rape and attempting to infect a woman with HIV.
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Now that the chief is gone the Fairmount Heights Police Department only has one employee, a lieutenant, authorized to work, Watkins said.
A second employee is still in field training and won’t be cleared to work until next Friday, according to Watkins.
Watkins told CNN he believes his firing was due to claims from another former officer that the chief failed to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
He says that he was “saddled with five internal investigations at the end of the summer,” two of which were turned over to the county to investigate.
“I’ve worked 49 years at this job,” Watkins said. “It stings a bit but I’ve landed on my feet before and I’ll land on my feet again.”
