News 12 at 6 o'clock, January 14, 2010

WADLEY, Ga.---There is tension in a small Georgia town. The entire police force in Wadley is wondering if they even have jobs.

Monday night's city council meeting got interesting when council members voted not to re-hire members of the town's police department.

Three new council members were sworn in Monday night, they say complaints from citizens have them taking drastic measures.

"I don't have a problem with my police department. I think they've done a superb job," says Wadley Mayor Herman Baker.

Mayor Baker is standing by his police chief. Monday night city council members voted 4 to 1 to re-hire all town employees, except the officers.

"Is that legal?" One of the council members asks at the meeting Monday night. "You talking about the chief of police or the entire office?" Asks City Attorney John Murphy. "I think you can defer it. I'm not ready to give you a legal opinion tonight," says Murphy.

Newly elected council member Dorothy Strowbridge says the decision came after complaints of harassment and police brutality.

But Chief Wesley Lewis says it's about something totally different. "It's because they have a personal grudge or vendetta against the police officers," says Chief Lewis.

"That's probably part of it," adds Mayor Baker.

Chief Lewis showed News 12 recent arrest records of nephews and sons of council members. "The law shouldn't be afraid to do their job because people are related to the council members," says Chief Lewis.

And according to the Wadley personnel handbook, adopted in 1999, the five member council may be out of line.

"The way the law is set up, they're abusing their power," adds Chief Lewis.

It's a motion that's confused more than just Chief Lewis, who says any complaints have been cleared through the city.

"We got a lot of drugs off the streets, got a lot of DUI arrests and made the city a whole lot safer," says Chief Lewis.

"I think the motion is to rehire all the employees except for the police department and that decision has been deferred. I think that's the motion," clarifies Murphy during Monday night's meeting.

"My oath was to protect this community, I'm gonna protect it," adds Mayor Baker.

It's a motion everyone wants to get to the bottom of. "It's gonna work out, and it's gonna work out right," says Mayor Baker.

The City Attorney is working to find out if this whole motion is legal or not.

None of the council members would go on camera with News 12, but councilman Albert Samples-- who filed the motion-- says the plan is to meet with the police department to work out the issues.

Chief Lewis says he and his officers are not giving up the fight. He says, of course the officers are upset, many are worried about their jobs and are filing complaints with the Equal Employment Office.