The rank and file officers of the Richmond Police Department overwhelming voted over the Labor Day weekend that they have no confidence in the leadership of Police Chief Allwyn Brown, citing problems with workplace and managerial culture.
"We've never held a no confidence vote in the history of this organization, but that's unfortunately the boiling point we've come to," Richmond Police Officers Association President Ben Therriault said Thursday afternoon.
"We're headed in the wrong direction," he said. "People don't feel valued. It feels like a rudderless ship."
Out of 139 votes, 117 of them were no, Therriault said. That's about 85 percent. There were also 19 yes votes and three abstentions.
"Four officers have already left this year, all cited the culture as a problem, and we have eight more on deck to leave before the end of the year," Therriault said.
"We're a mid-size agency, that's a huge loss," he added. "We already have double-digit vacancies and double-digit people on injury, so this issue is going to drastically affect services for the community."
Multiple calls to the Richmond Police Department to allow Chief Brown an opportunity to comment on this development went unreturned Thursday afternoon.
