Will Phillips
Minden Press-Herald
The issue of a potential police hire once again divided the Minden City Council during its regular meeting Monday night.
Hiring Joshua Harvey as a policeman for the Minden Police Department was one of the main agenda items in Monday night’s meeting.
Soon after a motion was made to hire Harvey and seconded, District A Councilman Herbert Taylor asked Harvey to step up to the mic. Taylor then made the public aware of his concern regarding a social media post Harvey had shared on Facebook. “The context of the posts and the words that were used in the posts I have some concerns towards,” he said.
While no one specifically stated the contents of the post in question, Harvey said that it contained use of “urban slang.”
“It was a repost, it was not in my own words,” Harvey said. “The nature of the post was not derogatory or racial in any manner. It was simply something that was relatable. The contents of the post were made in bad taste, urban slang was used. It was nothing that should be viewed as something derogatory towards any race or creed. It does not represent any style of policing I would use to show any type of racial bias or partiality to anyone. I have no problem exemplifying acute integrity to carry out any job or any duty that is put before me in an impartial way.” After speaking Harvey received a brief applause from citizens in attendance at the meeting.
After Harvey was done speaking, District D Councilman Keith Beard said, “I just wanted to share the fact that Chief Cropper was elected by the citizens of this city to carry out duties that I don’t know much about. I’m not a police officer. So I put my faith in him that he knows what he needs for the police force. That’s why I’m going on his recommendation.”
District B Councilman Terika Williams-Walker was the next to offer input. “I will say to Mr. Harvey, you have to be conscious about what’s going on wherever you apply, and given everything that we’ve been going through the past couple of months, dealing with racial comments and police officers, it’s inappropriate, and we would seem hypocritical to allow you to become part of the police force,” Williams-Walker said.
After everyone voiced their opinions and concerns, the hire was brought to a vote. There were two “ayes” from District E Councilman Pam Bloxom and Beard, and three “nays” from Williams-Walker, District C Councilman Vincen Bradford, and Taylor, causing the motion to fail.