Selma Mayor Johnny Moss III said Friday the decision to relieve Interim Police Chief Michael Perry of duty on Aug. 20 was simply part of the city’s transition toward selecting a permanent police chief.
Perry said he believes he was let go because he publicly blasted the Selma Police Department in a presentation to the Selma City Council on Aug. 11.
“In all my years in law enforcement, I’ve never seen a department that is as dysfunctional or shows no interest in serving the public as the Selma Police Department,” Perry told the city council on Aug. 11. His comments were widely reported by state media.
“I’m advocating what I know the people of Selma need,” Perry said. “They don’t trust the police department. And in my professional opinion, they have valid reason.”
“No, no,” Moss responded when asked if Perry’s presentation to the council played any role in his dismissal. “His service has always intended to help us kind of navigate this period while we are trying to work toward long-term leadership.”
In an interview, Moss said Perry had stepped in to guide the department during a temporary period and that the city is now moving into the final stages of choosing new leadership.
“We appreciate everything Chief Perry has done,” Moss said. “We just decided to move on because we plan to have a new chief in place over the next few weeks.”
Moss said the city reached a point where shifting responsibility to new Interim Chief John Brock was appropriate. Brock is a former chief of the Selma Police Department. He resigned during the Darrio Melton administration.
“We just want to thank Chief Perry for answering the call to serve the city of Selma during this period,” Moss said. “Our focus remains where it has always been: support our officers, strengthen accountability and provide citizens of Selma with the professional public safety services they deserve.”
For his part, Perry said he felt “blindsided” by the decision to remove him.
“(Being dismissed) caught me off guard, really,” Perry said in an interview. He said he initially did not want to come to Selma but agreed after repeated requests from the mayor. Once in the job, he said he began publicly outlining internal issues that he believed officers had been dealing with for years.
“Everything that you saw, I just revealed the serious problems that the officers themselves were enduring. And I thought that’s what he wanted me to do,” Perry said.
Perry said the problems he highlighted did not originate under Moss but stemmed from prior administrations where political interference shaped police operations.
“You can’t involve politics in a paramilitary organization,” Perry said. “Over the years, this was the result.”
He said he also faced political push back while trying to address problems inside the department.
“I did have some political push back,” Perry said. “I was dealing with it.” He said the interference made him conclude he would not be productive as chief. “I saw the writing on the wall,” he said.
Perry said he had a disagreement with a council member, and he would present evidence of “political push back” soon.
Meanwhile, public interviews for four candidates for police chief are scheduled for next Friday at 1 p.m. at the Selma Convention Center. Moss said he will release a news release outlining the process.
Whoever takes the job, Perry said, will face significant challenges.
“Whoever the chief is, he’s going to have his work cut out for him,” Perry said.
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