CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin says she understands why Police Chief Tyke Hunt resigned.
“I agree with his resignation and here’s why,” Goodwin told WCHS-TV Friday. “Being chief of police, just like mayor, is a 24-hour, seven day a week job, you’re entire focus and attention has to be on that. Not for yourself but for everybody standing beside you and behind you and are expecting your leadership and are standing in front of you.”
Goodwin appointed Hunt chief in February 2020. He came under fire earlier this summer when news surfaced that Goodwin had suspended him for three days last year after he invited a woman to his city office after hours. Hunt apologized after the news broke last month. He called it a lapse in judgment.
Goodwin said Friday that no one forced Hunt out. She said she received his email Thursday night, just hours before he was set to take medical leave.
“This was an email I got from him at 9:30 at (Thursday) night. I think we’ve all been there faced with personal challenges or health challenges. Good leadership is knowing also when you should step aside and this is the right decision,” Goodwin said.
Hunt is scheduled for back surgery. He plans to return the force as a lieutenant.
Goodwin said Hunt played a significant role in “unprecedented levels of community support and record low crime rates.” She said that would continue to be a priority moving forward.
“The Charleston Police Department has super-high solve rates and super-low crime rates and that’s a momentum that we don’t want to change. We want to keep that momentum going and we’re not going to allow this transition to put that aside,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin met with Deputy Chief Scott Dempsey Friday and he agreed to become the interim chief. Goodwin said Dempsey has displayed good leadership skills.
“He has the respect of all of our officers. He’s a good person but I want to make sure, and the reason why I only named an interim chief right now, I want to take my time and I want to make sure that we do the due diligence that we need to make the right and best choice,” Goodwin said.
Dempsey has been a Charleston police officer for 23 years.
Goodwin, now in her second term in office, is looking for her third permanent chief. She originally appointed Opie Smith as she took office for her first term in January 2019. Smith retired a year later and Goodwin chose Hunt saying at that time that only one name kept coming up when she was in the selection process.
“You saw here today a new chief sworn in and it wasn’t just Charleston Police, it was members of our fire department, it was members of our police department, there were chiefs of police from all around the region,” Goodwin said at a February 2020 ceremony.