(AP) – The police chief and three officers who make up the entire four-person police department of Geary, Oklahoma, and two of the city’s city council members have resigned without explanation.

Former police chief Alicia Ford did not address the specific reasons for Thursday’s resignations, but wrote in a social media post that the decision was difficult.

“It is with great sadness that I and the rest of the Geary police officers will no longer be serving this community,” Ford wrote, “but it was the right decision for me and the other officers.”

Ford, without elaborating, encouraged residents of the town of nearly 1,000 about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City to familiarize themselves with the city council “and get involved in the city as much as possible, more elected by attending city council meetings. “

Ford did not immediately return a phone message for comment Saturday.

A woman who answered a phone call Saturday to a number listed for Mayor Waylan Upchego said “not at this time” when a reporter asked to speak with Upchego about the resignations.

The city, in a statement, thanked the former chief and officers while wishing them well and saying an interim police chief had been selected and that the Blaine County and Canadian County Sheriff’s Offices would help patrol the city .

“We would like to let our citizens know that we are conducting business as usual,” according to the statement. “If you have an emergency, please contact 911 as you normally would and an officer will be dispatched to assist you.”

City Council members Glen “Rocky” Coleman Jr. and Kristy Miller also announced their resignations, leaving the four-person council with just one member due to a previous vacancy.

Coleman wrote on social media that his values ​​don’t match the city’s direction and said communication between the administration and council was “significantly lacking,” but offered no further explanation.

“Council members are pretty much the last to know anything,” Coleman wrote. “There are often times when I wouldn’t know something (is planned) until the meeting starts.”

Miller did not immediately return a phone call to a number listed for her.

The city did not identify the acting chief but JJ Stitt — who described himself as a 27-year veteran of law enforcement, a county deputy, a member of a task force that investigates Internet crimes against children and a distant cousin of Gov. Kevin Stitt. — told The Oklahoman that he is the acting chief.

Stitt did not return a phone call to a number listed for him, but told the newspaper he hopes to add officers in the coming days. He said he has the “ability” to pick up the phone and bring experienced officers into the city to help.

“I’ve been in the game for a long time,” Stitt said.

The resignations come more than a year later the entire police department from the small town of Goodhue, Minnesota, resigned because of low wages.

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