PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Pembroke Park Commissioner William Hodgkins is calling out fellow officials after they voted Friday to fire the town’s police chief after she spent just six months on the job.
Commissioners voted 3-2 to oust Chief Ra Shana Dabney-Donovan Friday night. Hodgkins and Vice Mayor Erik Morrissette were the dissenting votes.
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“I was appalled at the injustice I witnessed on that evening by three members of the Commission,” Hodgkins said in a statement released Tuesday.
The decision to remove Dabney-Donovan was reportedly orchestrated by Mayor Ashira Mohammed and Commissioner Geoffrey Jacobs, who are typically bitter rivals on the dais of the south Broward town of about 6,000 people. Acting Clerk Commissioner Musfika Kashem was the other “yes” vote.
In Tuesday’s statement, Hodgkins referenced the pair’s past in blasting the vote.
He said it “was nauseating to see the Mayor being nicey nice to her arch enemy Commissioner Jacobs.”
The firing came amid recent allegations involving officers who are reportedly under investigation; Dabney-Donovan claims retaliation.
“If you’re not doing your job, we evaluate, and we don’t let it drag on any further,” Mohammed said during Friday’s meeting.
The decision came after Jacobs aired concerns about internal investigations and lawsuits against the department, including allegations that an officer forced someone to delete a video of an arrest.
The chief called the allegations against the department rumors, saying she has only had six months to try to address problems left by the prior chief.
Hodgkins questioned how commissioners came to their decision to fire Dabney-Donovan, who took the reins after the town’s first police chief, David Howard, was fired after a similarly-short tenure. The town started its own police force in October 2022 after choosing to sever a four-decades-long relationship with the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
“It was so obvious that they had prearranged the verdict and outcome of the issues against Chief Dabney(-)Donovan that they felt it unnecessary to even pay attention to her as she tried to defend her position in the town and show all the accomplishments she has after only six months as Chief of Police for the town,” he said.
He later said the commissioners showed “disrespect” to the chief.
“Commissioner Jacobs writing a letter of sorts, Commissioner Kasheem (sic) flipping through a brochure on playground equipment and the Mayor playing with her phone all proves to me that they knew the outcome before it began,” Hodgkins said. “The Chief(’)s words (fell) on deaf ears as far as these three were concerned.”
He continued, “Our system is flawed when a dedicated employee doesn’t even get a second chance to correct issues or address certain problems under their control. Hopefully(,) our Charter improvements this voting cycle will alleviate some of them. I wish our chief the very best in all her endeavors and may God Bless her.”
Officials appointed Wendy Morse, a veteran of the West Palm Beach Police Department, as interim chief.
Local 10 News contacted Jacobs and Mohammed seeking comment in response to Hodgkins’ statement and had not heard back as of Tuesday afternoon.