After resignation of Police Chief Tim Wallis, Lawrenceville will take time before deciding next steps

“We won’t immediately begin a search,” Warbington said. “For the time being, Myron will be the acting chief and in the next four to six months, we will look at what the next steps will be ... Summer is when we’ll know what our next steps will be.”

Wallis resigned this past week in the aftermath of an investigative report that raised concerns about issues within the police department, including an allegation that he violated the city’s sexual harassment policy.

Officially, Wallis’ departure is being labeled as a retirement. His last day as chief will be in mid-February.

“Chief Tim Wallis is a long-standing member of the Lawrenceville Police Department and provided many years of dedicated service to the City,” Warbington said in a statement released of Tuesday.

“As we prepared to move the Lawrenceville Police Department forward after recent events, I met with the chief to discuss the future. During that meeting, Chief Wallis and I mutually agreed that it was best for him, the City, and the Police Department that he step down as chief and retire from the city on Feb. 15, 2022.”

The investigation into the police department had resulted in Wallis being suspended for 10 days without pay. Among the allegations made against Wallis, according to the investigation report, was that he told a female captain that she looked “like a Hooters girl when the air conditioner’s not working.”

A male captain who left the department while the investigation was underway was accused of making lewd comments, both verbally and in text messages, to the same female captain. The male captain was also accused of taking naps in a city-owned trailer that was used for police training activities.

Wallis and Walker were accused in the investigation report of not doing enough to investigate the allegations that the male captain was taking naps in the trailer. Wallis was accused of protecting the captain while the city looked into the allegations involving the trailer.

An investigator brought in by the city to look into the police department noted a “good ol’ boy network” and a “grab ass culture” had sprung up in the department under Wallis’ predecessor as chief. While the investigator noted Wallis had taken steps to change the culture in the department, the report states the old culture still lingers.

Walker was not accused of committing sexual harassment, but he was required to undergo documented verbal training as a result of the investigation.

The entire police department has to undergo mandatory in-person training as a result of the investigation.

The city will use the next few months to address issues in the police department that were highlighted in the investigative report. On Friday, Warbington said a consultant may be brought in to help the city’s leaders evaluate the department.

With Wallis and one of the department’s captain now gone, and the assistant chief acting as the police chief, Warbington said the next few months will provide an opportunity to “rebuild” the department’s command staff.

But, one big goal of the city is to give the department a chance to recover from the recent investigation and its aftermath before jumping into a search for a new chief.

“Anytime there is a potential new leader coming in at the moment, obviously with a search, there’s a lot of angst, there’s a lot of questions, a lot of things (like) who that will be, what that will be,” Warbington said. “Right now we just need to kind of look internally, look at ways we can continue to improve and put our full focus and energy on looking to the future of how we can be an even better department.

“And, that’s what we’re going to do over the next four to six months.”