Jonesboro police chief suspended after social media comments

Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin has suspended the city's police chief for 30 days without pay over comments he made on social media about a local reporter, his office said Friday.

Police Chief Mike Yates posted remarks on his Facebook page that former Jonesboro Sun reporter Sunshine Crump and the newspaper said were defamatory and false statements, and led Monday to her resignation.

Assistant Chief of Police Tim Eads will serve as acting chief during Yates' suspension, according to a statement from the mayor's office.

Yates must complete a training course related to the online posts during his suspension, which will be determined by the mayor’s office.

He will also be required to issue a “formal, written letter of apology” to Crump and The Jonesboro Sun and present proof of the letters in order to be reinstated in his job, Perrin said.

Perrin also issues Yates a written warning that “future use of social media or any other forms of personal communication to imply threats, actions of consequences tied to your influence or authority as Chief of Police or as an employee of the City of Jonesboro will be cause for immediate termination.”

Read Saturday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.

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