Racist, bully fire chief in KY takes leave of absence as criminal investigation continues
Fire chief throws microphone & tries to block TV crew from public meeting
New video shows racial incident for KY fire chief who mocked & bullied TV reporter
Racist KY fire chief’s offices raided as part of insurance fraud investigation
To me it’s unbelievable that those in charge didn’t immediately put Southeast Bullitt (KY) Fire Chief Julius Hatfield on a permanent leave of absence without pay a month ago. That’s when a sheriff’s deputy’s body camera video aired on TV showed Hatfield using a racial slur against a car crash victim and saying there was no room for those kind of people at his firehouse.
Instead of showing leadership on that issue, it has taken a separate ongoing criminal fraud investigation involving Chief Hatfield for the chief to realize he should take a voluntary (and apparently paid) leave of absence from his multiple positions at the firehouse and the Bullitt County Fire Protection District. While search warrants have been served at Hatfield’s home and fire department offices, so far no criminal charges have been filed.
Bailey Loosemoore, The Courier-Journal:
Hatfield is currently under investigation for fraud concerning how the fire district spends tax dollars and has faced suspicions of conflict of interest concerning his multiple roles as fire chief, chairman of the district’s board of trustees and vice chair of the corporation, a nonprofit the district contracted to provide fire protection services.
The long-time chief already resigned from his position on the district board earlier this month in response to citizen complaints and his removal from the position by the Bullitt Fiscal Court.
Investigations into the fire district’s finances are currently being conducted by the Bullitt County Sheriff’s Office, the state’s Auditor of Public Accounts, the Kentucky Fire Commission and the FBI.
