RESIGNED: Police Chief Thurman

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 23 years and have been with the Town of Luther for seven years. I want the Town to know I’m here for the Town of Luther and safety of the people. I will always have an open door for the citizens of Luther to come to me with their concerns. Along with my fellow officers in town, we will work together to get through this as a team while I’m in the position as acting chief,” Deputy Chief Mike Class told The Luther Register.

In a one-sentence resignation letter, Marcus Thurman ended eleven years as Luther’s Police Chief on Thursday.

The resignation was announced after an hour long executive session of the Town Board Thursday evening regarding his employment. Thurman did not attend the meeting.

Waiting on the sidewalk outside of Town Hall during the Town Board’s executive session.

In open session, the Board accepted the resignation but was unable to take action on who would be the interim chief. We have learned that Chief Thurman was put on administrative leave on Tuesday of this week, and Sgt. Mike Oliver who has been with LPD for almost ten years was named interim chief.

Sgt. Mike Oliver. A photograph of Deputy Chief Class Mike Class is not on the police department’s page on the Town website.

At Thursday’s meeting, Trustee Paxton Cavin moved to name Sgt. Oliver interim chief, but the motion failed to receive a second, and failed. Another motion by Mayor Jenni White to name Oliver chief until a Special Meeting would be called early next week also failed.

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Some, including members of LPD and even the police chief of Arcadia, questioned why Sgt. Oliver was named interim chief over Deputy Chief Mike Class to respect police rank and procedure. But apparently Deputy Class has been on medical leave. Late Thursday night, Class told The Luther Register he is doing better under doctor’s care and is looking forward to continuing his service to the Town.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 23 years and have been with the Town of Luther for seven years. I want the Town to know I’m here for the Town of Luther and safety of the people. I will always have an open door for the citizens of Luther to come to me with their concerns.

Along with my fellow officers in town, we will work together to get through this as a team while I’m in the position as acting chief,” Deputy Chief Mike Class told The Luther Register.

Going forward, the police department will meet Friday with Cavin. In addition, it is expected that a call for applications for police chief will be announced soon.

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