Major resignations following the appointment of new Police Chief in the City of Jasper

Jasper Mayor Anderson Land has released a statement regarding recent resignations following the appointment last night of Jasper Police Lieutenant Garrett Foster.

ETB has reached out to Foster for a comment, but as of 4:43 pm Wednesday, we have not heard back from him.

Our media partners at 12NEWS spoke to Mike Poindexter today. In that interview Poindexter stated, "I cannot work for an individual who I do not find trustworthy or believe has the department or city's best interest at heart"

Lands statement in its entirety;

In the past months, the City of Jasper has a new City Manager Greg Kelley, due to the former City Manager Denise Kelley, who retired in January 2024, due to Police Chief Gerald Hall, who retired in March of this year. We had Interim Chief Mike Poindexter who I am sad to say resigned today due to the appointment of our new Chief of Police Garrett Foster who was just appointed last night by the city council at the November 12, 2024, city council meeting.

The City Attorney Michael S. Ratcliff has also resigned effective November 15, 2024, and today, District 1 Councilman Marcus Barber resigned his position effective immediately.

Yes, we have a lot going on in the City of Jasper Texas but just like everything else that has happened in the city, and the things the City of Jasper has gone through, we will persevere.

I had a conversation this morning with the incoming City of Jasper Chief of Police Garrett Foster, and we discussed his vision for the future of the Police Department and the direction he would like the department to go. We had an honest conversation about how I felt about his selection as chief and my preference was Interim Chief Poindexter, but no matter who the city council chose out of the three well-qualified applicants we would work toward a common goal to do what is right for the citizen, the police department of the city and in my opinion, in the position as Chief he will have to prove himself as a leader and earn the respect of the department officers and staff.

Good luck to incoming Chief Garrett Foster.