This May Explain Why Police Chief Was Absent So Often

Residents of the small coastal town of Southport, North Carolina, won't be seeing any of their local police officers for a while. Instead, Brunswick County deputies will be taking over because the town's entire police department has been shut down amid a corruption scandal, reports WECT. It's a doozy: Prosecutors say Police Chief Gary Smith and Lt. Michael Simmons were regularly off working a second job with a trucking company while they were supposedly on duty. Sometimes they weren't even in the state, let alone the town, according to the charges against them.

As a result, the department was like a leader-less "ghost ship," local district attorney Jon David tells WWAY. He adds that it was police officers who first came forward with complaints, which led to a joint state and federal investigation. Smith, 46, and Simmons, 48, face charges of conspiracy to obtain property by false pretenses, willful failure to discharge duties, and obstruction of justice.