Milner Police Chief Resigns With Officers After Accusing Mayor of Placing Tracking Device on His Vehicle, Unsettling the Georgia Town

MILNER, GA — Milner’s police chief and his full-time officers are leaving their posts after Chief Lamar Bunn said the mayor put a tracking device on his vehicle without permission. Bunn made the accusation during Monday’s City Council meeting, turning a local government gathering into a public confrontation over trust inside the small Georgia town’s police department.

City Administrator Tausha Grose is also stepping down, adding to the leadership shake-up. The departures leave questions about how police services will be handled in a community of about 1,000 residents. Spectrum News Georgia said it contacted city and Lamar County leaders about the situation and the effect on public safety in the town.

Chief Lamar Bunn raises accusation at City Council meeting

The dispute became public when Bunn told council members that Mayor Craig Timmons had placed a tracking device on his vehicle. The accusation was described as shocking because it came from the town’s top police officer during an open meeting, not behind closed doors.

No additional details were immediately provided about when the device was allegedly installed, how it was discovered, or whether any law enforcement review has begun. The claim, however, was serious enough to coincide with the chief’s departure and the exit of the department’s full-time officers, signaling a breakdown in the working relationship between town leaders and police leadership.

Police leadership in a town of about one thousand is unraveling

Milner is a small town in Lamar County, and the loss of its chief and full-time officers is significant because there are few people to absorb the workload. In a community this size, police coverage often depends on a very small staff, so even one resignation can affect response times, scheduling, and continuity of service.

The situation became more serious because the city administrator is also leaving. That means the town is losing key administrative and public safety leadership at the same time, creating uncertainty about who will oversee operations and how day-to-day policing will continue while the city works through the fallout.

Mayor Craig Timmons has not addressed the tracking allegation directly

According to The Herald Gazette, Mayor Craig Timmons did not answer directly when asked whether he tracked the police chief. That leaves the central accusation unresolved in public, with no immediate explanation from the mayor about the device or the circumstances surrounding it.

The lack of a direct comment adds to the tension around the resignations. For now, the city has not publicly laid out its next steps, and the allegation remains at the center of a dispute that has already reached the council chamber and triggered departures across the town’s leadership.

Questions now center on public safety and city operations

Spectrum News Georgia said it contacted city and Lamar County leaders about the scandal and about police services in Milner. Those questions matter because the town is small enough that losing several leaders at once can quickly affect basic government functions.

Residents are left to wonder how patrols, emergency calls, and administrative duties will be handled in the near term. The city has not publicly detailed a transition plan, and no formal statement in the available reporting explains whether county authorities will step in temporarily or whether the town will seek immediate replacements for the departing officials.

A leadership dispute leaves the town facing an uncertain transition

What began as an allegation about a vehicle tracker has now widened into a broader crisis of confidence in Milner’s local government. With the police chief gone, the full-time officers leaving, and the city administrator stepping down, the town is facing a sudden and potentially complicated transition.

For a community of about 1,000 people, even a short disruption in police leadership can have an outsized impact. The coming days are likely to determine whether the city can restore stability quickly or whether the rift between officials will continue to shape how Milner’s public safety system operates.