Rincon City Council voted unanimously to dismiss Police Chief Michael Berry and another officer Wednesday night for failure to carry out directives issued by the mayor and council.

Berry and Detective Scott Collins, whom council members also voted to dismiss, were not present at the meeting but were told later Wednesday night of the decision. Council members also directed City Attorney Raymond Dickey to begin an investigation regarding possible dissension among Rincon police officers.

“It’s not any one particular thing,” Mayor Ken Lee said of what led to the worries over the department and Berry’s ultimate removal. “It’s come about in a rather short time. It’s difficult when you’re dismissing a police chief. You know what that could do to your department. We felt like it was necessary.”

The dramatic moves stemmed from a marathon executive session Monday night at the regular Rincon City Council meeting. Nearly a dozen city employees, including several officers, spoke individually with council members in closed door meetings that, according to Georgia Press Association attorney David Hudson, violated state open meetings statutes.

Lee said council members became worried quickly over possible divisions among the police officers as a result of the one-on-one discussions.

“That became pretty evident to us Monday night,” Lee said.

He also did not disclose what directive Berry and Collins did not follow that was cited in the motion to dismiss them from the force.

“There were clear instructions to them, and they failed to follow those instructions,” he said.

Yet Wednesday night’s action by city council may not be the final word in the matter. Berry has contacted Police Benevolent Association attorneys and is weighing his options on filing a grievance. He also he still has not been told why he was being let go.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said Thursday. “I still have no idea. I have not been advised of any allegations. I’ve never been given any documentation. I’ve never been told what I violated.

“There’s a lot of things that aren’t making sense. I’m very upset.”

Berry was placed on suspension early Tuesday morning, following the lengthy executive session.

“I was told I was on suspension to protect myself,” he said.

He was escorted to his office to retrieve personal belongings, and Berry said he also spoke with Councilman Levi Scott while he was there. They discussed a problem with the city’s probations department.

Monday night’s executive session ended at 3:22 a.m. Tuesday. Berry was the last person council members interviewed and he was behind closed doors for less than 10 minutes. Berry indicated afterward that council members did not ask him any questions.

Wednesday’s executive session lasted nearly two hours, but council members did not interview any more city employees.

Police officers and employees were asked to go to Monday’s meeting to show their support for the chief.

“We wanted to clear the allegations and rumors,” Berry said. “The city council was getting only one side of the story, and those stories are malicious, improper and wrong. To this day, I have not been asked any questions about any allegations.”

Lee said Dickey is to begin his investigation immediately and he will be asked to take as much time as he needs to conduct it.

Berry had been on the job less than six months, replacing Chief David Schofield, who resigned in early March. Rincon will be searching for its fourth police chief in a little more than two years.

The search for a new chief will begin as soon as possible, Lee said. In the interim, Sgt. Brian Boatright will be the lead officer for the department. Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie also has volunteered his assistance and that of his department’s.

“We appreciate the sheriff being able and willing to do that,” Lee said.

There are currently 14 positions slotted for the Rincon Police Department with 10 officers on duty. There have been four new officers to join the department since Berry came on board.

“We’re asking the officers to pull together,” Lee said. “It’s very troubling. This will be a very difficult time to get through. We’re going to be operating short-handed.”

The department is waiting on some recruits to finish the police academy and was in the process of hiring another detective.

Berry had been with the Newport News Police Department for 17 years and was most recently a shift supervisor with the South precinct there.

He also may challenge the city for what he said is its failure to follow due process in his removal.

“I never got one opportunity to address any allegations or rumors. To this day, I still don’t know what they are,” he said. “I did everything I was supposed to do. I took a pay cut to come here. For five and a half months, I was there seven days a week, without my family.”

Berry said he tried to change the appearance and attitude of the officers to a more professional level.

“I have done everything I was supposed to do. They wanted me to reorganize the police department. … And this is the thanks I get,” he said. “I got a phone call — that’s how this was handled.

“My (police force) was less than what I had on one shift (in Newport News). I left because I thought I was going to a community with low crime and good schools. It was such a pie-in-the-sky thing, it was worth it. I wanted to be chief of police. I wanted to do something good. The city council I thought supported me wound up not supporting me.”