The Mobile City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to fire Police Chief Paul Prine in a move that seemed less as a finality to the recent turmoil that has engulfed the city’s administration in recent weeks, and more of a beginning to what could become a fierce 2025 mayoral race.

“I think it’s 100 percent political,” said Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, when asked after the council meeting whether next year’s mayoral race emboldened Prine to lash out publicly against his boss after being placed on paid administrative leave on April 9.

Stimpson, who said he’s running for re-election in 2025, blamed Prine for creating a saga that has “tarnished the reputation of several career employees who have done nothing wrong,” and for which has created “strife and division within the city.”

Prine, police chief since 2021, who acknowledged the recent calls for him to run for mayor next year, warned the administration “there is more information to come,” and said he could not support a severance package with the city administration that he believes would have silenced him.

“I am a man of faith,” Prine said. “I will let the good Lord lead me where I’m going with (my next move). When one door shuts, another will open.”

Asked if that next door will lead to a mayoral run, Prine said, “I never had an inclination to run. Who knows? Maybe I will.”

Mobile’s municipal elections are on Aug. 26, 2025 – almost 16 months away.

Prine later told AL.com that he does not have “political aspirations at all despite what you are hearing from the community” and that a run for mayor wasn’t a motivating factor behind his actions over the past month.

“I think under the circumstances this was never political for me,” Prine said. “As far as I’m concerned there is no coordinated effort or conversation or talk as it relates to me or anyone else in my circle (running for mayor in 2025). Running for mayor is the last thing on my mind when I’m fighting for a job and having transparency and grievances and other issues I’m dealing with (considered). I’m surprised to hear Sandy is making this about politics.”

Prine also said that “only time will tell if Sandy remains to be a valid candidate for mayor” next year.

He elaborated by saying, “what they are hearing from the community is that this is a problem Sandy has to overcome. It doesn’t mean the community has the public confidence (in the administration). I don’t wish him ill or that of his administration. But threatening to disparage me for not taking an ultimatum is problematic for him, and not me.”

Investigations

The politics of a possible Stimpson-Prine battle could play out amid multiple investigations. The Mobile City Council, which voted unanimously to terminate Prine, voted 6-1 to proceed with a third-party investigation into the allegations the chief has made about improprieties with contract and administering public safety within the Stimpson administration.

The council’s resolution requires that it appoint a special counsel to handle the investigation, and report with the City Council their findings within 45 days of their appointment. Councilman Joel Daves was the only “No” vote. He said an investigation by the council was “futile” and urged that the matter be turned over to an agency with prosecutorial powers.

Stimpson’s administration did that earlier in the day, when they forwarded contracts and other investigative materials to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office to investigate. That investigation comes after two internal probes were completed by Burr & Foreman and the city’s Office of Professional Responsibility. Neither investigation turned up any criminal or ethical misconduct, according to Stimpson. City Attorney Ricardo Woods is a lawyer at Burr & Foreman.

Stimpson said he is aware that residents are not satisfied with internal investigations only, which he said is a reason why he is forwarding investigative matters to Marshall’s office.

“There is no higher investigative authority in the State of Alabama than the Attorney General,” Stimpson said.

He later said he did not believe a city council investigation, at the cost of taxpayers’ money, would do very little aside from adding another opinion into the mix from someone without prosecutorial powers.

“The investigation that is the most productive has to do with the Attorney General, which we’ve teed up and sent to him with information,” Stimpson said. “The City Council has a right to do further investigations, but I think the best investigation is from those equipped to do it and those with prosecutorial powers if they find something wrong.”

Stimpson said Marshall’s office first received the city’s request earlier on Tuesday. The Attorney General’s Office has yet to comment.

Some council members said they wanted to authorize their own investigation for the sake of transparency and rebuilding public trust. They cited an online poll, conducted by WPMI-TV, that showed a whopping 81% responding that they do not have faith in city leaders.

Council members, before voting to pursue an investigation, engaged in a tense dispute over the extent at which an investigation should be conducted. Councilman William Carroll argued that the council needed to hire an independent investigator to analyze Prine’s concerns, while other council members wanted to write the resolution that gave an option to investigate – but not making it a necessity.

Councilman Ben Reynolds said deciding whether to hire an investigator should be determined by an investigative committee of the city council. Carroll, however, said “it should include a third party.”

Prine, after the council meeting, said he’s uncertain “what will come” from a council investigation.

“I have no input on what it is they will be investigating,” Prine said, criticizing the council for not asking him to attend a prior closed-door executive session to hear about his complaints.

Messy exit

The fallout of the chief’s job started publicly on April 9, after Prine was placed on paid leave by Stimpson. It was also at this same time that Stimpson declined Prine’s request for a $600,000 severance. The mayor has said he was attempting to assemble a more competitive separation agreement that was more in line with Prine’s existing salary. Prine currently earns $146,208 as police chief.

Prine said he declined an alternative severance offer, saying it included an “ultimatum” for him to not disparage the city administration.

“Who in their right mind would take a one-sided non-disparagement clause that allows the city to continue to disparage the chief which in essence gags me where I can’t say anything or rebuttal back to comments made (against me),” Prine said.

Prine’s exit as chief has been messy and started in November shortly after the Stimpson administration hired former U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown to investigate the policies and procedures on the use of force within the Mobile Police Department.

Brown’s report was released last week and illustrated a host of damaging claims of illegal behavior, aggressive and demeaning tactics by Mobile police in handling arrests with Black residents. Of the six cases examined by Brown, four of them resulted in fatal encounters with a police officer.

The report also blasted Prine’s leadership style, concluding that his recent behavior since April 9 was “emblematic of his autocratic tendencies” that can be connected to creating a police culture with unconstitutional and demeaning behavior toward Black residents.

Prine began discrediting the report before it was released. He said on Tuesday that he doesn’t know whether to be “flattered or humiliated” that the city spent tax dollars “to bring in an outside (investigator) to do what I consider a very poor investigation that was certainly one-sided.”

Prine has also raised questions about Brown and Chief of Staff James Barber – once the city’s police chief – inclusion as representatives on the board of directors with Project Thrive, an initiative of Mobile police that provides assistance to citizens victimized by violent crime.

“The fact that they did not make a full disclosure that both Brown and Barber are on Project Thrive as a director is problematic,” Prine said. “It shines a shade over transparency.”

Stimpson said that Prine’s criticism is an “alleged irregularity that does not have legs” and is an attempt to toss out a claim “for the media to chase and create controversy.”

Policing future

Stimpson, meanwhile, said there is no decision on how the city will pursue a full-time police chief to replace Prine. Assistant Police Chief William “Randy” Jackson is serving as the interim chief, and Stimpson credited him with demonstrating “the character and leadership needed to keep MPD focused on its core mission.”

“The men and women of MPD put their lives on the line every day to protect our community,” Stimpson said. “They deserve clear leadership without continued negative distraction.”

He added, “I want officers, the men and women, to know that we will support them and continue to provide them the tools and resources needed to continue to have them do their job. That means rebuilding trust in the community. That means working with other law enforcement agencies, also the judicial system, non-profits and non-profits to fight crime. We’ll fight it at every angle.”

Prine urged the officers at agency he is leaving behind to “continue to do your job.”

“Remember, mission first,” he said. “It’s not about the chief or the politics. It’s about serving and protecting the community. I expect you’ll continue that very thing you’ve been doing for the last 2-1/2 years.”