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Hampshire County reprimands Chief Hamrick over Chief 360 demo; two-week unpaid leave and six-month probation imposed
Summary
After an administrative hearing into the rollout of Chief 360 alerting software, Hampshire County commissioners reprimanded Chief Hamrick, approved a two-week unpaid administrative leave and set a six-month probation requiring clarified communication protocols with the 911 center and advisory board.
Commissioners for Hampshire County on Monday issued a formal reprimand and personnel penalties to Chief Hamrick following an administrative hearing about the department’s trial of Chief 360 alerting software.
Chief Hamrick told the commission he had arranged a vendor demo because the county’s existing system, Active 911, had failed to reliably deliver address and incident details, at times sending only GPS coordinates. “I did not properly go through and speak with an 911 center,” Chief Hamrick said, acknowledging a lapse in judgment. He told commissioners he had not released CAD login information and that his intent was to shorten response times and improve public and responder safety.
The commission reviewed communications and advisory-board materials and said the advisory board had recommended administrative action for failing to follow chain-of-command procedures. Commissioners debated the appropriate sanction and voted to impose a two-week administrative leave without pay beginning at the next pay period; the motion passed with recorded voice votes including two ayes and one nay. The commission also approved a separate motion to place Chief Hamrick on a six-month probationary period with explicit expectations for communication with the county 911 center, the HCSA advisory board, and procedures governing future software rollouts; the terms are to be finalized by the commission within 10 days.
Commissioners emphasized that the reprimand addresses procedure and communication, not the value of the department’s work. One commissioner said, “a good deed is not erased by a fault,” and commissioners urged the county to clarify policies and pathways for interdepartmental coordination so similar breakdowns do not recur.
The actions followed an executive session called for personnel deliberations. Commissioners reported no final decisions were made while in executive session and completed votes in open session.
The commission directed staff to draft the probation terms within the stated 10-day window. No dismissal was ordered; the measures are administrative in scope and tied to clarifying communication and oversight procedures going forward.
