Whitley 911 Center Director resigns will likely have new director soon

Chuck Davis

Whitley County will soon have a new 911 director.

Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. said the 911 Board has called a special meeting for 9 a.m. Thursday where it will vote to hire Jason Wilson as the new 911 director. Wilson will replace Chuck Davis, who tendered his resignation last week.
"There have been some discussions amongst some of the board members and myself. A candidate that had applied before, Jason Wilson, emerged," White said. "I think he is going to take the position."

Wilson is currently a state probation and parole officer and is a former Corbin Police Officer and Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy.
"Jason is a very even keeled man, who will do a good job and bring a kind of steadying influence to the 911 center. Often, it is a very hectic facility with the 40,000 plus calls a year that go through there. Hopefully he will be a stabilizing force to help us run a professional center," White said.

Current 911 Director Chuck Davis tendered his resignation Thursday and his last day on the job will be Feb. 12.

Davis said he is resigning solely because of various health issues that have left him unable to continue doing the job.

"It has nothing to do with 911 or the 911 board, Judge Pat White, the magistrates or anybody," Davis said. "My health won’t allow it any more. There is no other reason. I always said if I can’t do it, I won’t do it."

Over the last several months, the Whitley County 911 Board has dealt with the controversial resignation of four of its key members, including: former chairman Jerry Rains, a Director with the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management; Second-District Constable Ron "Bubba" Bowling; Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird and Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell, who all resigned from the board in late November 2013.

Shortly after resigning, Bird said in November that he left the board out of frustration when measures it would pass were not implemented. The issue came to a head after the board voted on Nov. 14 to demote E911 Services Assistant Director Jessica Taylor to dispatcher for allegedly failing to properly "validate" stolen items entered in NCIC – a nationwide criminal database that, among other things, allows law enforcement personnel to identify property that has been stolen and reunite it with proper owners when it is found.

The NCIC system requires that items entered into it periodically be reviewed and validated to show they are still a part of active criminal investigations. Bird said protocol on that "validation" process requires the dispatch center to contact case officers and/or victims to see if the items are still missing.

Davis said that he doesn’t have a clue what he will be doing next after his resignation takes effect. He currently plans to explore future avenues and see what comes up.

Davis said that he will miss the people he works with the most.

"The people I work with, I love them. They are a second family," he added.

Davis has served as Whitley County 911 Director since June 2010.

Before starting the position of 911 Director/Chief of the Whitley County Police Department, Davis served 30 years in law enforcement as a police officer. He spent 10 years as Williamsburg Police Chief and worked as a detective at the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department for several years.

In January, Davis was elected as chairperson of the Whitley County 911 Board.

White said that Davis will be missed.

"Chuck has done a good job at the 911 center. He has brought on a lot of new policy and procedures and standards that he and the board had worked to put in place," White said. "I wish Chuck well in his retirement. He is a good man who has served this county and the city of Williamsburg for a long time in many different duties."

In addition to serving as 911 director, Wilson, who is a certified police officer, will also hold the position of Chief of the Whitley County Police Department.

"He wants to keep his training hours up. The intention is to swear him in as Whitley County Police Chief as well," White said.
While Wilson doesn’t have to get certified as a 911 operator to serve as 911 director, White said that is something the county would like for him to do and Wilson has expressed a willingness to do that, White added.