Community, officers respond to Chadbourn officer’s termination

CHADBOURN, NC (WWAY) — Ricky Soles said he was fired from the Chadbourn Police Department over a post he made on Facebook. Tuesday we went out to talk with members of the community to see how they feel about the situation.

The people we talked to tonight all agreed on one thing, that they believe comments made on Facebook by Soles were inappropriate, especially from a member of the law enforcement community.

“I feel like it was terrible,” said Brionna Graham. “His comments should have been kept to himself.”

The post reads in part: “You are 13% of the population but you commit 65% of the crime.” Soles said he is referring to criminals, but some feel that the post has racial connotations.

Some of those we spoke with said the post itself doesn’t really matter to them personally.

“But it mattered to a lot of other people because it’s like, we live in Chadbourn. We see you everyday. And then you talk down on the people that you’re supposed to be protecting,” said Kaitlen Graham.

We spoke with Soles on the phone Tuesday night. He said two officers have quit the force because of this situation. One of those officers was Soles partner, Mark Corder.

We spoke with Corder as well, he said he believed it was in his best interest to resign.

Soles said he was denied an appeal and that the city does not have a social media policy. When asked if he would fight for his job, he said he doesn’t know if he would return.