Fired Campbell officer reappointed to force withdraws application

CAMPBELL

A police officer fired in 2014 for inappropriate contact with a student has withdrawn his application after being reappointed last month to the city police department.

Mayor Nick Phillips confirmed to The Vindicator at about 5 p.m. today that the city had rehired Russell Beatty III on April 26.

In a subsequent conversation with the newspaper less than half an hour later, however, Phillips seemed to contest the notion that Beatty had been officially hired — noting that the results of background checks had not yet come in. During that conversation, Phillips said: “There’s some things that have been brought to my attention and I want to look into it more.”

The mayor stated that Beatty was in the process of training and was not yet out on the road.

Later, Phillips called the paper at about 6:15 p.m. to say Beatty had withdrawn his application. Phillips said Beatty’s decision was a personal one and did not come at the mayor’s urging.

Read more about the situation in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.