The Williamson Herald in Tennessee broke the story last Thursday. According to the Herald, Winslow was one of 78 applicants and will start work on Jan. 19 overseeing field operations and special operations for the department. Franklin, population 83,000, is smaller than Springfield, which has a population of about 115,000.
Winslow could not immediately be reached for comment.
Winslow stepped into a mess when he was appointed chief by former Mayor Mike Houston in 2013, when former chief Rob Williams was forced to resign after the department bungled a Freedom of Information Act request for officer disciplinary files. Instead of releasing files, the department shredded them, and the city ended up paying six figures to settle a lawsuit. Winslow, who jumped over others to win the top job, was not the odds-on choice – Houston at the time said that he got the nod because there could be no question that he’d had any knowledge of or played any role in destruction of documents requested by Calvin Christian, whose father runs Pure News USA, a Springfield newspaper.
PHOTO BY BRUCE RUSHTON
Police chief Kenny Winslow, in white shirt, is leaving Springfield for Tennessee.
Winslow wasn’t a lock to stay chief when Mayor Jim Langfelder won election in 2015. The mayor appointed a committee and held a series of community forums before announcing that he’d stick with Winslow. The police union in 2017 proclaimed no confidence in the chief, with Langfelder then praising Winslow's performance. Winslow also negotiated shoals since the killing of George Floyd last spring, at once defending police while also acknowledging room for improvement. Winslow has been blunt, and sometimes emotional, while telling the city council where the police department stands.
“Officers want to know if the council’s got their back because, at some point, we’re going to use force that’s going to be ugly,” Winslow said last fall, when the council approved a reform ordinance that put into statute what already was in department policy. “And then are you going to support them? Are you going to stand up or are you going to throw them under the bus?”
If you were Winslow, would you be looking for another job?
“I can’t put myself in his shoes,” answers Ward 7 Ald. Joe McMenamin. “If he takes a position in Franklin, it’s a loss, because he’s served our community well.”
Teresa Haley, president of the Springfield and state chapters of the NAACP, said that she’s spoken with Winslow and hasn’t lost hope that he might stay.
“We’ve worked so hard to build community relations between the police department and the Black community,” Haley said. “I hope we have a chance to make a counter-offer and keep him here. … He has definitely gone above and beyond in terms of recruitment and retention of Black officers.”
Haley says she doesn’t fault Winslow for leaving.
“If it gives you an opportunity to make more money and to get another pension at his age and his children still growing, why not?” Haley said. “I think he’s pretty much done all he can.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
