Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton said he is committed to retaining his position despite a local police organization’s call for his resignation this week.

The Columbia Fraternal Order of Police released a statement Wednesday requesting Burton’s removal, citing policy violations, misleading public statements and the mishandling of former officer Rob Sanders’ case.

“Our members have been asking us for quite a while to take some sort of action,” CFOP Executive Director Ashley Cuttle said. “We didn’t want to ask for (Burton’s) resignation without working with him first, which we’ve been trying to do for several months.”

The organization met with City Manager Mike Matthes and presented more than 300 pages of evidence detailing Burton’s violation of department policy and city ordinances, Cuttle said. Approximately 140 of Columbia’s 160 police officers belong to the organization, and this action has been in the works for a while, Cuttle said.

The [CFOP statement](https://themaneater.com/media/cfop_statement.pdf) referenced negativity, disparaging remarks and questionable integrity as grounds for Burton’s removal.

“He made disparaging remarks that harm the department and the reputation of the officers,” Cuttle said. “He’s made untruthful and misleading statements. Our review is to show the city manager and the community how they were untruthful and misleading.”

Burton released a statement Thursday affirming his commitment to stay at CPD.

“Based on the (independent department review released in April), the Columbia City Manager has created a ‘roadmap’ for the future of the Columbia Police Department,” according to Burton’s statement. “My commitment to providing superior law enforcement services to our citizens and the success of the CPD is unwavering, and I intend to see it through.”

Following the [department review](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2012/3/20/columbia-police-open-department-changes-following-/) that included several recommendations for department changes, Matthes sent a letter to City Council that promised to review upper management at CPD.

“I will personally conduct these reviews,” the letter stated. “These reviews are my first priority and I will be working to accomplish them by the end of the May.”

Matthes has the authority to make the ultimate decision about Burton. After the independent review was completed, Matthes said he planned to keep Burton in his position, but Cuttle said the statement was hasty.

“I told the city manager before that asking the chief to stay was premature since the review has not been completed,” she said. “His communication to the public makes me skeptical, but I believe him when he says he will take our review into consideration.”

The executive board of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, an organization with more than 5,000 members in law enforcement across the state, supports removing Burton and voted unanimously to condemn his actions toward former CPD officer Rob Sanders.

Sanders, an 18-year veteran of CPD, was the subject of an internal investigation after an altercation in a holding cell in August. The Internal Affairs investigation reported the claims against Sanders were unfounded and no action should be taken, but Burton fired Sanders in September.

Since CFOP released its statement, several groups have spoken out in support of Burton. Keep Columbia Free, a local organization that works to protect civil liberties, [posted on its website](http://www.keepcolumbiafree.com/blog/police-labor-unions-beset-burton/) in Burton’s defense.

“Burton has done his best to reform a troubled department despite the foot-dragging of veteran officers,” Keep Columbia Free President Mark Flakne wrote.

The group has teamed up with the Missouri Civil Liberties Association to circulate an online petition calling for Burton to continue as police chief. The petition had nearly 300 signatures as of Thursday night.

“Once the credibility and integrity of a law enforcement officer has been irreversibly compromised, that officer can no longer be effective in that role,” the release stated. “This standard also applies to Chief Burton.”