Pine Bluff City Councilman Ivan Whitfield on Monday said when he first heard the news that Mayor Shirley Washington had fired Police Chief Kelvin Sergeant, he thought it “was crazy.”

Appearing on the Oldies 101.3 morning show, Whitfield said he “thought it was not the right time.”

He and four other members of the council had sponsored a resolution asking that Sergeant he reinstated and had set a meeting of the council for Monday to do that. However, the Mayor, in a press release early Saturday morning, announced that Sergeant was being reinstated.

Whitfield was asked why he thought getting rid of Sergeant was a bad idea?

When asked, Whitfield said those 10 slots had been removed from the budget and could not be filled but at a recent public safety committee meeting, Sergeant said there are currently about 12 positions that are open and Sergeant is trying to fill them.

He was than asked how to do go about recruiting officers?

In addition to Whitfield, Council Members Steven Mays, Bruce Lockett, Lloyd Holcomb Jr., and Donald Hatchett cosponsored the resolution asking the Mayor to reinstate Sergeant. It takes six votes to override the Mayor and Whitfield said the community reaction to the firing was the sixth vote.