Fulton Police Chief Allen Poole announces his retirement

May 29, 2026

The following was posted on Fulton Police Chief Allen's Poole Facebook page on Fri., May 29.

Statement from Fulton Police Chief Allen Poole

On May 21, 2026, I received a Notice of Suspension from the City of Fulton, later amended to a suspension with pay. The Notice rested on two allegations: that I used my City-issued police cruiser across state lines for personal reasons, and that I "berated" a commissioner and pounded my fists on a table after being asked to leave. I deny these allegations, and I am releasing this statement so the public has the facts.

Allegation One: Use of the City Cruiser

My purpose for the trip to Union City was not for personal reasons. I traveled there in my capacity as Chief of Police, to address the interrogation request and the investigation matters discussed below.
Even if the trip were treated as personal, my use of my assigned cruiser fell squarely within the City of Fulton's own written Personnel Policy. The Policy's provision on assigned City vehicles states that an employee assigned a vehicle keeps and maintains it "for business and personal use during the time of assignment." The Policy authorizes both business and personal use - not business use alone.
As Chief of Police, Iam subject to 24-hour on-call duty and must be available to the City at all hours, which makes my position eligible for vehicle assignment under the Policy.Other Ful ton department heads, including the Fire Chief and the Director of Public Works, have for years used their assigned City vehicles forlocal personalstops without discipline. That is the City's own settled practice.Union City sits a short drive south of Fulton on a regional corridor that City personnel and residents travelroutinely.

Allegation Two: The Encounter at the Union City Business

I deny the Notice's account of my visit. My visit was not about any disciplinary action against me. I went to speak with the Commissioner about an interrogation request the City had directed to me - a request connected to an investigation the Police Department had conducted into a public official. The conversation also included an inquiry about the possibility of an investigation into another public official. The matter concerned my official duties as Chief of Police.The conversation was firm and passionate but was not menacing or inappropriate in any way.
I did not berate the Commissioner. I did not pound my fists on the table. I did tap it three times within a single sentence for emphasis on the words I was speaking. In response to one of the commissioner's questions, Isaid, "No,no, no," with three corresponding taps. There was no threat, no raised voice that any reasonable person would call threatening, and no physical contact of any kind. The allegations identify no witness, and no one present had cause to fear for their safety.
I was never asked to leave.Our conversation ended when the Commissioner stated that he needed to go. I left at that point.
How the conversation ended is telling. As I wasleaving, one of the last things the Commissioner said to me was an assurance of his past support for me and his continued support going forward.Those are not the words of a person who had just been on the receiving end of the conduct the allegations describe.
In my view, the Notice's wording-pairing dramatic, specific physical claims such as "berated" and "pounded your fists on the table" with conditional disclaimers such as "if true" and "apparently" reads as prepared advocacy rather than a contemporaneous account from a witness. Thatlanguage was supplied to the account rather than drawn from it. It was drafted to support a predetermined conclusion, not reported by a witness describing what he saw.

Workplace Violence and "Conduct Unbecoming"
The City's Workplace Violence Policy is not implicated.The allegations describe no threat, no act of violence, no abusive conduct of the type the policy addresses, and no statement that any person feared harm. There is also a contradiction in the City's position: it describes my trip as "personal," yet the Workplace Violence Policy applies only to conduct whi e performing City job duties. Both cannot be true.
I deny these allegations without qualification. I followed the City's own policy, and Iconducted myself appropriately.
Nothing in this statement is intended as an accusation of wrongdoing or an allegation of untruthfulness or bad faith against any person or the City. My purpose is not to assign blame, but to ensure that the community Ihave served for nearly twenty-five years has access to my account of the facts before drawing its own conclusions. I have served this community with integrity and am deeply hurt and saddened by these recent events. I continue to wish the very best for the people of Fulton and will always be grateful for the privilege of having served them.