There was quite the discussion at the Social Circle city council meeting last week. Concerned citizens verbally attacked the Mayor Jim Burgess and the police Chief Robert Fox. Some of the charges against the police department were potentially very serious.

The investigation is ongoing — we don’t know whether the accusations of police gone wild in Social Circle are true or not, but we do know that the city has gotten a reputation as a speed trap by folks living in the surrounding areas.

The former police chief of Social Circle was replaced by city manager Doug White last year and the current chief Robert Fox was hired to correct whatever problems the department had that caused the former chief to be replaced. We believed at the time that the city was less than forthright on the reasons for the replacement.

We know Fox from his previous position as city manager of Porterdale and we found him to be an honorable man.

We believe Social Circle is poised to become the leading city of Walton County in the next 20 years, and the city does not need doubts on the reliability of its police force to linger any longer.

We suggest that the mayor the city manager and the police chief hold a series of community open forums to discuss issues involving the police department.

If changes need to be made as a result of the findings at those meetings, they should be made quickly and publicly.