DAYTON, Ky. — Vice Mayor Cathy Volter said Wednesday's resignations of the police chief and a police sergeant have left the city's police department in “disarray.”

        A fellow member of council, however, disagreed.

        “It is very sad it had to come down to this,” said Ms. Volter, a member of the city's safety committee.

        “I thought Chief (Greg) Aylor ran a very professional police department. It is a shame the line of communication wasn't opened enough to clear up problems before they got to this point.”

        Ms. Volter said Chief Aylor, 33, took a pay cut to become a patrolman in Erlanger because he was frustrated with a lack of support from council. This lack of support, culminating in a 6-2 vote to accept the chief's resignation Wednesday night, came from “personality conflicts” and a frustration with budgetary problems, the vice mayor said.

        “I have no such regrets that this guy (Chief Aylor) is gone,” said Councilman Dennis Ashford. “Good riddance.”

        Mr. Ashford said Chief Aylor's philosophy didn't match that of the council. He said the council wanted a community-oriented chief who walks the streets.

        He criticized Chief Aylor for staying in his office, living in Union, Ky., and not attending community functions.

        Veteran police officer Sgt. Gary Linn also resigned Wednesday night. Sgt. Linn, who joined the Dayton force after retiring from Covington Police, declined to say why he was leaving. But Councilman Ken Rankle, also a member of the safety committee, said Sgt. Linn supported Chief Aylor.

        “I don't think anyone talked about firing Chief Aylor,” said Mr. Rankle. “He was just tired of the hassles. I guess he felt the lack of support was the key issue.”

        Dayton Police had to eliminate its Drug Abuse Resistance Program (DARE) and canine unit after positions were frozen by last year's budgetary concerns.

        Ms. Volter said the council had agreed that any city position open through attrition would be frozen in order to keep the city within budget.

        “Failure by the administration to recognize the necessity of maintaining the department at full strength has resulted in the loss of positive programs which benefit the residents of Dayton,” Chief Aylor said just before his resignation.

        Chief Aylor said there were 10 officers when he took over the department in October 1999. Wednesday night's resignations leave five active officers. Chief Aylor said four of them have been looking for new jobs.

        Ms. Volter declined to give specific examples of “personality conflicts,” but did say Chief Aylor had to be tired of some people “nit-picking” every decision that came out of his office.

        All Chief Aylor would say was he was leaving, in part, because of “interference” by some in the city.

        Chief Aylor grew up in Florence and worked nine years with Elsmere police before taking the job in Dayton. His last day in the office will be Wednesday.

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