Kenly will lose its police chief and full time officers on Tuesday. What's next?

Starting Tuesday, Kenly, which has a population of roughly 2,000 residents will have no police force, except for a few part-time patrol officers.

Of the more than 525 municipalities in the state, only a handful operate with no police force said Jeff Welty, a professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Government.

"Some small towns that don’t have police do have agreements or memorandums with sheriff and may support funds to support law enforcement within town limits," said Welty.

Right now, Kenly is not paying for deputies to patrol the streets or respond to incidents. Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said as of Monday, his office has not discussed contracts or money with town leaders.

"The main concern is the safety of the citizens of Kenly," said Bizzell.

Currently, Kenly pays for seven officers and operating expenses for the force. Town leaders have budgeted $708,000 for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. That's 37% of the town’s $1.9 million budget

Welty said disbanding a police force with fewer than 10 officers isn't unheard of or a bad option.

"It may be something more small towns consider in the future as the job or policing becomes more complicated (and) liability risk remains high," he said.

Kenly Town Council has instructed the town attorney to oversee a thorough investigation to determine the facts about the allegations and circumstances relating to the resignations.

Kenly town attorney will investigate police allegations of 'toxic work environment'

"Having police is a high-liability undertaking where a lot of things can go wrong — small agency, not an adequate training budget, maybe paying officers less than surrounding municipalities. It may not have robust ability or can't police itself during internal affairs," said Welty.

The investigation by the town attorney could take weeks.

Welty said in a case like this, usually a sworn officer or a civilian in the town, like the town manager, would normally take over the duties of police chief in the interim.