GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — In a decision that stirred some controversy, newly elected Mayor Burney Jenkins of Georgetown fired the city’s police chief last week.
Former Georgetown Police Chief Mike Bosse has led the department for more than ten years, and the decision to fire him drew questions from some.
One of the questions raised by some in the community about Bosse’s firing surrounds an alleged encounter about seven years ago.
When asked about it, Bosse told LEX 18 that Jenkins once brought his stepson, Joshua Preece, into the Georgetown Police Department and told Bosse to interview him for a job with the department. Bosse didn’t hire Preece.
Preece was a Kentucky State Police trooper under internal investigation for allegations of sending inappropriate images to women while on- and off-duty, according to Preece’s personnel file. The agency eventually allowed him to quit before being fired.
Bosse would not speculate as to whether or not that situation played a role in Jenkins’ decision to fire him.
Jenkins told LEX 18 that the situation involving Preece had nothing to do with his decision to fire Bosse, and that he didn’t understand why people would speculate that it did. He went on to say he would release a statement on Bosse’s firing at Monday night’s Georgetown City Council meeting.
When asked about the decision last week,Jenkins told LEX 18 he was “going in a different direction” and added that the choice to remove Bosse was not a snap decision.
After leaving Kentucky State Police, Preece moved on to the Bath County Sheriff’s Office, and in 2020 he was arrested on a charge related to child pornography. He was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl while on duty and later getting images from her, according to court records.
In 2021, Preece pleaded guilty to a federal charge of using a minor to produce child pornography, according to court records. He’s now serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison.
