Martinsville Sheriff Steve Draper said his deputy, Reva Keen, acted on what she believed were signals from City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides and Mayor LC Jones when she removed Councilman Aaron Rawls from a recent meeting.
“And that’s what she did. She was under the impression that was it,” Draper said.
He explained Jones “I think had just kind of looked at her, because she was standing near him, and gave the gesture of just nodding his head, and the city manager used her head and kind of just … if you look at it (video), you can see it better than I can tell you. It’s hard for me to describe it, but you can see it,” Draper said of a video recorded by Caleb Robertson of What Does The Bible Say?
Keen, who serves as a bailiff in court, will not be disciplined for her actions, Draper said.
“My deputy followed what she was told to do. As far as we’re concerned at this point, we’re not going to do anything. Because like I said, looking at the video it’s obvious that there was a gesture made,” Draper said.
Keen was assigned to the meeting at the request of city officials after funds were found to pay overtime. Her job was to keep the public from approaching the council, Draper said.
“Just like a courtroom, you just can’t pass the bar in the courtroom to come toward a judge or come toward the Commonwealth’s Attorney or anybody. Our people are to keep people behind the bar, and that’s our job,” Draper said.
“When we put this in effect, it was the same thing. We started it to keep the public, when doing their comments or they want to talk to the council, then you can’t approach the council. You give whatever to the deputy, just like we do in court, and the deputy will give it to the mayor. If the mayor wants to send it out to the rest of the members, that’s up to him,” Draper explained.
Draper, who previously served on council for three years from 1991 to 1994, noted this type of incident has never happened in the city before.
Before the meeting, Keen was told there could be some issues, Draper said, adding that he did not know who made the statement. Regardless, “that’s all they told her. She didn’t know what to expect.”
While he heard claims that Keen was participating in the meeting by nodding and clapping, Draper said Keen has said she did not participate.
“I have never seen it. She said she wasn’t, so,” Draper said, adding that Keen is a seasoned officer with 30 years of service to her credit. “She’s never been a problem in court. Every judge she’s ever worked with likes her. If I found out, or if I saw it really happen, there may be some discipline, but I haven’t seen it,” he said.
He noted this type of incident has never happened in the city before, and changes are anticipated as a result.
“We have a policy in our attorney’s hands now to review if anything like this ever happens again. We were led to believe there was something within the operating procedures of the council, but it wasn’t addressed,” Draper said. “I drafted a policy and gave it to the city manager for further review.”
