Police and City Officers Quit After Black Mayor is Elected

PARMA, MO- APRIL 23: Martha Miller owns a grocery store in Parma. She recounts the day a man with a knife raised it toward her sister-in-law during a robbery. She was not happy with the police response because no one answered the phone when she called. The sheriff's department (the county police) ended up responding to her call before the city police department did. Several city office holders and all but one member of the police department resigned after a black woman, Tyrus Byrd, was recently elected mayor in Parma, MO. While some in the media have characterized the departures as a race issue, many in Parma deny this is the main motive for the resignations. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)