The Wellsville Board of Aldermen placed Police Chief Justin Caldwell on administrative leave, pending an investigation from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

According to the executive session minutes of the board meeting on June 25 at Wellsville City Hall, board members voted 2-1 to place Caldwell on leave with pay.

Numerous Wellsville residents attended the board meeting to express their concerns on Caldwell still working with the police department while being investigated. One of the residents, Brianne Beach, made a five-minute statement that allegedly included evidence involving abuse of a family member. She got a round of applause afterwards.

“I felt like the community needs to know what he’s done and he’s being investigated,” Beach said. “I think the City Council needs to be aware of what’s happening and I think they have a responsibility to take action until this is concluded.”

Beach ended her statement with a question.

“Why is Chief Caldwell still allowed to protect and serve our community while this investigation is ongoing?” she said.

Attorney Nathan Nickolaus said board members have to receive reports back from the MSHP before a decision is made.

“The best the City Council can do at this point of time is to suspend (Caldwell) with pay,” he said. “If the Council wants to fire him, they will have to have a hearing to do that. In order to have that hearing, they will have to have some concrete evidence, which we will get by the Highway Patrol. That’s kind of the beginning and end of it.”

Wellsville Mayor Howard Steele advised Beach to keep all of her evidence while the investigation is ongoing.

“As soon as we get a word from the Highway Patrol, I’ll get a hold of them and we can have a meeting and we’ll go from there,” Steele told Beach. “I know that our hands are pretty well tied because we can’t do anything until they get done (investigating), but I’m glad you showed up and expressed your opinion.”

Caldwell has been Wellsville’s police chief since Jan. 21, 2021. He replaced Rich Daniels, who worked as a police chief for 20 years before retiring in December 2020. The St. Charles County native has been working at the Wellsville police department since 2011.