Bartlesville City Council Member Resigns Over Negative Police Comments

A Bartlesville city council woman resigned Thursday after disparaging comments she made about the Bartlesville Police Department were made public.

The councilwoman said the comments were made in April but were just released recently on social media.

She said they were made ignorantly on her part, but said the whole thing was a malicious attack on her.

"I hate it. I don't even like our cops you know," said former city councilwoman Doann Nguyen. “The people who are attracted to that, who romanticize that are just kind of these violent perverts."

Nguyen said it’s a recording of a phone conversation she had with a constituent back in April, but recently a Bartlesville man released the comments on an anti-police Facebook page he created.

Anthony Lien, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Bartlesville said, while many officers know about the page, they were surprised by the council woman’s comments.

"I would say the remarks were offensive, and in light of the national sentiment it was probably more so, and I think officers were offended by that," he said.

In Nguyen’s resignation she apologized, saying:

“I was unknowingly recorded saying embarrassingly ignorant statements about the police. In an attempt (to) show concern for a constituent, I expressed myself poorly. Although this posting of this content was a malicious personal attack, it doesn't change that my words were more disparaging and damaging to the Bartlesville Police Department.”

Doann Nguyen's resignation letter

In the meantime, the relationship between the city and the police has not been disrupted.

Lien said, "They were responsive to that immediately and I feel like they have listened to our concerns, and today I have received support from our mayor’s office and the city administration office."

Mayor Tom Gorman said, "It doesn't change, in my opinion, anything. We have a very respectful relationship with our police department and a few unfortunate comments does not frame that relationship."

As for the comments Nguyen made, the mayor said he never saw them reflected in her work.

"Not one time did she ever do anything that reflected the comments that have been brought forth," he said.

The man who recorded the conversation and runs the anti-police Facebook page is currently under investigation by police for a separate incident.