MEIGS — A Meigs police officer who sparked a downtown residents’ gathering Friday when he was placed on administrative leave last week has resigned.

Police Chief Darrell Laster said Capt. Donald McNeil voluntarily submitted his resignation Monday morning.

McNeil was one of two full-time police officers in Meigs, along with Laster. The city also employs one part-time officer.

Laster said he was working as many shifts as possible until a third or fourth officer could begin work.

“We’re working diligently to keep Meigs as safe as possible until we can come out of this shortage that we’re in due to the resignation of Capt. Donald McNeil,” Laster said.

Laster said he was accepting applications for a new officer and reaching out to former applicants to see if they were still interested in serving as soon as possible.

The police chief said he was contacting officers in other cities to determine if any were willing to serve in a part-time capacity.

“We really don’t have a prediction on when another officer will start,” Laster said. “I am reaching out to officers who have shown interest in the past and if they’re still interested we’re going to do our background checks on them and run through the same hiring procedures that we did with every other officer. Once we conclude that they are fit to work for the Meigs Police Department we’ll bring them on board.”

Laster said McNeil was placed on administrative leave Feb. 7 as the department conducted an investigation into unspecified allegations.

A group of Meigs residents gathered downtown Friday afternoon to voice their concerns over McNeil being placed on leave.

The police chief said he did not wish to provide comment on the findings of the investigation into McNeil but added that the complete details would become available to public records requests in approximately one week.

McNeil’s resignation allows him the opportunity to be employed in law enforcement elsewhere, barring a decision from the Georgia Peace Officer Standard and Training (POST) Council, though the findings of the investigation will remain part of his record.

Had McNeil been terminated he would not have been able to be employed elsewhere in law enforcement.

Laster said it ultimately would be up to the state POST Council to determine if McNeil should face any possible punishment, such as being placed on probation or having his law enforcement certification revoked.